Dry Mask Transfer Lithography for High-Resolution Patterning of Nanomaterials and Molecular Interfaces on Arbitrary Substrates

Abstract

This study introduces dry mask transfer lithography as a versatile microfabrication strategy that integrates the patterning resolution of photolithography with the substrate adaptability of soft lithography. In this method, a photoresist mask is first patterned on an elastomeric polymer stamp and subsequently transferred onto a target substrate by thermally modulating interfacial adhesion and viscoelastic energy dissipation. The process enables high-fidelity pattern formation across a wide range of surfaces including semiconductors, metals, and insulators and even on a curved surface while preventing direct exposure of the target substrate and functional materials to solution-based lithographic chemicals. Utilizing the transferred photoresist pattern as a lift-off mask, the method further enabled patterning of zero-, one-, and two-dimensional colloidal nanomaterials as well as self-assembled molecular layers. Compared with the conventional shadow masking method, the transferred masks provided approximately 6-fold higher pattern precision, with a minimum pattern-edge curvature radius of approximately 0.75 mu m. Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis confirmed that the intrinsic properties of the patterned nanomaterials were preserved. As a functional demonstration, biphilic surfaces fabricated by the method showed a more than 3-fold increase in fog-harvesting efficiency compared with uniform hydrophobic surfaces owing to controlled droplet nucleation, growth, and coalescence. These findings establish dry mask transfer lithography as a broadly applicable platform for high-precision integration of chemically sensitive colloidal nanomaterials onto diverse substrates, offering strong potential for the fabrication of high-performance functional interfaces, nanodevices, displays, and energy-related systems.