Template-Free Vibrational Indentation Patterning (VIP) of Micro/Nanometer-Scale Grating Structures with Real-Time Pitch and Angle Tunability

A template-free, high-throughput patterning technique named vibrational indentation-driven patterning (VIP), which achieves continuous, period-tunable fabrication of micro/nanometer-scale grating structures, is reported. In VIP, a tilted edge of a hard material vertically vibrating at high frequency makes periodic indentations onto a moving substrate of any material softer than the tool, thereby continuously creating grating patterns at high speed. By modulating the tool vibration frequency, substrate feeding rate, and the tool tilting angle, the period-variable chirped gratings and angle-tunable blazed gratings can be easily achieved; they can be utilized in various optoelectronics and photonics applications. As an example, an infrared polarizer directly fabricated from the VIP-created blazed grating is demonstrated.