High resolution nanoscale patterning

Electron beam hthography (EBL) is similar to photolithography in many aspects, except that it uses a beam of electrons to expose the polymer resist and generate patterns on a surface, rather than a blanket UV fight exposure. EBL is therefore a direct-write technique and does not require a photomask. Very high-resolution nanoscale feature sizes can be written using EBL. 

HREM methods are powerful in the study of nanometre-sized metal particles dispersed on ceramic oxides or any other suitable substrate. In many catalytic processes employing supported metallic catalysts, it has been established that the catalytic properties of some structure-sensitive catalysts are enhanced with a decrease in particle size. For example, the rate of CO decomposition on Pd/mica is shown to increase five-fold when the Pd particle sizes are reduced from 5 to 2 nm. A similar size dependence has been observed for Ni/mica. It is, therefore, necessary to observe the particles at very high resolution, coupled with a small-probe high-precision micro- or nanocomposition analysis and micro- or nanodiffraction where possible. Advanced FE-(S)TEM instruments are particularly effective for composition analysis and diffraction on the nanoscale. ED patterns from particles of diameter of 1 nm or less are now possible. 

HCP [340]. Michel and coworkers reported a high-resolution printing technique based on transferring a pattern from an elastomeric stamp to a solid substrate by conformal contact, and described the potential for emerging micro- and nanoscale patterning technologies [91, 341]. 

In this section we shall see how the development of surface reaction dynamics has made nanoscale patterning possible, i.e. patterning with exceptionally high spatial resolution. In particular, we will discuss how one can convert a highly mobile monolayer, that is only physisorbed, into a robust layer covalently bonded to a substrate by inducing the surface reaction with a nanosecond UV light pulses. 

---