CHEM-ENG590E Wiki Textbook:Microcontact Printing: Difference between revisions

Microcontact printing originates with research in micromachining applications by Whitesides et al. The Whitesides Group demonstrated a novel form of microfabrication by printing self-assembled monolayers, or SAMs, of alkanethiol (a common 'ink') on a gold support (a common substrate). The ink then acted a form of photoresist in wet etching of the gold substrate by protecting the gold from corrosion caused by the etchants. Additional complex etching methods may be employed to further achieve high resolution microstructures. The true value of this method is that it avoids the repeated use of traditional photolithographic techniques in micromachining. They also demonstrated that microcrystal arrays were capable of being fabricated using their novel microcontact printing approach.