Conformal thin-film patterning via crack engineering

The thesis examines crack-defined nanopatterning driven by out-of-plane stress rather than the usual in-plane loading that produces lateral channel cracks. In the approach, a lithographically positioned actuator peels a film from its substrate, detaching material; lithography sets the mechanical geometry and actuator location, while stored elastic energy and release govern the resulting feature. It covers zero-dimensional nanopores, one-dimensional nanoslits, and conformal patterns on three-dimensional surfaces. The first part presents stress-induced ripping for scalable nanopore fabrication. Solid-state nanopores, used chiefly for single-molecule sensing, require openings of a few nanometres, which are difficult to define directly at wafer scale. Conventional nanofabrication defines features directly and faces trade-offs among resolution, throughput and cost; crack-defined patterning instead uses lithography to program a mechanical instability.