A facile nanowire fabrication approach based on edge lithography

This paper developed a facile nanofabrication approach at a 4-inch wafer level based on edge lithography defined hundreds nanometer-sized features. Aluminum nanowires with width around 600 nm were prepared and the wafer-level width non-uniformity was less than 8.45%. The aluminum nanowires functioned as masks in the deep reaction ion etching for vertically-stacked silicon nanowires and silicon nanoridge preparation. The obtained nanoridges acted as the nano-master in the molding of a PDMS micro/nano integrated channels. The proposed approach has the potential of nanofabricating with mass-production at effective cost, thereby holds promising future in MEMS (Microelectromechanical system) compatible micro/nano integration and nanobiotechnology applications.