Meniscus-mask lithography for fabrication of narrow nanowires.

We demonstrate the efficiency of meniscus-mask lithography (MML) for fabrication of precisely positioned nanowires in a variety of materials. Si, SiO2, Au, Cr, W, Ti, TiO2, and Al nanowires are fabricated and characterized. The average widths, depending on the materials, range from 6 to 16 nm. A broad range of materials and etching processes are used and the generality of approach suggests the applicability of MML to a majority of materials used in modern planar technology. High reproducibility of the MML method is shown and some fabrication issues specific to MML are addressed. Crossbar structures produced by MML demonstrate that junctions of nanowires could be fabricated as well, providing the building blocks required for fabrication of nanowire structures of varied planar geometry.