Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have become one of the most interesting allotropes of carbon due to their intriguing mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical properties. The synthesis and electron emission properties of CNT arrays have been investigated in this work. Vertically aligned CNTs of different densities were synthesized on copper substrate with catalyst dots patterned by nanosphere lithography. The CNTs synthesized with catalyst dots patterned by spheres of 500 nm diameter exhibited the best electron emission properties with the lowest turn-on/threshold electric fields and the highest field enhancement factor. Furthermore, CNTs were treated with NH3 plasma for various durations and the optimum enhancement was obtained for a plasma treatment of 1.0 min. CNT point emitters were also synthesized on a flat-tip or a sharp-tip to understand the effect of emitter geometry on the electron emission. The experimental results show that electron emission can be enhanced by decreasing the screening effect of the electric field by neighboring CNTs. In another part of the dissertation, vertically aligned CNTs were synthesized on stainless steel (SS) substrates with and without chemical etching or catalyst deposition. The density and length of CNTs were determined by synthesis time. For a prolonged growth time, the catalyst activity terminated and the plasma started etching CNTs destructively. CNTs with uniform diameter and length were synthesized on SS substrates subjected to chemical etching for a period of 40 minutes before the growth. The direct contact of CNTs with stainless steel allowed for the better field emission performance of CNTs synthesized on pristine SS as compared to the CNTs synthesized on Ni/Cr coated SS. Finally, fabrication of large arrays of free-standing vertically aligned CNT/SnO2 core-shell structures was explored by using a simple wet-chemical route. The structure of the SnO2 nanoparticles was studied by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that a uniform layer of SnO2 is conformally coated on every tapered CNT. The strong adhesion of CNTs with SS guaranteed the formation of the core-shell structures of CNTs with SnO2 or other metal oxides, which are expected to have applications in chemical sensors and lithium ion batteries.

