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Surface plasticizing of chalcogenide glasses: a route for direct nanoimprint with multifunctional antireflective and highly hydrophobic structures
Author(s) -
Sivan Tzadka,
Natali Ostrovsky,
Esti Toledo,
Guillaume Le Saux,
Evyatar Kassis,
Shay Joseph,
Mark Schvartzman
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.400038
Subject(s) - materials science , chalcogenide , anti reflective coating , chalcogenide glass , nanotechnology , glass transition , nanostructure , layer (electronics) , optoelectronics , polymer , composite material
Chalcogenide glasses are attractive materials for optical applications. However, these applications often require pattering of the surface with functional micro-/ nanostructures, which is challenging by traditional microfabrication. Here, we present a novel, robust, and scalable approach for the direct patterning of chalcogenide glasses, based on soft imprinting of a solvent-plasticized glass layer formed on the glass surface. We established a methodology for surfaces plasticizing, through tuning of its glass transition temperature by process conditions, without compromising on the chemical composition, structure, and optical properties of the plasticized layer. This control over the glass transition temperature allowed to imprint the surface of chalcogenide glass with features sized down to 20 nm, and achieve an unprecedented combination of full pattern transfer and complete maintenance of the shape of the imprinted substrate. We demonstrated two applications of our patterning approach: a diffraction grating, and a multifunctional pattern with both antireflective and highly hydrophobic water-repellent functionalities - a combination that has never been demonstrated for chalcogenide glasses. This work opens a new route for the nanofabrication of optical devices based on chalcogenide glasses and paves the way to numerous future applications for these important optical materials.

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