	US 12,235,576 B2
	Method and apparatus for manufacturing nanostructures from a material layer having a thickness below 1 μm
Enno Schatz, Wurzburg (DE); Bert Hecht, Zell (DE); Thien Anh Le, Wurzburg (DE); and Henriette Maass, Wurzburg (DE)
Assigned to Julius-Maximilians-Universitat Wurzburg, Wurzburg (DE)
Appl. No. 17/420,901
Filed by Julius-Maximilians-Universitat Wurzburg, Wurzburg (DE)
PCT Filed Jan. 24, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/051725 § 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jul. 6, 2021, PCT Pub. No. WO2020/152316, PCT Pub. Date Jul. 30, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 19153630 (EP), filed on Jan. 24, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0066315 A1, Mar. 3, 2022
Int. Cl. G03F 7/00 (2006.01); B82Y 30/00 (2011.01); B82Y 40/00 (2011.01)

CPC G03F 7/0002 (2013.01) [B82Y 30/00 (2013.01); B82Y 40/00 (2013.01)]

17 Claims

1. A method of manufacturing nano-structures on a substrate, the method comprising:

depositing a material layer on the substrate, wherein the material layer has a thickness below 1 μm;

moving a cutting die toward the material layer having the thickness below 1 μm, the cutting die having protruding portions each with a circumferential cutting edge that encircles an opening or a recess, the cutting edge of each protruding portion having a transverse cross section that is asymmetrical and that includes an inner side facing the opening or recess and an opposing outer side, the inner side comprising a barb or being sloped toward the opening or recess;

pressing the cutting die against the material layer so that the cutting edge of each protruding portion cuts out a portion of the material layer that is encircled by the cutting edge; and

removing the cut-out portions from the substrate.