Nanotransfer-on-Things: From Rigid to Stretchable Nanophotonic Devices

The growing demand for nanophotonic devices has driven the advancement of nanotransfer printing (nTP) technology. Currently, the scope of nTP is limited to certain materials and substrates owing to the temperature, pressure, and chemical bonding requirements. In this study, we developed a universal nTP technique utilizing covalent bonding-based adhesives to improve the adhesion between the target material and substrate. Additionally, the technique employed plasma-based selective etching to weaken the adhesion between the mold and target material, thereby enabling the reliable modulation of the relative adhesion forces, regardless of the material or substrate. The technique was evaluated by printing four optical materials on nine substrates, including rigid, flexible, and stretchable substrates. Finally, its applicability was demonstrated by fabricating a ring hologram, a flexible plasmonic color filter, and extraordinary optical transmission-based strain sensors. The high accuracy and reliability of the proposed nTP method were verified by the performance of nanophotonic devices that closely matched numerical simulation results.

Automated summary

The demand for nanophotonic devices has led to advancements in nanotransfer printing (nTP) technology. However, the current limitations of nTP are due to temperature, pressure, and chemical bonding requirements. In this study, a universal nTP technique was developed that utilizes covalent bonding-based adhesives to improve adhesion, along with plasma-based selective etching to weaken mold-material adhesion. The technique was evaluated on various substrates and successfully used to fabricate nanophotonic devices with high accuracy and reliability.