A method of fabricating nano-structures on a substrate surface by reducing the use of a writing tool, comprising: a) providing a suitable substrate material comprising a substrate, and process layers sequentially deposited on said substrate comprising: a lift-off layer in contact with said substrate, a pattern transfer layer on top of said lift-off layer, and a writing layer on top of said pattern transfer layer, wherein said writing layer comprises a photoresist or an electron-beam resist material; b) patterning pilot nano-structures in said writing layer by exposure of said writing layer to an electron-beam lithography tool to reveal said pattern transfer layer underneath at locations of said pilot nano-structures, wherein said pilot-nanostructures formed in said writing layer represent a desired location and/or geometry of final nano-structures to be produced on a surface of said substrate, and wherein said pilot-nano-structures comprise only a portion of a size of said final nano-structures; c) transferring and enlarging said pilot nano-structures into said pattern transfer layer by applying a substantially isotropic etch selective for said pattern transfer layer to undercut said pattern transfer layer and create enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer at locations underneath said locations of said pilot nano-structures, wherein a diameter of said enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer is larger than a diameter of said pilot nano-structures in said writing layer, the enlarged nano-structures comprising at least one of nano-holes, nano-slots and nano-grooves; d) undercutting said lift-off layer using a lift-off etch selective for said lift-off layer to create enlarged lift-off structures in said lift-off layer beneath the locations of said enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer to reveal said substrate underneath said locations of said enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer; e) removing said writing layer to reveal said enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer; and f) after removing said writing layer, applying a directional anisotropic etch to said substrate through said enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer to produce enlarged nano-structures in said surface of said substrate at locations underneath said locations of said enlarged nanostructures in said pattern transfer layer, wherein said enlarged nano-structures in said surface of said substrate comprise said final nano-structures. a) providing a suitable substrate material comprising a substrate, and process layers sequentially deposited on said substrate comprising: a lift-off layer in contact with said substrate, a pattern transfer layer on top of said lift-off layer, and a writing layer on top of said pattern transfer layer, wherein said writing layer comprises a photoresist or an electron-beam resist material; b) patterning pilot nano-structures in said writing layer by exposure of said writing layer to an electron-beam lithography tool to reveal said pattern transfer layer underneath at locations of said pilot nano-structures, wherein said pilot-nanostructures formed in said writing layer represent a desired location and/or geometry of final nano-structures to be produced on a surface of said substrate, and wherein said pilot-nano-structures comprise only a portion of a size of said final nano-structures; c) transferring and enlarging said pilot nano-structures into said pattern transfer layer by applying a substantially isotropic etch selective for said pattern transfer layer to undercut said pattern transfer layer and create enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer at locations underneath said locations of said pilot nano-structures, wherein a diameter of said enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer is larger than a diameter of said pilot nano-structures in said writing layer, the enlarged nano-structures comprising at least one of nano-holes, nano-slots and nano-grooves; d) undercutting said lift-off layer using a lift-off etch selective for said lift-off layer to create enlarged lift-off structures in said lift-off layer beneath the locations of said enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer to reveal said substrate underneath said locations of said enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer; e) removing said writing layer to reveal said enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer; and f) after removing said writing layer, applying a directional anisotropic etch to said substrate through said enlarged nano-structures in said pattern transfer layer to produce enlarged nano-structures in said surface of said substrate at locations underneath said locations of said enlarged nanostructures in said pattern transfer layer, wherein said enlarged nano-structures in said surface of said substrate comprise said final nano-structures.