New technique lowers cost of 3D nanostructures

The new technique from North Carolina State University is claimed to be significantly less expensive than conventional methods and does not rely on stacking 2D patterns to create 3D structures.

‘Our approach reduces the cost of nanolithography to the point where it could be done in your garage,’ said Dr Chih-Hao Chang, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State and senior author of a paper on the work.

Most conventional lithography uses a variety of techniques to focus light on a photosensitive film to create 2D patterns. These techniques rely on specialised lenses, electron beams or lasers - all of which are extremely expensive. Other conventional techniques use mechanical probes, which are also costly. To create 3D structures, the 2D patterns are essentially printed on top of each other.

According to NC State, the researchers took a different approach by placing nanoscale polystyrene spheres on the surface of the photosensitive film.