Fabrication of regular mesoscopic networks of GaAs wires

A novel and simple approach to nanolithography has been developed as a technique for fabricating two-dimensional periodic mesoscopic (submicrometre) networks of semiconductor wires with a feature size down to about 20 nm. The etching mask is made by coating the material's surface with an initially structured polymer network . This is obtained by self-organized patterning in a complex liquid (nitrocellulose solution). Reactive ion etching is used for GaAs surface patterning. This technique can find potential applications in many areas of science and technology which use low-dimensional and mesoscopic devices.