title: Breaking the far-field diffraction limit in optical nanopatterning via repeated photochemical and electrochemical transitions in photochromic molecules.
abstract: By saturating a photochromic transition with a nodal illumination (wavelength, λ), one isomeric form of a small molecule is spatially localized to a region smaller than the far-field diffraction limit. A selective oxidation step effectively locks this pattern allowing repeated patterning. Using this approach and a two-beam interferometer, we demonstrate isolated lines as narrow as λ/8 (78 nm) and spacing between features as narrow as λ/4 (153 nm). This is considerably smaller than the minimum far-field diffraction limit of λ/2. Most significantly, nanopatterning is achieved via single-photon reactions and at low light levels, which in turn allow for high throughput.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 84112, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brimhall
authors.forename: Trisha L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Andrew
authors.forename: Rajakumar Varma
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Manthena
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Menon