Ordered magnetic multilayer nanobowl array by nanosphere template method

Ordered magnetic multilayer [Co/Pt]n nanobowls have been fabricated over a silicon substrate based on a polystyrene (PS) monolayer film. The ordered PS monolayer was first prepared by the self-assembly technique, which was used as the template for the multilayer film [Co/Pt]n deposition. The ordered magnetic multilayer [Co/Pt]n nanobowl array was obtained after the transferring and the selective etching process. The nanobowls show a uniform size and smooth surfaces. The nanobowls stuck to the neighbors and notches were observed in the bowl brims because of the contact points between the closed-packed PS beads. The nanobowls could be separated from their neighbors by thinning the PS beads before the film deposition and no notches were observed anymore. Compared to the chemical method, this method showed more flexible choices of the material to fabricate the nanobowls, which extended the application scope of the nanobowls greatly.