AI 中文总结
研究利用顺序纳米压印光刻结合氢氟酸蚀刻制备零模波导纳米孔径阵列，通过溶胶-凝胶纳米图案收缩实现直径可调，降低成本、提高通量，所得阵列检测性能优异，为纳米光子器件在多领域应用铺平道路。
AI 中文摘要
零模波导（ZMW）通过将光限制在纳米级体积内，实现了在微摩尔浓度下的单分子荧光检测，克服了共聚焦显微镜的衍射极限。然而，传统方法如聚焦离子束或电子束光刻的高制造成本和有限的通量阻碍了它们的广泛应用。在这里，我们介绍了一种可扩展的经济高效方法，使用顺序纳米压印光刻（NIL）结合氢氟酸蚀刻，从单个初始母版制备具有可调直径的ZMW阵列。在我们的顺序纳米压印方法中，每个压印的NIL输出作为下一个纳米压印世代的母版。通过利用退火过程中溶胶-凝胶纳米图案的收缩，我们在四个连续的印记中实现了从230nm到115nm的累积直径减小，所有这些都基于相同的初始母版。所得的ZMW表现出检测体积减少高达1000倍，荧光增强超过16倍，实现了与最先进的聚焦离子束制造设备相当的性能。消除对多个母版结构的需求显著扩展了纳米压印光刻方法的可扩展性。通过降低纳米制造障碍并使ZMW阵列更易于获得，顺序NIL方法为纳米光子器件在单分子生物物理学、生物传感和表面图案化应用中的更广泛采用铺平了道路。
英文摘要
Zero-mode waveguides (ZMWs) enable single-molecule fluorescence detection at micromolar concentrations by confining light to nanoscale volumes, overcoming the diffraction limit of confocal microscopy. However, their widespread adoption is hindered by high fabrication costs and limited throughput of traditional methods like focused ion beam or electron-beam lithography. Here, we introduce a scalable cost-effective approach using sequential nanoimprint lithography (NIL) combined with hydrofluoric acid etching to fabricate ZMW arrays with tunable diameters from a single initial master. In our sequential nanoimprint approach, each stamped NIL output serves as a master for the next nanoimprint generation. By leveraging the shrinkage of sol-gel nanopatterns during annealing, we achieve a cumulative diameter reduction from 230 nm to 115 nm over four successive imprints, all based on the same initial master. The resulting ZMWs exhibit detection volumes reduced by up to 1000-fold and fluorescence enhancement exceeding 16x, achieving performance comparable to state-of-the-art focused ion beam-fabricated devices. Eliminating the need for multiple master structures significantly expands the scalability of nanoimprint lithography approaches. By lowering the nanofabrication barriers and making ZMW arrays more accessible, the sequential NIL method paves the way towards broader adoption of nanophotonic devices in single-molecule biophysics, biosensing, and surface patterning applications.
