Nanotransfer printing by use of noncovalent surface forces: Applications to thin-film transistors that use single-walled carbon nanotube networks and semiconducting polymers

We report a purely additive nanotransfer printing process that uses noncovalent surface forces to guide the transfer of thin metal films from low-energy surfaces of high-resolution stamps to a variety of substrates. Structures with dimensions as small as a few hundred nanometers, with edge roughness as small as 10 nm are demonstrated. Metal multilayer stacks patterned in this way have electrical resistances that are the same as those formed by evaporation and conventional lithography. Thin-film transistors that use source/drain electrodes printed directly onto thin films of the semiconducting polymer regioregular polythiophene and networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes exhibit device mobilities and on/off ratios that are comparable to or higher than those of devices fabricated using standard methods. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.