Sub-micro to nanometer scale laser direct writing techniques with a contact probe

Modern laser direct writing techniques provide tools for high-precision fabrication and manufacturing at the micro scale. As the integration of devices increases, the feature size is being reduced to the nanometer scale. In this paper, we developed a contact-probe-based laser direct writing technique that covers the sub-micro to nanometer scale. The proposed probe uses a solid immersion lens or a nanoaperture to enhance the resolution in a near-field writing method. We integrated several of the proposed probes with a conventional laser direct writing system and achieved pattern resolutions up to 35 nm with a 405 nm wavelength laser. Furthermore, the scanning speed (~ 10 mm/s) of the probes was high enough to use it in actual industry fabrication processes. With the proposed probe-based system, electronic, photonic, or plasmonic devices that require sub-micro meter scale features can be fabricated by means of laser direct writing. The minimum width of the line pattern recorded with the plasmonic device was 35nm.