Fabrication of nanometer size photoresist wire patterns with a silver nanocrystal shadowmask

In this article, we present a new method for fabricating precisely defined nanometer scale photoresist wire patterns. The Langmuir technique was utilized to form high aspect ratio lamellae, or wire patterns, of Ag nanocrystals at the air/water interface, and these patterns were transferred onto resist-coated substrates as a Langmuir-Schaeffer film and as a shadowmask. The wire patterns were transferred to the photoresist material by spatially selective electron beam exposure on the Ag nanocrystal wire shadowmask. Monte Carlo simulation was done to estimate the electron stopping power for the Ag nanocrystal shadowmask at low voltage.