Photo-induced hybrid nanopatterning of titanium dioxide via direct imprint lithography

Abstract

A novel ultraviolet (UV)-assisted imprinting procedure that employs photosensitive titanium(IV) di-n-butoxide bis(2-ethylhexanoate) is presented for the fabrication of well-ordered titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructures at room temperature. The main novelty of this technique is the use of the photosensitive titanium organic compound, rather than a commonly used UV-curable resin, for direct UV-assisted nanoimprint lithography. Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies suggest that exposure to UV light resulted in the gradual removal of organic groups from films prepared from titanium(IV) di-n-butoxide bis(2-ethylhexanoate) photochemically and successively converted the films to TiO2 at room temperature. This approach allows direct fabrication of TiO2 nanopatterns with lines down to 35 nm in width, hole arrays of 265 nm in diameter, and three-dimensional TiO2 hybrid micro/nano-patterns without observable defects for use in applications where ordered surface nanostructures are required, such as photovoltaics, photonics, and optical waveguides.