Micromachining Thin Film by Using Near-Field Photo-Patterning of Organic

The sharp miniature tip of a scanning microscope is exploited to perform various functions on the workpiece surface with the aim of fabricating nano-scale patterns. In this process, a laser beam is scanned over the workpiece by using Near-field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM), where the pattern formation is desired. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed by the adsorption of alkanethiols onto gold substrate are employed as very thin photoresists. In this study, a solid-state femtosecond laser of wavelength 800 nm is applied for near-field photolithography. The results show that an ultrafast laser of near-infrared (NIR) range wavelength can replace a deep-UV laser source for photo-patterning by using thin organic films. Femtosecond-laser photolithography could be applied to fabricate the patterning of surface chemical structure or the creation of three-dimensional nanostructures by combination with suitable etching methods