The fabrication process for well-ordered nanopillars over large substrate areas. which are taller than 100nm. have aspect ratios as high as 10: 1 and occur with a periodicity of less than 35nm is described. Various unique aspects of the materials and processing techniques enabled key features of the nanostructures: block copolymer lithography facilitated the small periodicity and the well-ordered arrangement of the pillars. a unique lift-off technique overcame potentially prohibitive lift-off problems. and a highly selective and anisotropic NF3 based reactive ion etching achieved the final nanopillar structure. The specifies of the processing call be suitably modified to obtain pillars with different physical characteristics. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.