This paper introduces an optimized oxygen (O2) plasma surface treatment technique to enhance sphere lithography on hydrophobic photoresist surfaces. The focus is on semiconductor manufacturing, particularly the creation of finer structures beyond the capabilities of traditional photolithography. The key breakthrough is a method that makes substrate surfaces hydrophilic without altering photoresist patterns. This is achieved by meticulously controlling the O2 plasma treatment duration. The result is the consistent formation of nano and microscale patterns across large areas. From an academic perspective, the study deepens our understanding of surface treatments in pattern formation. Industrially, it heralds significant progress in semiconductor and precision manufacturing sectors, promising enhanced capabilities and efficiency.
We proposed and demonstrated the double layered metallic nano-hole structure using polystyrene beads process to enhance the sensitivity of surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The double layered SPR structures are calculated using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method for the width, thickness, and period of the metallic nano-hole structures. The thickness of the metal film and the metallic nano-hole is 30 and 20 nm in the 214 nm wide nano-hole size, respectively. The double layered SPR structures are fabricated with monolayer polystyrene beads of 420 nm wide. The sensitivities of the conventional SPR sensor and the double layered SPR sensor are obtained to 42.2 and 52.1 degree/RIU, respectively.