Case Studies
The possibilities for nanofabrication are endless but below are some examples of our work.
Adding metalenses to the end of fibres
A group from Engineering asked if we could pattern the end of an optical fibre. We have devised a novel method for producing 100s of metalenses at a time that can be attached to a bare optical fibre. This is done via EBL, photolithography and the use of a sacrificial etch to release the lenses. Take a look at this research paper to find out more.
Measurement of InSe flakes
One of the properties of InSe is that its band gap changes depending on the number of layers. With conventional ellipsometry it is often very difficult to see this variation due to the large spot size and the difficulty of making large scale InSe flakes. With imaging ellipsometry we have a spot size of just a few microns meaning we can easily measure small flakes. This example shows how the bandgap changes alongside thickness.
Fabrication of metalenses
Metalenses are devices that focus light but are ultra flat and so can be orders of magnatiude thinner than conventional lenses. We have fabricated lenses by patterning a SiNx layer on top of a glass substrate. We are able to create a series of SiNx pillars with dimensions as small as a few 100nm. The total size of the lenses are over 1mm.
Fabrication of flexible holograms
With our newly installed nanoimprint lithography equipment we can rapidly reproduce holograms on to flexible plastic films. This is done by converting a greyscale image file into a series of submicron wide lines and then etching this pattern into silicon to make a master stamp. Once the stamp has been made it takes minutes to produce an array of holograms.