Methods for micro and nano fabrication by selective template removal
AssigneeNanotech Security Corp.
InventorsMohsen KESHAVARZ AKHLAGHI, Clint LANDROCK
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Abstract
A method to remove selected parts of a thin-film material otherwise uniformly deposited over a template is disclosed. The methods rely on a suitable potting material to encapsulate and snatch the deposited material on apexes of the template. The process may yield one and/or two devices during a single process step: (i) thin-film material(s) with micro- and/or nano-perforations defined by the shape of template apexes, and (ii) micro- and/or nano-particles shaped and positioned in the potting material by the design of the template apexes. The devices made from this method may find applications in fabrication of mechanical, chemical, electrical and optical devices.
Claims10
A method of fabricating (i) a perforated thin-film comprising micro or nano-structure perforations on a substrate surface, and (ii) shaped and positioned micro or nano-particles encapsulated in a substrate, the method of fabrication comprises the steps of:
- a) providing a micro or nano structure template comprising a substrate surface and raised micro or nano structures extending above the substrate surface;
- b) depositing a single or a few thin-film coating(s) of a first stack of suitable coating material(s) over the substrate and raised micro or nano structures such that the thin-film coating(s) is substantially adhered to layer over which they are deposited on, and forms an overhanging thin-film cap on the raised micro or nano structures;
- c) depositing a layer of a potting material over the first stack of thin-film coating on the substrate and raised micro or nano structures;
- d) hardening or curing the potting material such that the hardened potting material encapsulates the overhanging thin-film caps on the raised micro or nano structures;
- and
- e) removing the hardened potting material from the thin-film coated substrate such that the overhanging thin-film caps remain encapsulated in the hardened potting material, to reveal:
- (i) a perforated thin-film coated substrate, wherein the thin-film is perforated at the locations of the micro or nano-structures of the template, and (ii) micro or nano-particles encapsulated in the hardened potting material, wherein the particles are at the locations of the micro or nano-structures of the template and take their shapes.
A method of fabricating (i) a perforated thin-film comprising micro or nano-structure perforations on a substrate surface, and (ii) shaped and positioned micro or nano-particles encapsulated in a substrate, the method of fabrication comprises the steps of:
- a) providing a micro or nano structure template comprising a substrate surface and raised overhanging micro or nano structures extending above the substrate surface;
- b) depositing a single or a few thin-film coating(s) of a first stack of suitable coating material(s) over the substrate and overhanging raised micro or nano-structures such that the thin-film coatings are substantially adhered to the material over which they are deposited on;
- c) depositing a layer of a potting material over the thin-film coating on the substrate and raised micro or nano structures;
- d) hardening or curing the potting material such that the hardened potting material encapsulates the thin-film coated overhanging raised micro or nano structures, thereby interlocking the thin-film coated overhanging raised micro or nano structures with the hardened potting material;
- and
- e) removing the hardened potting material from the thin-film coated substrate such that the thin-film coated overhanging raised micro or nano-structures remain encapsulated in the hardened potting material, to reveal:
- (i) a perforated thin-film coated substrate, wherein the thin-film is perforated at the locations of the micro or nano-structures of the template, and (ii) micro or nano-particles encapsulated in the hardened potting material, wherein the particles are at the locations of the micro or nano-structures of the template and take their shapes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.