Electric lithography by electrochemical polymerization

We demonstrate a lithographic technique, electric lithography, in which conductive patterns on a mask are transferred to a substrate by applying an electric field to locally configure a resist layer sandwiched between the patterns and the substrate. Proof-of-concept pattern transfer experiments were carried out through electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole monomers dissolved in an aqueous electrolyte and 2,2′’-bithiophene monomers dissolved in a solid polymer electrolyte. By controlling the intensity and duration of the applied electric field on different mask patterns, we have also demonstrated that the electric lithography can create on-demand three-dimensional patterns in the resist.