Transferring photolithography patterns to arbitrary substrates with graphene or gelatin

There is increasing interest in applying microfabrication techniques to a wide variety of non-traditional substrates including curved substrates and bio-relevant substrates. Photolithography is a standard microfabrication technique, but its use on non-planar substrates is hampered by the requirement to supply a constant illumination across a curved surface, and transparent curved surfaces are often completely inaccessible to photopatterning. Here, we demonstrate an approach where the photolithography is performed and developed on a planar surface and the completed photopattern is then transferred to an arbitrary substrate. We achieve this transfer using two different release layers: a graphene-based layer which can produce closed windows, and a gelatin-based layer which produces open windows. In the gelatin case, we show that we can pattern gold features directly on a curved substrate with at least 2-mu m fidelity. This capability enables use of photolithography for direct patterning of electronically relevant materials onto transparent curved surfaces.

Automated summary

Researchers demonstrate a method of applying photolithography on curved substrates by performing the process on a planar surface and transferring the completed photopattern to the curved substrate. Two release layers, graphene-based and gelatin-based, are utilized for successful direct patterning of gold features on the curved substrate, enabling the patterning of electronically relevant materials on transparent curved surfaces.