Afin de répondre aux demandes constantes de l’industrie micro-électronique pour la réduction des tailles des dispositifs électroniques, de nouvelles techniques de lithographie sont mises au point. Une de ces techniques est l’auto-assemblage dirigé des copolymères à blocs (DSA). Cette technique consiste à utiliser la capacité des copolymères à blocs à s’auto-assembler en nanodomaines (cylindres ou lamelles) pour former des motifs de type contact ou ligne / espace. En l’absence de motifs directionnels, les copolymères à blocs ne possèdent pas d’ordre à longue distance, nécessaire pour toute application type CMOS. Ainsi, deux approches différentes de DSA sont utilisées: la grapho-épitaxie, qui génère une orientation par guidage physique, et la chemo-épitaxie, qui génère une orientation par affinité chimique. Cette dernière permet plus de flexibilité lors de la conception des masques de lithographie puisque les zones actives sont définies à postériori par l’approche « cut last », et est de fait la plus recherchée aujourd’hui pour aligner les copolymères à blocs. Toutefois, les procédés de chemo-épitaxie actuels ont montré leurs limitations pour l’utilisation de copolymères à blocs de haute résolution dit high , dont la période est inférieure à 20 nm, due aux limitations des outils de lithographie conventionnelle utilisés en production.Dans cette thèse, un nouveau procédé de chemo-épitaxie, nommé ACE (Arkema-CEA) spécialement conçu pour l’intégration de copolymères à blocs high  est présenté. Dans ce procédé, les guides de chemo-épitaxie sont formés en combinant la lithographie standard et le procédé de lithographie par espaceur. Une sous-couche neutre, permettant l’orientation perpendiculaire du copolymère à blocs, est dans un premier temps déposée entre les espaceurs. Après le retrait des espaceurs, une étape de greffage sélectif a lieu pour obtenir un guide affine. Dans le procédé ACE, la taille finale du guide n’est plus directement définie par lithographie mais elle est plutôt déterminée par la taille de l’espaceur, obtenue en contrôlant l’épaisseur de dépôt. Cette technique permet de s’affranchir des contraintes de la lithographie au niveau des hautes résolutions.Afin de démontrer la faisabilité du procédé ACE, la thèse est divisée en deux axes de recherches. Le premier axe consiste à valider les points critiques du procédé, à savoir le greffage sélectif du guide directionnel entre les motifs formés par la sous-couche neutre et le retrait des espaceurs. Une étude approfondie sur les différentes sous-couches polymères disponibles et les effets des procédés sur celles-ci est réalisée. Le second axe s’intéresse à l’alignement du copolymère à blocs par le procédé ACE. Des fenêtres de procédé permettant d’étudier la stabilité et la reproductibilité du procédé sont obtenues en mesurant la défectivité du copolymère à blocs en fonction de la commensurabilité des motifs de lithographie. L’influence des différents paramètres (conditions de recuit et d’épaisseur du copolymère à blocs, hauteur et CD des espaceurs, …) est étudiée afin d’optimiser le procédé mis en place.Au vu des essais réalisés, le procédé mis en place est un procédé hybride chemo-grapho-épitaxie : la combinaison des guides physiques et chimiques permet l’alignement à longue distance des copolymères à blocs. L’absence de topographie ou la modification de l’affinité chimique du guide entraine une absence ou une modification de l’alignement des blocs. L’optimisation des paramètres permet l’alignement des copolymères à blocs sur de longues distances (plusieurs dizaines de micromètres carré), qui pourront permettre la définition de zone active par l’approche « cut last ». / In order to offer a solution to constant micro-electronics fab requirements in terms of lithography resolution, new lithography approaches are under study. One of this technic consist of using Block Copolymer capabilities to self-assembled in micro-structures, forming patterns structures like contact (cylinders) and line / space (lamellae). In the absence of any constraint, block copolymer do not own a long range order, useful for any CMOS-type application. Thereby two technics are used to obtain a block alignment: the grapho-epitaxy which align the block copolymer thanks to a physical guide, and the chemo-epitaxy, which align block copolymer thanks to a chemical affinity. Chemo-epitaxy, contrary to graph-epitaxy, offers space saving by aligning the blocs all over the studied field. Today, it is the most used technic. However, the current lithography requirements lead to the integration of high  block copolymers whose period are below 20 nm. With this dimension, the current chemo-epitaxy processes are not adapted anymore, due to the resolution limit of the standard lithography tools defining the guides.This thesis aims to introduce a new chemo-epitaxy process flow, called Process ACE,by using LETI 300mm process capability and Arkema’s block copolymer advanced materials. In this new process, chemo-epitaxy guides are formed by combining standard lithography and established spacer patterning process. Spacer patterning technique is an option which, thanks to its aggressive dimensions, allows the integration of high  block copolymers. A neutral underlayer, allowing perpendicular bloc copolymer orientation is located between the spacers. After the spacer removal, a selective grafting takes place to obtain an affine guide for one of the block. The final guide size corresponds to the one of the spacer earlier processed.In order to validate the process feasibility the thesis is divided in two parts. The first part investigates the critical process steps, that is to say the affinity guide selective grafting between the patterns form by the neutral underlayer and the spacers removal, by means of an in-depth polymer underlayer study and the process effects on these one’s. The second part focuses on block copolymer alignment with process ACE. Process windows validating the process stability and reproducibility are obtained by measuring block copolymer defectivity as a function of the lithography patterns commensurability. The different parameters effect (block copolymer baking, spacer height and width) is studied in order to optimise the process set up.On the basis of the testis undertaken, the process set up is a hybrid chemo-grapho-epitaxy process. It allows block copolymer long range order thanks to physical and chemical guides involved at the underlayer – block copolymer interface all by allowing a full space occupation of the available space.

