Microcontact printing using flexible flat PDMS stamps with metal embedment

This paper reports a microcontact printing (μCP) using flexible flat polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamps with metal embedment. In conventional μCP process, self-assembled monolayer (SAM) ink can be transferred by conformal contact between a structural PDMS stamp and a substrate. In our research we utilized that hexadecanethiol (HDT), one of SAM ink molecules for μCP, can be soaked to the PDMS, but not to the Cr layer. Based on this fact, the PDMS with Cr embedment was used as a stamp for μCP even though there is ‘no structural tip’ (i.e. flat) in PDMS stamps. The new stamps for μCP have no mechanical deformation of stamps' tip which is crucial problem of conventional PDMS stamps during μCP. Moreover, there are several advantages compared to other flat PDMS stamps, such as no limitation of lifetime and no contamination problem during fabrication process.