Fabrication of surface-patterned ZnO thin films using sol-gel methods and nanoimprint lithography

TL;DR

This paper presents a method combining sol-gel and nanoimprint lithography to fabricate large-scale, surface-patterned ZnO thin films with enhanced optical transmittance, suitable for various applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, scalable fabrication process for surface-patterned ZnO thin films using combined sol-gel and nanoimprint lithography techniques.

Findings

Enhanced optical transmittance of patterned ZnO films

Successful large-scale patterning with various templates

Crystalline ZnO films achieved after annealing

Abstract

Surface-patterned ZnO thin films were fabricated by direct imprinting on ZnO sol and subsequent annealing process. The polymer-based ZnO sols were deposited on various substrates for the nanoimprint lithography and converted to surface-patterned ZnO gel films during the thermal curing nanoimprint process. Finally, crystalline ZnO films were obtained by subsequent annealing of the patterned ZnO gel films. The optical characterization indicates that the surface patterning of ZnO thin films can lead to an enhanced transmittance. Large-scale ZnO thin films with different patterns can be fabricated by various easy-made ordered templates using this combination of sol-gel and nanoimprint lithography techniques.