Abstract
A simple and cost-effective post-lithography solution to reduce the critical dimensions of structures on the nanometer scale using an external mechanical force without any modification of the existing exposure system is proposed by this work. This study presents a tunable aluminium (Al) wire grid polarizer (WGP) on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate fabricated by the laser interference lithography (LIL) built on 325 nm exposure system. The characteristic pitch of WGP achieves a further 18% post-exposure shrinkage which is also reflected on improved TM (transverse magnetic) to TE (transverse electric) ratio by 33% with a defined operation window and specified optimized region of strain. The simulations in this study prove the rise of the extinction ratio with the modulation of the WGP pattern. Physical evidence explains fall of the extinction ratio for mainly the increase of the metal crack volume.