Fabrication of large-area, high-density Ni nanopillar arrays on GaAs substrates using diblock copolymer lithography and electrodeposition

Large-area, ultradense Ni nanopillar arrays were fabricated directly on bare n-GaAs substrates using diblock copolymer lithography and electrodeposition. The Ni nanopillar arrays are hexagonally arranged, exhibiting an average pillar diameter of ∼24 nm, and an areal density of ∼10¹¹/cm² over an entire surface area of 1 cm × 1 cm. These arrays represent large-scale, highly dense, sub-30 nm metal-nanopillar arrays made on III-V semiconductor substrates suitable as pattern masks. The fabrication method offers a simple and effective route to manufacturing large-area, highly dense, sub-30 nm metal nanostructures for III-V optoelectronic devices, in order to enhance their performance and functionalities.