All annealing treatments were carried out in air in a box furnace with the substrates contained in a high-purity alumina crucible. In this study, the surface morphology was examined using an atomic force microscope (AFM; Veeco DID3100, Plainview, NY, USA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM; Hitachi S-4700, Tokyo, Japan). Results and discussion Top-view SEM micrograph of

soft mold (PDMS diluted with toluene) PU-H71 ic50 molding from the quartz master is shown in Figure 3a. As shown in Figure 3a, the patterned PDMS with 550-nm-wide lines separated by 250-nm space were obtained on the surface. The result of the UV curing imprinted pattern used by the replicated soft PDMS mold on the quartz master is shown in Figure 3b. It is easily seen that the patterned AMONIL-MMS4 VX-680 order TSA HDAC nmr with 250-nm-wide and 120-nm-long lines separated by 550-nm space was obtained on the Al thin film surface, which is coincident with that of the quartz master. The residual polymer layer with 60-nm thickness was removed by RIE. The patterns were subsequently transferred into Al thin films by RIE. Top-view SEM micrograph of patterned Al thin films obtained by the UV-NIL and RIE is shown in

Figure 3c. As shown in Figure 3c, the patterned Al thin films with 250-nm-wide lines separated by 550-nm space were obtained on the sapphire surface, which is coincident with that of the quartz master. Figure 3 SEM images of the morphology of PDMS soft mold molding. From the quartz master (a), patterned AMONIL-MMS4 (b), and patterned Al thin ADP ribosylation factor films obtained by the UV-NIL and RIE (c). Dramatic changes in the pattern morphology were observed following high-temperature annealing applied to induce grain growth of the sapphire. Figure 4a shows a SEM image of the morphology of the patterned surface after annealing for 24 h at 450°C and 1 h at 1,200°C. For nanopatterned Al thin

films that subsequently experienced an annealing temperature of 1,200°C, it was found that smoothing and coalescence of the line features had occurred to such an extent that the patterning was no longer discernible. The phenomenon of surface diffusion-driven smoothing of surface features is well established in the literature [19–22] and occurs due to surface energy considerations [23, 24]. The kinetics of the smoothing of the line patterns can be used to derive information on the diffusion mechanism. Therefore, for the successful fabrication of NPSS, the relative kinetics of smoothing versus grain growth of the underlying sapphire is critical. Fortunately, for high-temperature annealing at 1,000°C and 1,100°C, the patterns were retained on sapphire substrates. Figure 4b shows a SEM image of the morphology of the patterned surface after high-temperature annealing for 1 h at 1,000°C. Figure 4c shows the AFM image of nanopatterned Al thin films with 250-nm-wide lines separated by 550-nm space after dual-stage annealing for 24 h at 450°C and 1 h at 1,000°C.