A novel approach for nanometer-scale patterning in PDMS: Utilizing micro contact printing for advanced photonic devices

Abstract

Microfabrication with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has been exploited in developing photonic microstructures, offering a unique combination of properties toward advanced photonic devices. We report here a method for one-dimensional control to produce patterns ranging from the micrometer to nanometer scale using PDMS molds. These patterns were created from a commercial CCD array of 4 M pixels through a one-dimensional mechanical process that reduces the distances between microstructures transferred to the elastomer using the micro contact printing (μC) method. The entire process of replicating and compressing structures was analyzed using atomic force microscopy. Compression and replication of the molds resulted in a reduction of the width at half maximum of the microstructure from 1.577 μm to 0.478 μm in one dimension. Diffraction grating effects were observed in the UV–Vis region (300–650 nm) confirming the efficiency of the one-dimensional mechanical compression method. These findings confirm the suitability of this new methodology for creating nanochannels in PDMS molds using the μC technique. The approach can be applied to fabricate optoelectronic devices, for example, by shifting diffraction effects to the UV electromagnetic spectrum.