Abstract: When noble metals particles are synthesized with progressively smaller dimensions, strikingly novel optical properties arise. For nanoscale particles, collective disturbances of the electron density known as localized surface plasmons resonances can arise, and these resonances are utilized in a variety of applications ranging from surface-enhanced molecular spectroscopy and sensing to photothermal cancer therapy to plasmon-driven photochemistry. Central to all of these studies is the plasmon’s remarkable ability to process light, capturing and converting it into intense near fields, heat, and even energetic carriers at the nanoscale. In the past decade, we have witnessed major advances in plasmonics which is directly linked with the much broader field of (colloidal) nanotechnology. These breakthroughs span from plasmon lasing and waveguides, plasmonic photochemistry and solar cells to active plasmonics, plasmonics nanocomposites and semiconductor plasmons. All the above-mentioned phenomena rely on precise spatial placement and distinct control over the dimensions and orientation of the individual plasmonic building blocks within complex one-, two- or three-dimensional complex arrangements. For the nanofabrication of metal nanostructures at surfaces, most often lithographic approaches, e.g. e-beam lithography or ion-beam milling are generally applied, due to their versatility and precision. However, these techniques come along with several drawbacks such as limited scalability, limited resolution, limited compatibility with silicon manufacturing techniques, damping effects due to the polycrystalline nature of the metal nanostructures and low sample throughput. Thus, there is a great demand for alternative approaches for the fabrication of metal nanostructures to overcome the above-mentioned limitations. But why colloids? True three-dimensionality, lower damping, high quality modes due to mono-dispersity, and the absence of grain boundaries make the colloidal assembly an especially competitive method for high quality large-scale fabrication. On top of that, colloids provide a versatile platform in terms of size, shape, composition and surface modification and dispersion media. 540The combination of directed self-assembly and laser interference lithography is a versatile admixture of bottom-up and top-down approaches that represents a compelling alternative to commonly used nanofabrication methods. The objective of this thesis is to focus on large area fabrication of emergent spectroscopic properties with high structural and optical quality via colloidal self-assembly. We focus on synergy between optical and plasmonic effects such as: (i) coupling between localized surface plasmon resonance and Bragg diffraction leading to surface lattice resonance; (ii) strong light matter interaction between guided mode resonance and collective plasmonic chain modes leading to hybrid guided plasmon modes, which can further be used to boost the hot-electron efficiency in a semiconducting material; (iii) similarly, bilayer nanoparticle chains leading to chiro-optical effects. Following this scope, this thesis introduces a real-time tuning of such exclusive plasmonic-photonic (hybrid) modes via flexible template fabrication. Mechanical stimuli such as tensile strain facilitate the dynamic tuning of surface lattice resonance and chiro-optical effects respectively. This expands the scope to curb the rigidity in optical systems and ease the integration of such systems with flexible electronics or circuits.:Contents Abstract Kurzfassung Abbreviations 1. Introduction and scope of the thesis 1.1. Introduction 1.1.1. Classical optics concepts 1.1.2. Top down fabrication methods and their challenges 1.1.3. Template-assisted self-assembly 1.1.4. Functional colloidal surface assemblies 1.2. Scope of the thesis 2. Results and Discussion 2.1. Mechanotunable Surface Lattice Resonances in the Visible Optical Range by Soft Lithography Templates and Directed Self-Assembly 2.1.1. Fabrication of flexible 2D plasmonic lattice 2.1.2. Investigation of the influence of particle size distribution on SLR quality 2.1.3. Band diagram analysis of 2D plasmonic lattice 2.1.4. Strain induced tuning of SLR 2.1.5. SEM and force transfer analysis in 2D plasmonic lattice under various strain 2.2. Hybridized Guided-Mode Resonances via Colloidal Plasmonic Self-Assembled Grating 2.2.1. Fabrication of hybrid opto-plasmonic structure via template assisted self-assembly 2.2.2. Comparison of optical band diagram of three (plasmonic, photonic and hybrid) different structures in TE and TM modes 2.2.3. Simulative comparison of optical properties of hybrid opto-plasmonic NP chains with a grating of metallic gold bars 2.2.4. Effect of cover index variation with water as a cover medium 2.3. Hot electron generation via guided hybrid modes 2.3.1. Fabrication of the hybrid GMR structure via LIL and lift-off process 2.3.2. Spectroscopic and simulative analysis of hybrid opto-plasmonic structures of different periodicities 2.3.3. Comparative study of photocurrent generation in different plasmonic structures 2.3.4. Polarization dependent response at higher wavelength 2.3.5. Directed self-assembly of gold nanoparticles within grating channels of a dielectric GMR structure supported by titanium dioxide film 2.4. Active Chiral Plasmonics Based on Geometrical Reconfiguration 2.4.1. Chiral 3D assemblies by macroscopic stacking of achiral chain substrates 3. Conclusion 4. Zusammenfassung 5. Bibliography 6. Appendix 6.1. laser interference lithography 6.2. Soft molding 6.3. Determine fill factor of plasmonic lattice 6.4. 2D plasmonic lattice of Au_BSA under strain 6.5. Characterizing order inside a 2D lattice 6.6. Template-assisted colloidal self-assembly 6.7. Out of plane lattice resonance in 1D and 2D lattices 6.8. E-Field distribution at out of plane SLR mode for 1D lattices of various periodicity with AOI 20° 6.9. Refractive index of PDMS and UV-PDMS 6.10. Refractive index measurement for sensing 6.11. Optical constants of TiO2, ma-N 405 photoresist and glass substrate measured from spectroscopic ellipsometry Acknowledgement/ Danksagung Erklärung & Versicherung List of Publications

In this dissertation, we study the optical property of 2D graded photonic super-crystals (GPSCs) for photon management. We focused primarily on manipulation and control of light by using the newly discovered GPSCs which present great opportunity for electromagnetic wave control in photonic devices. The GPSC has been used to explore the superior capability of improving the light extraction efficiency of OLEDs. The enhancement of extraction efficiency has been explained in term of destructive interference of surface plasmon resonance and out-coupling of surface plasmon through phase matching provided by GPSC and verified by e-field intensity distributions. A large light extraction efficiency up to 75% into glass substrate has been predicted through simulation. We also study the light trapping enhancement in GPSCs. Broadband, wide incident angle, and polarization independent light trapping enhancement is achieved in silicon solar cells patterned with the GPSCs. In addition, novel 2D GPSCs were fabricated using holographic lithography through the interference lithography by two sets of multiple beams arranged in a cone geometry using a spatial light modulator (SLM). Finally, we also report a fabrication of GPSCs with a super-cell size of 12a×12a by using e-beam lithography. Diffraction pattern from GPSCs reveals unique diffraction properties. In an application aspect, light emitting diode arrays can be replaced by a single light emitting diode shinning onto the diffraction pattern for a uniform fluorescence.

