Spatial modulation of nanopattern dimensions by combining interference lithography and grayscale-patterned secondary exposure

• Published in: Light, science & applications science & applications, 2022-04, Vol.11 (1), p.89-89, Article 89
• Main Authors: Gan, Zhuofei, Feng, Hongtao, Chen, Liyang, Min, Siyi, Liang, Chuwei, Xu, Menghong, Jiang, Zijie, Sun, Zhao, Sun, Chuying, Cui, Dehu, Li, Wen-Di
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 132/122; 142/126; 639/624/1107/1109; 639/624/399/1028; 639/766/400/1103; Applied and Technical Physics; Atomic; Biosensors; Classical and Continuum Physics; Lasers; Molecular; Nanopatterning; Optical and Plasma Physics; Optical Devices; Optics; Photonics; Photons; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Size distribution
• ISSN: 2047-7538; 2095-5545; 2047-7538
• DOI: 10.1038/s41377-022-00774-z

Functional nanostructures are exploited for a variety of cutting-edge fields including plasmonics, metasurfaces, and biosensors, just to name a few. Some applications require nanostructures with uniform feature sizes while others rely on spatially varying morphologies. However, fine manipulation of the feature size over a large area remains a substantial challenge because mainstream approaches to precise nanopatterning are based on low-throughput pixel-by-pixel processing, such as those utilizing focused beams of photons, electrons, or ions. In this work, we provide a solution toward wafer-scale, arbitrary modulation of feature size distribution by introducing a lithographic portfolio combining interference lithography (IL) and grayscale-patterned secondary exposure (SE). Employed after the high-throughput IL, a SE with patterned intensity distribution spatially modulates the dimensions of photoresist nanostructures. Based on this approach, we successfully fabricated 4-inch wafer-scale nanogratings with uniform linewidths of