Abstract
We report a method for fabricating periodic nanostructures on the surface of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using laser interference lithography. The wave-front splitting method was used for the system, as the period and duty cycle can be easily controlled. Indium tin oxide (ITO) glass reveals favorable characteristics for controlling the standing waves distributed in the vertical direction, and was selected as the rigid substrate for the curing of the PDMS prepolymer, photoresist spin coating, and exposure processes. Periodic nanostructures such as gratings, dot, and hole arrays were prepared. This efficient way of fabricating large area periodic nanoscale patterns will be useful for surface plasmonic resonance and wearable electronics.
Highlights
The fabrication of nanostructures on flexible substrates has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years
The PDMS prepolymer was cured at 80 ◦ C for 1 h using a hot plate after spin-coating on Indium tin oxide (ITO) glass to generate PDMS thin films
One of the most important reasons, perhaps, is that the surface topography after the curing process will have a crucial influence on the pattern results, as PDMS is an elastomer material
Summary
The fabrication of nanostructures on flexible substrates has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years. Flexible materials possess a series of excellent properties, such as transparent, bendable, wearable, and high transmission that the rigid ones do not have. The fabrication of nanoscale patterns on flexible substrates with a low cost, large area, and high throughput using laser interference lithography will have both commercial and scientific interests. Flexible materials are normally classified into thermoplastics and elastomers [9]. Common materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), polyimide (PI), polypropylene (PP), and so on, are good examples of thermoplastics. While polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), as a kind of silicone-based organic polymer and elastomer material, has plenty of significant advantages over both rigid and thermoplastic materials
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