Formation of nanoimprinting mould through use of nanosphere lithography

Two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal (PC) fabrication is generally carried out by electron beam lithography (EBL). This technique is very expensive and has a low throughput because it works serially. In this paper, we report an inexpensive, fast and simple nano-fabrication technique for creating nanostructures based on nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and nanosphere lithography (NSL) techniques. A monolayer of self-assembled polystyrene colloidal particle is used as a mask for dry etching of SiO2 to create periodic ordered nano-plates on glass. Then the nanopatterns are transferred by imprinting onto a polymer film or poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-coated Si substrate. Preliminary results show that this technique is a promising way to fabricate 2D photonic crystals.