Electron-beam Lithography-based Nanostructure Fabrication for Metamaterials

Abstract

Metamaterials consist of nanostructures which can be called artificial atoms. Nanostructures provide metamaterials unique properties that natural materials cannot have. Because these properties can be used to overcome various optical limitations, the use of metamaterials can add abnormal properties to actual physical devices. However, in order to fabricate metamaterials that operate in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, the unit size of each nanostructure needs to be smaller than the wavelength of visible light. Electron beam lithography is one of the methods for fabricating nano-sized structures for the realization of metamaterials. In this paper, some of the results made through electron beam lithography processes will be introduced. The first section is about the basic electron beam lithography fabrication process. The second section is about 3-D nanostructures fabricated by applying an overlay method to electron beam lithography in order to enhance the nonlinear characteristics. The final section part is about the fabrication, and examples of amorphous silicon nano-patterns using an etching technique with a chrome mask made by electron beam lithography. In addition, this paper will discuss the detailed process of each of fabrication, along with the problems and solutions that occurred during the fabrication, and the physical principles of each of these studies.