Fabrication of sub-50 nm nanochannel array by an angle forming lift-off method

Abstract

Nanoimprint is a low-cost and high-precision nano-pattern replication technology. In the nanoimprint manufacturing process, the quality of nano-mold directly determines the quality of nano-pattern. In this paper, we proposed a method for manufacturing silicon nano-mold using inverted trapezoidal photoresist (AZ5214E). During the manufacturing process, a nanogap was formed due to the size difference between the top and bottom surfaces of inverted trapezoidal photoresist when the Cu vertical deposition process was completed. Then the nanogap pattern was transferred to the silicon substrate by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) to create nanochannels, and sub-50 nm silicon nano-molds were obtained. The influence of UV exposure parameters on photoresist sidewall angle was studied. The effect of photoresist sidewall angle on the width of nanogaps was analyzed, which ultimately affects the size of nanochannel. We believe that the proposed method can play a certain role in promoting the development of nanotechnology and nanoscience.