ABSTRACT
Nanopatterning can be broadly defined as a process that uses light, radiation, or mechanics to imprint or build up a nanoscale structure on a solid substrate. Thereby the size of the structure is typically less than 100 nm. Driven by the needs of the semiconductor industry for smaller feature sizes, technologies that allow the fabrication of such nanostructures with high precision in a variety of materials have been developed. Basically these technologies refer to nanolithography methods, such as nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and scanning probe nanolithography, and advanced materials that provide self-assembling capability. In the following book chapter the three main NIL methods-ultraviolet (UV)-based NIL (UV-NIL), hotembossing, and micro-/nanocontact printing (µCP/nCP)—will be discussed, as well as scanning probe lithography, including scanning tunneling microscope lithography (STML), atomic force microscope
lithography, and self-assembled nanopatterns comprising block copolymer (BCP) nanopatterning, liquid crystal templating, colloidal lithography, and others. The ability to control nanoscale surface dimensions and fabricate nanopatterns was the main driving force for the progress in microelectronics (transistors, electronic circuits) and photonics. Later the process of nanostructuring was extended to bioapplications, which is described herein with a focus on nanosensor devices, biomolecular nanoarrays, implants, and tissue engineering.
