title: Micro- and nanopatterning of inorganic and polymeric substrates by indentation lithography.
abstract: This paper describes the use of a nanoindenter, equipped with a diamond tip, to form patterns of indentations on planar substrates (epoxy, silicon, and SiO(2)). The process is called "Indentation Lithography" (IndL). The indentations have the form of pits and furrows, whose cross-sectional profiles are determined by the shapes of the diamond indenters, and whose dimensions are determined by the applied load and hardness of the substrate. IndL makes it possible to indent hard materials, to produce patterns with multiple levels of relief by changing the loading force, and to control the profiles of the indentations by using indenters with different shapes. This paper also demonstrates the transfer of indented patterns to elastomeric PDMS stamps for soft lithography, and to thin films of evaporated gold or silver. Stripping an evaporated film from an indented template produces patterns of gold or silver pyramids, whose tips concentrate electric fields. Patterns produced by IndL can thus be used as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and for other plasmonic applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Jinlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Darren J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lipomi
authors.forename: Jiangdong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Zhihong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Nicholas X
authors.initials: NX
authors.lastname: Randall
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.forename: George M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Whitesides