Innovative approach for replicating micropatterns in a conducting polymer

An intermediate layer lithography (ILL) method is developed in this work to replicate micropatterns in a conducting polymer. In the ILL, an intermediate layer of a nonconducting polymer material is introduced between a silicon substrate and a conducting polymer layer. Subsequently, the conducting polymer film is patterned through a mold insertion. We illustrate this method by patterning polypyrrole. The ILL is simple, free of aggressive chemistry, and straightforward to use. In particular, unlike existing lithographic methods, it is suited at creating well-resolved micropatterns of a conducting polymer without degrading material properties of the conducting polymer. In this sense, we believe that the ILL is a promising approach to create conducting polymer patterns.