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Near‐field nanopatterning: Small 16/2009
Author(s) -
Kühler P.,
García de Abajo F. J.,
Solis J.,
Mosbacher M.,
Leiderer P.,
Afonso C.N.,
Siegel J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.200990080
Subject(s) - materials science , femtosecond , chalcogenide , 3d optical data storage , lithography , thin film , scattering , optics , nanotechnology , nanometre , area density , optical storage , optoelectronics , nanostructure , light scattering , laser , physics , composite material
The cover image illustrates the concept of nanoscale optical patterning by near‐field interference. It shows the optical intensity pattern produced upon scattering of a single 800‐nm femtosecond laser pulse incident on a ≈5‐µm silica sphere supported on a thin chalcogenide film. The complex 2D near‐field pattern is imprinted onto the photosensitive film producing optical, electrical, and topographical contrast. Control over the resulting patterns is achieved by playing with the illumination conditions and the size and arrangement of the particles. This work constitutes a proof‐of‐concept of a new lithography and imaging technique that is directly applicable to a variety of scattering particles of different size, shape, and composition, and that will be an inexpensive and highly versatile method for producing complex, erasable patterns to be used in high‐density data storage, nanopatterning, and massive parallel sensing. For more information, please read the Communication “Imprinting the Optical Near Field of Microstructures with Nanometer Resolution” by J. Siegel et al., beginning on page 1825 .