Printing meets lithography

A novel type of lithography based on classical flexography printing to create a low-cost, large-area and high-resolution patterning process is discussed. The process of microcontact printing, which transfers only a molecular monolayer of ink to a surface, is found to be capable of reproducing high-resolution patterns in gold, silver or copper that can be used to carry electrical currents. The process of soft lithography which involves the application of several alternative techniques to photolithography for fabricating micro- and nanostructures is examined. The formulation of harder stamp materials for large-area, high-resolution printing applications is also discussed.