Lithographic patterning of metals on flexible plastic foils

Polymer-based technology platform for robust electrochemical sensing using gold microelectrodes

“…The challenges to surmount when using polymer substrates relate to the metal-to-polymer adhesion, thermal stability, solvent resistance and thermal expansion [4]. In particular, a good metal-to-polymer adhesion and good resistance to chemical species are fundamental for the reproducible performance of an electrochemical sensor.…”

“…The substrate material, PEN, is a leading candidate for organic thin film transistors and organic light emitting diodes [2]. In the literature there are a number of reported fabrication processes available to pattern materials on PEN, including direct/lift-off photolithography [4], roll-to-roll photolithography [19], digital (mask) lithography [20] [25,26], have a minimum feature size of 20 µm, or the fabrication method is not described in detail. Fully described here is the production of µEs of 6 µm width with a high chemical and electrochemical robustness.…”

Advances in maskless and mask-based optical lithography on plastic flexible substrates

“…For the past few decades the advances in silicon-based electronics have driven the size of transistors into the nanometer regime, mainly due to processor and memory-related applications, with current state-of-the-art devices aiming at the 32 nm lithographic node. The relatively new field of flexible electronics faces new challenges, arriving not necessarily from the small dimensions of the transistors, but from the deformations and instability of the substrate 1,2,3 . Flexible electronics or products which incorporate flexible electronic devices have already found use in displays, OLED lighting and signage, RFIDs, and photovoltaics 4,5 .…”

Ferroelectric polymer nanopillar arrays on flexible substrates by reverse nanoimprint lithography

“…Previous studies of ferroelectric polymers, like polyvinylidene-co-trifluoroethylene, P(VDF-TrFE), report results from conventional nanoimprint lithography (NIL) with highcost rigid molds at high pressures ranging from 20 bar to 120 bar and 130 to 150 1C to produce ferroelectric nanostructures on hard substrates. 5,7,[17][18][19][20][21] Application of conventional NIL to produce nanostructured films on flexible substrates has a number of drawbacks, such as mechanical and thermal deformation of the substrates, 22,23 poor adhesion, 24 and incompatibility with high temperatures. 25,26 These drawbacks lead to low throughput and poor pattern uniformity in large arrays.…”