“Nanoimprinted and Anodized Templates for Large-Scale and Low-Cost Nanopatterning”
David Navas, David G. Trabada and Manuel Vázquez
Nanomaterials 11 (2021) 3430.
DOI: doi.org/10.3390/nano11123430
This work reports on an easy route for nanopatterning making use of ordered porous templates with geometries ranging from straight lines to square, triangular or rhombohedral lattices, for the designed growth of sputtered materials with engineered properties. The procedure is based on large-scale nanoimprinting using patterned low-cost commercial disks, as 1-D grating stamps, followed by a single electrochemical process that allows one to obtain 1-D ordered porous anodic templates. Multiple imprinting steps at different angles enable more complex 2-D patterned templates. Subsequent sputtering facilitates the growth of ferromagnetic antidote thin films (e.g., Co thin layers) with designed symmetries. This technique constitutes a non-expensive method for massive mold production and pattern generation avoiding standard lithographical techniques. It also overcomes current challenges of the two-stage electrochemical porous templates: (i) allowing the patterning of large areas with high ordering and/or complex antidot geometries, and (ii) being less-time consuming.
This work derives from the PhD thesis of David Gonzalez Trabada developed in our GNMP group