Abstract
This paper deals with the structuring of polycrystalline diamond thin films using the technique of nanosphere lithography. The presented multistep approaches relied on a spin-coated self-assembled monolayer of polystyrene spheres, which served as a lithographic mask for the further custom nanofabrication steps. Various arrays of diamond nanostructures—close-packed and non-close-packed monolayers over substrates with various levels of surface roughness, noble metal films over nanosphere arrays, ordered arrays of holes, and unordered pores—were created using reactive ion etching, chemical vapour deposition, metallization, and/or lift-off processes. The size and shape of the lithographic mask was altered using oxygen plasma etching. The periodicity of the final structure was defined by the initial diameter of the spheres. The surface morphology of the samples was characterized using scanning electron microscopy. The advantages and limitations of the fabrication technique are discussed. Finally, the potential applications (e.g., photonics, plasmonics) of the obtained nanostructures are reviewed.
Highlights
Materials science and engineering, as a large interdisciplinary field, focuses on the composition, structure, and properties of materials
In the case of polycrystalline diamond thin films, properties are closely related to the composition, size, and shape of diamond crystals; total thickness; and doping, among other factors, which are tailorable on demand using the synthesis conditions
Nanostructures created using Nanosphere lithography (NSL) have become an important part of nanofabrication and nanoengineering with a wide potential of interest
Summary
As a large interdisciplinary field, focuses on the composition, structure, and properties of materials. Synthetic diamond has garnered a reputation because it exhibits unique physicochemical properties (robustness, high thermal conductivity, wide bandgap, high refractive index, wide transparency window, can host different colour centres, etc.) [1]. These factors make it desirable for several technological applications in diverse fields of science and technology (e.g., optical, photonic, plasmonic devices, metamaterials, sensing applications) [2,3]. The usability of a thin film is significantly affected by its “top surface”, especially nano/micro morphology and surface termination [4]
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