Low-temperature fabrication method of bulk metamaterial structures for heat-sensitive materials
View Patent ↗A method of fabricating metamaterial structures without exceeding 30° C. or less in temperature comprises forming a metasurface mask by depositing a layer of nanoparticles on a surface of the substrate, etching the surface of the substrate with the nanoparticles thereon using reactive ion beam etching (RIBE), and removing at least a portion of the nanoparticles from the etched surface. Nanometer size surface features are thereby formed on the surface of a material without exceeding 30° C. in temperature, thereby forming metamaterial structures with a reduced incidence of thermal damage to the material.
1 . A method of fabricating metamaterial structures at 30° C. or less, said method comprising:
forming a metasurface mask by depositing a layer of nanoparticles on a surface on a substrate;
etching said surface with said nanoparticles thereon using reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) thereby forming surface features on the surface; and
removing at least a portion of said nanoparticles from said etched surface,
wherein the substrate has a temperature and the temperature of the substrate is maintained at or below 30° C. during both said deposition of said layer of nanoparticles on said surface on said substrate and said etching said surface with said nanoparticles thereon using said reactive ion beam etching.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said nanoparticles comprise spheres.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein said nanoparticles comprise polystyrene spheres.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said nanoparticles are from 1 to 200 nanometers wide.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said nanoparticles are deposited using a spin-on process.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said nanoparticles are deposited using a Langmuir (L), Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) or Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) process.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said RIBE comprises generating ions with an ion gun and accelerating said ions toward the substrate.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said RIBE further comprises neutralizing ions prior to the ions reaching the substrate.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein neutralizing ions comprises emitting a flux of electrons toward the ions.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein removing nanoparticles comprises removing most of said nanoparticles from said etched surface.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein removing particles from said etched surface comprises removing said layer of nanoparticles.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein removing particles from said etched surface comprises washing particles from said surface with a liquid.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said metamaterial structures are formed in glass.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said metamaterial structures are formed in material for a piezoelectric or MEMS device or assembly or a magnetic sensor.
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said metamaterial structures are formed in a nonlinear optical crystal or a solid-state laser material.
16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said metamaterial structures are formed in laser glass.
17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature of the substrate does not exceed 30° C. in temperature during said removing said at least a portion of said nanoparticles from said etched surface.
18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said surface features are formed by etching into said substrate.
19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said substrate has at least one layer thereon and said surface on said substrate that is etched comprises a surface of said at least one layer on said substrate.
20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein metamaterial structures comprise bulk metamaterial structures formed in bulk material.