title: Chemical tailoring of hybrid sol-gel thick coatings as hosting matrix for functional patterned microstructures.
abstract: A phenyl-based hybrid organic - inorganic coating has been synthesized and processed by hard X-ray lithography. The overall lithography process is performed in a two-step process only (X-rays exposure and chemical etching). The patterns present high aspect ratio, sharp edges, and high homogeneity. The coating has been doped with a variety of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon functional molecules, such as anthracene, pentacene, and fullerene. For the first time, hard X-rays have been combined with thick hybrid functional coatings, using the sol-gel thick film directly as resist. A new technique based on a new material combined with hard X-rays is now available to fabricate optical devices. The effect due to the high-energy photon exposure has been investigated using FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy, laser scanner, optical profilometer, and confocal and electron microscope. High-quality thick hybrid fullerene-doped microstructures have been fabricated.
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Science and Engineering, CSIRO, Private Bag 33, Clayton South MDC, Victoria 3169, Australia.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Falcaro
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Costacurta
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Malfatti
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Buso
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Patelli
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schiavuta
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piccinini
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grenci
authors.forename: Benedetta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marmiroli
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amenitsch
authors.forename: Plinio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Innocenzi
mesh_terms: D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D055616:Microtechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman
chemical_list: D037741:Fullerenes; D005782:Gels; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons