Fabrication of nano-structures on glass substrate by modified nano-imprint patterning with a plasma-induced surface-oxidized Cr mask

In this study, we introduce a process for fabrication of nano-sized structural arrays on glass using modified nano-imprint patterning. A PVC (polyvinyl chloride) stamp was prepared by hot embossing, and a Cr-oxide-pattern etch-mask was used. The etch-mask was formed by oxidizing the surface of exposed Cr region by oxygen plasma treatment at room temperature. The fabrication of the etch-mask was conducted by immersing the locally oxidized Cr pattern in resin remover and Cr-etchant. The residual UV resin and un-oxidized Cr pattern were selectively removed, resulting in the obvious array of Cr-oxide etch-mask-pattern. The array of glass nano-structures was formed by reactive ion etching (RIE) using CF₄ and Ar gas discharge. After removing the Cr-oxide mask, the final nano-structure had a height of 40 nm and a diameter of 170 nm, which was slightly less than the diameter of the original master-mold. The plasma treatment gave rise to a rough glass surface with root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of 29.25 nm, while that of bare glass was 0.66 nm. A high optical transmittance due to reduction in reflectance was observed at the plasma-treated rough surface, as well as for the array of nano-structures. The highest measured optical transmittance was 97.2% at a wavelength of 550 nm; an increase of about 7.2% compared to bare glass.