Fabrication of submicron magnetic oxide antidot arrays by combining nanosphere lithography with sputtering technology

A simplified way, which combines nanosphere lithography with sputtering technology, to fabricate oxide antidot arrays is reported. Using the resputtering effect of oxygen negative ions during sputtering deposition in oxygen environment, CoFe2O4 antidot arrays are fabricated directly on a wafer masked by latex spheres, which is self-assembled by nanosphere lithography. The result shows that the coercivity of the CoFe2O4 antidot arrays increases substantially due to the pinning of domain walls in the vicinity of antidots. This fabrication method can be extended in the fabrication of other oxide antidot arrays.