Nanostructuring of anti-adhesive layers by hot embossing lithography

Sub-100 nm patterns of (tridecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrooctyl)trichlorosilane (TFS), widely used as anti-adhesive layers, are fabricated on SiO2 substrates using hot embossing lithography (HEL) and subsequent lift-off process. The TFS patterned surfaces are analyzed using atomic/lateral force microscopy (AFM/LFM). Low friction force is revealed on the areas of TFS relative to the SiO2 areas. The width of TFS lines is mainly determined by the quality of the embossed structure and the etching time during reactive ion etching. The border width determined by LFM is 45+/-10 nm, which limits the lateral resolution of the chemical patterns by HEL. Smaller structures can also be fabricated by HEL, however, with sacrifice of the friction contrast between areas of TFS and SiO2. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.