Atomically smooth surfaces through thermoplastic forming of metallic glass

We demonstrate that atomically smooth surfaces can be generated by thermoplastic forming of metallic glasses. This is enabled by the flow associated with the contact-line motion which removes rough surface layer from the advancing metallic glass-air interface. The thermoplastically formed surface is two orders of magnitude smoother than a polished surface of the same alloy. This process is capable of generating atomically smooth surfaces and replicating nanoscale features in a single processing step, providing a versatile toolbox for nanofabrication.

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