Rapid, wafer-scale laser nanoprinting of polymer surfaces

Despite the fact that polymer surfaces are soft, they are notoriously difficult to pattern over large areas on the nanoscale. Two previously described methods, nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and nanosphere lithography (NSL), can be used to nanopattern polymer surfaces, but both of these methods involve many (>6) processing steps. Laser interference patterning (LIP) is a maskless surface nanopatterning technology that has been around for more than 10 years. In this issue of ACS Nano, Wang and co-workers demonstrate that LIP can form the basis for a simplified nanopatterning scheme that is general for a wide variety of polymer surfaces. As reported in this issue of ACS Nano, laser interference patterning (LIP) has been adapted to the problem of nanopatterning polymer surfaces rapidly and over wafer-scale areas.