Deflected Capillary Force Lithography

Yangjun Cai, Zhi, Zhao, Jixin Chen, Tinglu Yang, and Paul S. Cremer*

Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, P.O. Box 30012, College Station, Texas 77843, United States

ACS Nano, Article ASAP

DOI: 10.1021/nn2045278

Publication Date (Web): January 6, 2012

Herein we introduce a novel strategy based on capillary force lithography (CFL) to fabricate asymmetric polymeric ring structures by applying both shear and nomal forces to a poly(dimethylsiloxane) stamp. The mechanism for the formation of asymmetric rings is caused by the deflection of cylindrical PDMS pillars due to the shear load, which is therefore termed deflected CFL (dCFL). The asymmetric polymeric rings could be readily transferred to an underlying gold layer to generate split ring structures with tunable opening angles. Asymmetric structures based upon trigular and square-shaped pillars were also fabricated. These elements were formed into periodic arrays over surface areas as large as 1 cm² and may have optical and electromagnetic applications.