DIRECT NANO-PRINTING ON AL SUBSTRATE USING A SIC MOLD

Nanostructures in AZ were generated by printing with hard SiC molds. T his nano-printing technology replaces the lithography and the etching or deposition processes to produce patterns directly in metal. Dots, s hort lines, and long lines were formed in the SiC molds by electron be am lithography and reactive ion etching. High aspect ratio features as small as 40 nm with depth up to 840 nm were patterned in the SiC mold s. By pressing the SiC mold onto the Al substrate at room temperature, nanostructures in the SIC mold were reproduced accurately and uniform ly in Al. Large arrays of nanostructures down to 40 nm were printed in Al with similar results for dots, short lines, and long lines. Using atomic force microscopy to analyze the cross sections of the SiC molds and printed Al nanostructures, depth dependence on feature size was o bserved. This nand-printing technology simplifies the processes for ge nerating nanostructures with high throughput and high uniformity. (C) 1998 American Vacuum Society.