Superlattice nanopatterning of wires and complex patterns
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorsJames R. Heath, Pierre M. Petroff, Nicholas A. Melosh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Fabrication of metallic or non-metallic wires with nanometer widths and nanometer separation distances without the use of lithography. Wires are created in a two-step process involving forming the wires at the desired dimensions and transferring them to a planar substrate. The dimensions and separation of the wires are determined by the thicknesses of alternating layers of different materials that are in the form of a superlattice. Wires are created by evaporating the desired material onto the superlattice that has been selectively etched to provide height contrast between layers. The wires thus formed upon one set of superlattice layers are then transferred to a substrate.
Claims26
1-31. (canceled)
A device comprising:
- a substrate that includes a surface;
- and
- a plurality of nanoscale wire bodies that each have a length, said nanoscale wire bodies being located on the surface of said substrate in a parallel manner, said nanoscale wire bodies comprising:
- a base portion that is attached to said substrate surface, said base portion having two edges that extend along the length of said nanoscale wire body, said two edges defining the width of said base portion;
- and
- one or more leg portions that extend along the length of said nanoscale wire body and which extend away from the said substrate, said one or more leg portions being located at one or both edges of said base portion.
A method of producing at least one of microstructures or nanostructures, comprising:
- providing a superlattice template having alternating layers of dissimilar materials, wherein a plurality of layers of at least one of said dissimilar materials have longitudinal lengths that are shorter than longitudinal lengths of adjacent layers to provide a plurality of indentations in a face of said superlattice template;
- depositing structure-forming material selectively on exposed end surfaces of said layers of said at least one of said dissimilar materials along said face of said superlattice template while leaving another of said layers of another one of said dissimilar materials along said face of said superlattice template free of said structure-forming material;
- and
- removing structures composed of said structure-forming material from said superlattice template.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.