Extreme-Pressure Imprint Lithography for Heat and Ultraviolet-Free Direct Patterning of Rigid Nanoscale Features

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is typically performed by filling up of molds by heated polymers or UV-curable liquid resists, inevitably requiring subsequent pattern-transfer processes. Although direct NIL techniques have been suggested alternatively, they usually require precursors or ink-type resists containing undesired organic components. Here, we demonstrate extreme-pressure imprint lithography (EPIL) that effectively produces well-defined multiscale structures with a wide range from 10 nm to 10 mm on diverse surfaces even including pure or alloy metals without using any precursors, heating, UV exposure, or pattern transfer. In particular, EPIL is accomplished through precise control of room-temperature plastic deformation in nanoscale volumes, which is elucidated by finite element analyses and molecular dynamics simulations. In addition to scalability to macroscopic areas, we confirm the outstanding versatility of EPIL via its successful applications to Ni, Cu, steel, and organics. We expect that the state-of-the-art EPIL process combined with other emerging nanopatterning technologies will be extendable to the future large-area nanofabrication of various devices.