An Additive Soft-Lithography for Sub-Micron Patterning of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Resists on Electronic Materials

Keywords:
soft-lithography, decal transfer lithography, reactive ion etching, transistor

Abstract:
We have developed a novel technique for the fabrication of submicron-sized polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) resist patterns on electronic material substrates using decal transfer lithography (DTL) and reactive ion etching (RIE). The DTL technique is based on the transfer of PDMS decal patterns to a substrate via the engineered adhesion and release properties of a compliant PDMS stamp. The conventional DTL process is useful for delivering micron-sized PDMS patterns onto targeted substrates. Sub-micron-sized patterns are more difficult to transfer due to the limitations of the mechanical properties of the polymer. RIE has been used in conjunction with DTL patterning to overcome this difficulty by removing a supporting top-side PDMS thin-film to reveal conventional resist structures. This combination of DTL and RIE techniques enables the fabrication of sub-micron PDMS resists on large area electronic material substrates. To illustrate the applicability of this method to the fabrication of electronic devices, a silicon-based thin-film transistor has been fabricated from a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer using DTL and RIE.

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Nanotech 2005 Conference Program Abstract