Fabrication of high-aspect-ratio metallic nanostructures using nanoskiving

This communication describes the fabrication of gold structures (for example, rings) with wall thickness of 40 nm, and with high aspect ratios up to 25. This technique combines thin-film deposition of metal on a topographically patterned epoxy substrate, with nanometer-scale sectioning using a microtome in a plane parallel to the patterned substrate. The dimensions of the metal structures are determined by the thickness of the metal film and the thickness of the epoxy sections. The shape of the resulting nanostructure is defined by the cross section of the original template.