Sub-project C

Plasmonic near-field lithography is based on so-called plasmonic lenses that must be fabricated by advanced nanofabrication. A plasmonic lens generates a highly concentrated and localized field, which can be used to inscribe patterns below the common diffraction limit but requires positioning with nanometer precision at large-scale to utilize the optical near field effectively.

The aim of the project is to combine the performance of the NanoFab nanopositioning devices with plasmonic lenses to generate sub-wavelength patterns on wafer level. The plasmonic lens fabrication can be realized by the nanofabrication possibilities offered within NanoFab. The potential of this process for an economic production of maskless lithographic structures should be explored.

Key categories:

• optics and optical lithography
• scanning probe techniques
• micro- and nanofabrication
• control engineering
• nanopositioning

The NanoFab 5-axis nanopositioning device is designated for optical nanomeasurements and optical nanofabrication on curved surfaces. However, the optimal beam shapes for laser writing (simple path without reflection) and for measurements (double path with reflection on curved surface) are generally different. The aim in this project is to achieve minimum structure widths in 2D lithography on curved surfaces and to write such structures continuously over larger regions without disturbing stitching effects. This requires separate optical optimizations for the writing and measuring beams, a sophisticated control of the 5-axis nanopositioning device and associated metrology.

Key categories:

• optics
• control engineering
• nanometrology