Deterministic Fabrication of Liquid Metal Nanopatterns for Nanophotonics Applications

Gallium-based liquid metals (LMs) are widely used for stretchable and reconfigurable electronics thanks to their fluidic nature and excellent conductivity. These LMs possess attractive optical properties for photonics applications as well. However, due to the high surface tension of the LMs, it is challenging to form LM nanostructures with arbitrary shapes using conventional nanofabrication techniques. As a result, LM-based nanophotonics has not been extensively explored. Here, a simple yet effective technique is demonstrated to deterministically fabricate LM nanopatterns with high yield over a large area. This technique demonstrates for the first time the capability to fabricate LM nanophotonic structures of various precisely defined shapes and sizes using two different LMs, that is, liquid gallium and liquid eutectic gallium-indium alloy. High-density arrays of LM nanopatterns with critical feature sizes down to ≈100 nm and inter-pattern spacings down to ≈100 nm are achieved, corresponding to the highest resolution of any LM fabrication technique developed to date. Additionally, the LM nanopatterns demonstrate excellent long-term stability under ambient conditions. This work paves the way toward further development of a wide range of LM nanophotonics technologies and applications.