Near-field optical patterning on chloromethylated polyimide

Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) coupled with laser is used in nano-scale processing to make nano-scale dots or nano-scale structure. Nano-sclae processing using NSOM coupled with laser can be applied to photo- chemical etching process on crstalline silicon, to additive processes on some polymers, to subtraction processes on SAMs and other polymers. And it can be used to change material's optical properties in nano-scale geometry. As above, nano-scale processing using NSOM coupled with laser has an advantage that it can be applied to various processes. In this work, by using NSOM coupled with 266nm UV laser, nanoscale patterns were fabricated on chloromethylated polyimide (CMPI) films coated on silicon wafer. CMPI undergoes a fast photolysis under UV light. So, in the case of pattern fabrication on CMPI it is possible to fabricate patterns without development process. Possibilities for SMPI to be applied to nano-scale patterns fabrication were demonstrated. Compared to usual lithographic processes, the process proposed in this work is simple because development, one of steps to fabricate nano-scale patterns, is not needed. And the finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) method was employed to simulate the energy intensity distribution in the near-field. The simulation was executed for NSOM tip and UV laser. The influence of aperture size and tip-sample distance on the resolution of the lithographic process is discussed from the simulation results. Comparison of some simulation results with corresponding experimental results could confirm the validity of the simulation model proposed.