Combining two-photon lithography with laser ablation of sacrificial layers: a route to isolated 3D magnetic nanostructures

Three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured functional materials are important systems allowing new means for intricate control of electromagnetic properties. A key problem is realising a 3D printing methodology on the nanoscale that can yield a range of functional materials. In this article, it is shown that two-photon lithography, when combined with laser ablation of sacrificial layers, can be used to realise such a vision and produce 3D functional nanomaterials of complex geometry. Proof-of-principle is first shown by fabricating planar magnetic nanowires raised above the substrate that exhibit controlled domain wall injection and propagation. Secondly, 3D artificial spin-ice (3DASI) structures are fabricated, whose complex switching can be probed using optical magnetometry. We show that by careful analysis of the magneto-optical Kerr effect signal and by comparison with micromagnetic simulations, depth dependent switching information can be obtained from the 3DASI lattice. The work paves the way for new materials, which exploit additional physics provided by non-trivial 3D geometries