Solvent-Free Nanofabrication Based on Ice-Assisted Electron-Beam Lithography

Advances in electron-beam lithography (EBL) have fostered the prominent development of functional micro/nanodevices. Nonetheless, traditional EBL is predominantly applicable to large-area planar substrates and often suffers from chemical contamination and complex processes for handling resists. This paper reports a streamlined and ecofriendly approach to implement e-beam patterning on arbitrary shaped substrates, exemplified by solvent-free nanofabrication on optical fibers. The procedure starts with the vapor deposition of water ice as an electron resist and ends in the sublimation of the ice followed by a "blow-off" process. Without damage and contamination from chemical solvents, delicate nanostructures and quasi-3D structures are easily created. A refractive index sensor is further demonstrated by decorating plasmonic nanodisk arrays on the end face of a single-mode fiber. Our study provides a fresh perspective in EBL-based processing, and more exciting research exceeding the limits of traditional approaches is expected.