Homeostatic growth of dynamic covalent polymer network toward ultrafast direct soft lithography

Soft lithography is a complementary extension of classical photolithography, which involves a multistep operation that is environmentally unfriendly and intrinsically limited to planar surfaces. Inspired by homeostasis processes in biology, we report a self-growth strategy toward direct soft lithography, bypassing conventional photolithography and its limitations. Our process uses a paraffin swollen light responsive dynamic polymer network. Selective light exposure activates the network locally, causing stress imbalance. This drives the internal redistribution of the paraffin liquid, yielding controllable formation of microstructures. This single-step process is completed in 10 seconds, does not involve any volatile solvents/reactants, and can be adapted to three-dimensional complex surfaces. The living nature of the network further allows sequential growth of hierarchical microstructures. The versatility and efficiency of our approach offer possibilities for future nanotechnologies beyond conventional microfabrication techniques.

Automated summary

This research introduces a self-growth strategy to bypass conventional photolithography and achieve controllable formation of microstructures using direct soft lithography. The single-step process is not only fast and environmentally friendly but also adaptable to three-dimensional complex surfaces.