Fabrication and tribological characterization of deformation-resistant nano textured surfaces produced by two-photon lithography and atomic layer deposition

In this study, we demonstrated a novel strategy for fabricating deformation-resistant nano-textured surfaces. Ordered arrays of IP-DIP photoresist nanodots of various diameters were first fabricated using two-photon lithography. IP-DIP/Al2O3 core-shell nanostructures (CSNs) were then formed by conformally coating the nano-dots with Al2O3 of different thicknesses via atomic layer deposition (ALD). The CSNs showed 85% lower coefficients of friction than the bare IP-DIP nanodots and exhibited minimal nanostructure deformation at contact pressures greater than 20 GPa. The IP-DIP/Al2O3 CSNs also have lower adhesion forces than the bare IP-DIP nanodots. The excellent deformation resistance and superior tribological properties of these CSNs demonstrate that the combination of two-photon lithography and ALD is a very promising solution to tribological issues in miniaturized systems.