Ultrafast Laser Nanofabrication Assisted with Near-field Scanning Optical Microscopy

We have developed the laser nanoprocessing technique by the integration of the ultrafast laser and near-field scanning microscopy (NSOM). The second harmonic femtosecond laser working in the optical near-field with the assistance of NSOM equipment was applied to expose the photosensitive polymer material. The nanopatterns with feature size smaller than the laser wavelength can be fabricated. The optical diffraction limitation is therefore broken through by the near-field nanoprocessing. It was found in our experiment that the nanofabrication feature size depends strongly on the gap between the fiber probe tip and the substrate surface, as well as the laser coupling efficiency. The approach offers the advantages of high precision, speed and selectivity in nanopatterning, and is promising to be used in data storage device manufacture for higher density recording.