Recent Progress in the Nanoskiving Approach: A Review of Methodology, Devices, and Applications

Nanoskiving is a unique nanomanufacturing method that can be used to cut out nanostructures directly with well-controlled shapes and sizes. Over the past 10 years, nanoskiving techniques have evolved in terms of optimization of the sectioning parameters and development of the transfer and alignment approaches. In addition, the range of compatible materials for nanoskiving is expanding via combination of the technique with other bottom–up and top–down methods; for example, soft materials such as block polymers and hard materials such as cemented carbide and semiconductor materials are now able to be nanosized successfully, despite previously being considered incompatible with nanoskiving technology. The preparation of these structures by the nanoskiving method opens a convenient door to verification of the application of this technique to device miniaturization in fields including optics, electrochemistry, electronics, and biology. This review outlines the advances made in nanoskiving, including those in the fabrication process, the development of suitable applications, and the challenges and opportunities for future exploration of the technology.