Electric field mediated elastic contact lithography of thin viscoelastic films for miniaturized and multiscale patterns

Elastic contact lithography (ECL) and electric field lithography (EFL) have both shown significant potential to develop large-area micropatterns on polymeric surfaces. Recently, the major challenges associated with these processes have been the improvement of the aspect ratio and reduction in the size and periodicity of the patterns fabricated. Herein, with the help of non-linear simulations, we show that combining these methods can be one recipe to overcome these limitations. We consider a linear viscoelastic film for the linear and non-linear analyses. In this regard, we explore the role of the moving contactor to improve the aspect ratio of the patterns. The study uncovers that (i) combined destabilizing influences originating from van der Waals and electric field forces ensure smaller timescales and length scales for the instabilities, (ii) the aid from the electric field helps to improve the minimum separation distance so that the contact instability initiates at a larger separation distance, (iii) a long-range ordering can be inflicted on the patterns on the polymer surfaces when electrodes with periodic physicochemical patterns are used and (iv) the strength of the externally applied electric field and the ratio of elastic to viscous compliance of the film play crucial roles in deciding the different modes of debonding of the film - peeling, catastrophic or coalescence. The proposed method can improve the aspect ratio of patterns by approximate to 9-fold during the peeling mode of debonding. Furthermore, pathways to develop technologically important biomimetic surfaces with multiscale and hierarchical structures have been shown.