Graphene is a material suitable for electronic applications including sensors and biosensors operating in atmospheric conditions and at varying relative humidities. This work concerns the charge diffusion in Hall bar shaped graphene based field effect transistor that is simultaneously investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy and macroscopic transport measurement. Furthemore it studies the possibilities of graphene Hall bar modification by local anodic oxidation, local cathodic hydrogenation and mechanical lithography.

The diploma thesis deals with the experimental study of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on nano-structures with the Au/Co/Au multilayer. Plasmonic structures were prepared by the electron beam lithography and by the focused ion beam. A Scanning optical near-field microscope was used for detection of surface plasmon polaritons. SPPs were confirmed by the experiment with different polarizations of the illuminating light. Furthermore, differences in plasmon interference wavelengths was measured for different surface dielectric functions. Finally, the decantation of the SPPs interference image was measured in dependence on the external magnetic field.

This diploma thesis is focused on the applications and fabrication of graphene membrane from graphene prepared by the chemical vapor deposition. Theoretical part deals with transport properties of the graphene and multiple scattering processes limiting the charge carrier mobility in this material. Included is short review of graphene membrane applications. Experimental part provides fabrication process for achieving suspended graphene device by utilizing electron beam lithography, focused ion beam, chemical etching and patterning of graphene. Graphene membrane is characterized by transport properties measurement and compared to non-suspended graphene.

The aim of this master's thesis is to explore and study dynamic aberration correction options in electron-beam lithography systems. For the calculations, the thesis uses the optical column of the BS600 electron-beam writer. The thesis focuses on corrections of the third order field curvature, astigmatism, and distortion aberrations of the currently used magnetic deflection system and a newly designed electrostatic deflection system. The parameters of the two deflection and correction systems were compared.

This thesis deals with deposition of gallium nitride thin films on silicon substrates covered by negative HSQ rezist. Rezist was patterned via electron beam lithography to create masks, where the selective growth of crystals was achieved. Growth of GaN layers was carried out by MBE method. For achievement of desired selective growth, the various deposition conditions were studied.

<p>Microparticles have been investigated not only as feedstock spherical or amorphous bulk materials used for shape molding, but also as agents that can perform work in the micron scale. The fabrication of microparticles with active properties of self-propulsion, self-assembly, and mobility with enhanced mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties is of particular interest for emerging technologies such as drug delivery, micro-robotics, micro energy generation/harvesting, and MEMS. Conventional fabrication methods can produce several complex particle shapes in one fabrication session or hundreds of spheroid shaped particles per second. Innovative techniques, as flow lithography, have demonstrated control over particle form and composition for continuous fabrication cycles. In recent years predefined shape polymer microparticles have been fabricated as well as ceramic microparticles through suspension processing with these set of techniques. Even though ceramic materials have been fabricated, there is still a strong need to increment the palette of available materials to be processed via flow lithography. We have pioneered the production of shaped ceramic microparticles by Stop-Flow Lithography (SFL) using preceramic polymers, providing control of particle size and shape in the range of 1 – 1000 μm. The principal arranged technique (SFL) combines aspects of PDMS-based microfluidics and photolithography for the continuous cyclable fabrication of microparticles with predefined shapes. The PDMS microchannel devices used were fabricated with vinyl film molds in a laminar hood avoiding the need for a cleanroom, procedure that reduced fabrication costs. After a fabrication session, the preceramic polymer microparticles were collected, washed, and dried before entering an inert atmosphere furnace for pyrolysis. Additionally, by treating the material initially as liquid polymer, special properties can be added by converting it into an emulsion or a suspension. Microparticles were functionalized by introducing porosity and magnetic nanoparticles in the preceramic polymer matrix. The porous characteristic of a particle leads to an increase in surface area, allowing the particle to be infiltrated with a catalyzer or act as a chemical/physical carrier, and the magnetic behavior of the particles allows a controllable trajectory with defined external magnetic fields. These two properties can be used to fabricate bifunctional microparticles to serve as drug carriers through human arteries and veins for drug delivery purposes. We successfully fabricated solid and functional ceramic microparticles in the 10 – 50 μm range with predefined shapes as hexagons, gears, triangles, and ovals. This system is an economical route to fabricate functional defined shape particles that can serve as microrobots to perform tasks in liquid media.</p>