Nanoscale lithographic positioning of fluorescing quantum dot nanocrystals on planar samples

An important promise of nanophotonic structures ranging from photonic crystals and metamaterials to plasmonics is to control the emission rate and directionality of single emitters. A prerequisite is that emitters can be precisely positioned with respect to the photonic structure. In this work we demonstrate a method that achieves 70 nm resolution, and which can be applied irrespective of the emitter and substrate chemistry.

► We report a new lithographic positioning method for quantum dots with 40–70 nm accuracy.
► Positioning is highly selective, yet independent on any surface-specific chemistry.
► Masked quantum dot removal is superior to masking where quantum dots may bind.