Abstract
This Review discusses nanoskiving--a simple and inexpensive method of nanofabrication, which minimizes requirements for access to cleanrooms and associated facilities, and which makes it possible to fabricate nanostructures from materials, and of geometries, to which more familiar methods of nanofabrication are not applicable. Nanoskiving requires three steps: 1) deposition of a metallic, semiconducting, ceramic, or polymeric thin film onto an epoxy substrate; 2) embedding this film in epoxy, to form an epoxy block, with the film as an inclusion; and 3) sectioning the epoxy block into slabs with an ultramicrotome. These slabs, which can be 30 nm-10 μm thick, contain nanostructures whose lateral dimensions are equal to the thicknesses of the embedded thin films. Electronic applications of structures produced by this method include nanoelectrodes for electrochemistry, chemoresistive nanowires, and heterostructures of organic semiconductors. Optical applications include surface plasmon resonators, plasmonic waveguides, and frequency-selective surfaces.
Highlights
Many of the most important phenomena in nature—e.g., the binding of proteins and ligands, the absorption of light by molecules, and the mean free path of electrons in metals— involve forces or processes operating over distances of 1 – 100 nm
Processes that occur over this range—which begins with large molecules, and ends with objects that are resolved with conventional microscopes—are the purview of the field known as “nanoscience”
This section focuses on onedimensional structures[3] but the processes we describe would be applicable to other structures as well
Summary
Many of the most important phenomena in nature—e.g., the binding of proteins and ligands, the absorption of light by molecules, and the mean free path of electrons in metals— involve forces or processes operating over distances of 1 – 100 nm. An empirical trend—Moore’s Law—shows that the number of transistors per microprocessor has doubled approximately every 18 months, with concomitant decreases in cost and power consumption, and increases in speed for information processors and in storage capacity for memory devices.[11,12] This trend has become a self-fulfilling prophecy, which has motivated the development of new steppers for projection photolithography,[13] chemistry for photoresists,[14] and other technologies.[5] The state-of-the-art in photolithography produces features with an average half-pitch in memory devices of 32 nm using 193 nm light combined with immersion optics,[15] phase-shifting masks,[16] and multiple exposures.[17] Next-generation lithographic tools, including extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL),[18] maskless lithography (ML2, which would use thousands of electron beams to replicate patterns without the need for a physical master),[19] and step-and-flash imprint lithography (SFIL)[20] are expected to drive the average half-pitch down to 16 nm by 2019, according to the International Technical Roadmap for Semiconductors.[10] Informed speculation suggests an ultimate limit that may be as small as 8 nm. The tools required (the only necessary one is the ultramicrotome) and the means to prepare thin films, and to carry out low-resolution photolithography and soft lithographic molding, are generally less expensive and more accessible than conventional tools for fabricating nanostructures.[50]
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