Sub-wavelength to Nanoscale Thermal, Mechanical, and Optical Physics in Advanced Manufacturing

The development of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques, including the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM), has made it possible for high resolution imaging and advanced manufacturing at micro/nano-scales. Our work in this area has pioneered the study of sub-10 nm thermal field under the SPM tip, systematic optical-thermal field computation study of the SPM tip performance, and micro-scale resolved study of the thermal responses of SPM tip under laser irradiation.

Representative publications:

1. Yanan Yue, Xinwei Wang, 2012, "Nanoscale Thermal Probing," Nano Reviews, invited review, Vol. 3, 11586.

2. Xiangwen Chen and Xinwei Wang, 2011, "Microscale Spatially Resolved Thermal Response of Si Nano-tip to Laser Irradiation," Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 115, 22207–22216.

3. Yanan Yue, Xiangwen Chen, and Xinwei Wang, 2011, "Non-Contact Sub-10 nm Temperature Measurement in Near-field Laser Heating," ACS Nano, Vol. 5, pp. 4466-4475.

4. Xiangwen Chen and Xinwei Wang, 2011, "Near-field Thermal Transport in Nanotip Under Laser Irradiation," Nanotechnology, Vol. 22, p. 075204.

Spherical particles can act as spherical lens to induce nm-scale optical field to facilitate nanoscale manufacturing and surface structuring. Laser-assisted nanopatterning and nanoimprinting lithography has been proved to be able to pattern sub-10 nm features on a substrate. Large-area fabrication of nanoscale photonic structures using laser-assisted nanoimprinting of self-assembled particles has been reported. Our work in this area provides the first time quantitative experimental characterization of the thermal, stress, and optical fields under near-field focusing. A spatial resolution of 20 nm has been achieved. Also combined optical, thermal and mechanical modelings have been conducted to interpret and validate the experimental observations.

Representative publications:

1.  Ridong Wang, Pengyu Yuan, Meng Han, Shen Xu, Tianyu Wang, and Xinwei Wang, 2017, "Asymmetry of Raman scattering by structure variation in space," Optics Express, Vol. 25, 18378.

2. Xiaoduan Tang, Shen Xu, and Xinwei Wang, 2013, "Thermal probing in single microparticle and microfiber induced near-field laser focusing," Optics Express, Vol. 21, No. 12, 14303-14315.

3. Xiaoduan Tang, Shen Xu and Xinwei Wang, 2013, "Nanoscale Probing of Thermal, Stress, and Optical Fields under Near-Field Laser Heating," PLOS ONE, 8(3): e58030. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058030.

4. Xiaoduan Tang, Yanan Yue, Xiangwen Chen, and Xinwei Wang, 2012, "Sub-wavelength temperature probing in near-field laser heating by particles," Optics Express, Vol. 20, pp. 14152-14167.