Simulation and fabrication of nanostructures with laser interference lithography

Abstract

This article presents laser interference lithography, a preferred method to achieve periodic structures in a large area with fast speed and low cost. Simulations and experiments for two-beam interference lithography with single exposure and double exposure were expressed. In the experiments, patterns on photoresist were transferred to a silicon substrate by wet etching. The experimental results were consistent with the simulative results. The one-dimensional nanogrooves were obtained by single exposure, and different widths of nanogrooves during the same period were fabricated on silicon substrates by varying exposure time. In addition, two-dimensional grid patterns were obtained by double exposure. With the increasing of exposure time, the grid pattern changed from a nanoholes array to a nanodots array. The results showed that laser interference lithography is an efficient method to fabricate nanostructures with various geometrical parameters by controlling exposure time, which has a promising application in the study of nanotextured surface properties, such as wetting, adhesion and friction.