Stamping Lithography on Arbitrary Surfaces based on Self-Assembly of Colloidal Particles.

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) circuits on curved surfaces have been widely used in conformal antennas, intelligent skins, metasurfaces, and bionic electronics. Traditional planar circuit technologies represented by photolithography are confronted with the problem of being difficult to apply to curved surfaces. To solve this problem, transfer printing technology uses planar stamps to transfer devices onto curved surfaces fabricated by photolithography, but faces the problem of over-stretching when adapting to non-developable surfaces. Meanwhile, in-situ additive manufacturing technologies on curved surfaces, such as inkjet printing and laser direct writing, have low manufacturing efficiency, and the available materials are minimal. Herein, this paper proposes a new method called Stamping Lithography, which comprises a resist mask stamping process based on self-assembly of colloidal particles (RSSA) and a subsequent etching process similar to those used in planar circuit technologies, making it possible to fabricate circuits using various materials on large-area non-developable surfaces. By fabricating circuits on hemispherical substrates, this approach demonstrates the potential of non-developable surfaces. This work presents a practical strategy for the fabrication of 3D electronics on arbitrary surfaces, which can serve as a complementary technology to photolithography in the planar circuit industry.