Focused Electron and Ion Beam Induced Deposition on Flexible and Transparent Polycarbonate Substrates

The successful application of focused electron (and ion) beam induced deposition techniques for the growth of nanowires on flexible and transparent polycarbonate films is reported here. After minimization of charging effects in the substrate, sub-100 nm-wide Pt, W, and Co nanowires have been grown and their electrical conduction is similar compared to the use of standard Si-based substrates. Experiments where the substrate is bent in a controlled way indicate that the electrical conduction is stable up to high bending angles, >50°, for low-resistivity Pt nanowires grown by the ion beam. On the other hand, the resistance of Pt nanowires grown by the electron beam changes significantly and reversibly with the bending angle. Aided by the substrate transparency, a diffraction grating in transmission mode has been built based on the growth of an array of Pt nanowires that shows sharp diffraction spots. The set of results supports the large potential of focused beam deposition as a high-resolution nanolithography technique on transparent and flexible substrates. The most promising applications are expected in flexible nano-optics and nanoplasmonics, flexible electronics, and nanosensing.