A soft-imprint technique for submicron-scale patterns. using a PDMS mold

We have investigated a novel soft-imprint technique for fabrication of submicron scale polymer structures that can be simply performed at room temperature by polymerization with an elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold. The proposed technique is a simple, cheap and reproducible method for the patterning of large areas, and allows the transfer of polymer patterns at the submicron scale without high pressures. The PDMS mold is placed on a fluid mixture of prepolymer and monomer after a brief UV exposure; full polymerization follows; and then the mold is removed. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force (AFM) observations confirm that the submicron scale polymer structures are produced without defects or distortion and with good pattern fidelity over a large area. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.