Fabrication of triangular nanochannels using the collapse of hydrogen silsesquioxane resists

We report a simple method to fabricate nanometer-scale channels using hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) resists. The collapse of high-aspect-ratio structures during the rinse and drying steps results in self-formed enclosed triangular-shaped channels. Using electron-beam lithography, dense arrays of HSQ triangular nanochannels were fabricated with high precision. This approach provides significant flexibility in design and simplicity in processing. We also show that the properties of HSQ resists are well suited for the fabrication of buried nanochannel structures. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3006322].