Fabrication of Diverse Metallic Nanowire Arrays Based on Block Copolymer Self-Assembly

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 10; no. 9; pp. 3722 - 3726
• Main Authors: Jung, Yeon Sik, Lee, Ju Ho, Lee, Jeong Yong, Ross, C. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 08-09-2010
• Subjects: Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties; Materials science; Methods of nanofabrication; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Physics; Quantum wires; Self-assembly; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); metallic nanowires; polystyrene−polydimethylsiloxane; Block copolymer lithography; metal gratings; magnetic nanowires; Gold; Patterning; Electrical properties; Photonic device; Nanostructures; Thin films; Nanometer scale; Self-assembly; Experimental design; Magnetic devices; Growth mechanism; Titanium; Nickel; Nanowires; Arrays; Nanostructured materials; Block copolymer; Magnetic properties
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl1023518

Metallic nanowires are useful for fabricating highly integrated nanoscale electrical, magnetic, and photonic devices. However, conventional methods based on bottom-up growth techniques are subject to concerns such as broad distributions in their dimension as well and difficulties in precise placement of the nanowires. These issues can be solved by the guided self-assembly of block copolymer thin films that can produce periodic arrays of monodisperse nanoscale features with excellent positional accuracy. Here, we report transfer of high-quality linear block copolymer patterns into various metals, Ti, W, Pt, Co, Ni, Ta, Au, and Al, to fabricate highly ordered nanowire arrays with widths down to 9 nm. This novel patterning process does not require specific film deposition techniques or etch-chemistries. We also describe their structural, magnetic, and electrical properties.