Room temperature direct imprinting of porous glass prepared from phase-separated glass

摘要

This work describes a room-temperature imprinting of nanoporous glass prepared by selective chemical etching of phase-separated glass. A highly porous (58%) and highly transparent (>90%) porous glass layer can be formed on a transparent phase-separated glass substrate. It is shown that the lateral resolution of the imprinting is a few tens of nanometers. As the porosity increases, the imprint depth increases and reaches up to 90% of the height of the mold pattern. The porous glass has a wider transmittance window (300-2700 nm) and a higher thermal durability (similar to 500 degrees C) than other materials used for imprinting. The technique has various potential applications such as diffraction optical elements, waveguides, biosensors, and microfluidic devices.