Crystallographic orientation-dependent pattern replication in direct imprint of aluminum nanostructures

In the present work, we perform molecular dynamics simulations corroborated by experimental validations to elucidate the underlying deformation mechanisms of single-crystalline aluminum under direct imprint using a rigid silicon master. We investigate the influence of crystallographic orientation on the microscopic deformation behavior of the substrate materials and its correlation with the macroscopic pattern replications. Furthermore, the surface mechanical properties of the patterned structures are qualitatively characterized by nanoindentation tests. Our results reveal that dislocation slip and deformation twinning are two primary plastic deformation modes of single-crystalline aluminum under the direct imprint. However, both the competition between the individual deformation mechanisms and the geometry between activated dislocation slip systems and imprinted surface vary with surface orientation, which in turn leads to a strong crystallographic orientation dependence of the pattern replications. It is found that the (010) orientation leads to a better quality of pattern replication of single-crystalline aluminum than the (111) orientation.