Latex bead projection nanopatterns

Abstract

Abstract Monolayers of monodisperse latex beads of submicron size are used as a convenient mask for physical vapour deposition to produce latex bead projection patterns as nanostructures that have been used often as test structures for near‐field optical applications. Variations of the fabrication technique lead to derived nanostructures: flat surface structures are formed by embedding projection patterns consisting of one material into the surface of a different material; complementary projection patterns are formed by using a projection pattern as a mask for a nanoimprinting process; and submicron ring structures are formed in a controlled way from the debris of the latex bead mask. The application of such nanostructures as test patterns for scanning near‐field optical microscopy (SNOM) is demonstrated. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.