Nanostructuring polymers by soft lithography templates realized via ion sputtering

We demonstrate that a combination of ion sputtering and soft lithography is an alternative and effective way of nanostructuring soft matter. We create self-organized nanoscale structures on a glass template by irradiating the surface with a defocused, low energy Ar ion beam. Capillary force lithography is then used to transfer the pattern, exploiting the glass transition of polymeric layers. In particular, we demonstrate the pattern transfer of a periodic 150 nm ripple structure onto an organic compound. This new, unconventional combination is then a low-cost strategy that opens the way to a variety of applications in the field of organic-based devices.