Abstract Conventional photolithography is inherently limited to flat, rigid, and stable substrates, which severely restricts its applicability to flexible, curved, and transient electronic devices. This work presents an innovative transfer method that exploits a phase-changing polymer with dynamically switchable adhesion to enable universal transfer of commercial photoresists onto a broad range of previously incompatible substrates, thereby overcoming the fundamental limitations of traditional photolithography. Remarkably, this method achieves reliable wafer-scale (~ 4-inch) transfer with a global registration error below 60 µm, unlocking high-fidelity patterning on challenging surfaces such as solvent-sensitive, curved, microtextured, or fragile substrates. Combined with dry etching, this study demonstrates a new route for high-resolution patterning of delicate functional materials, including quantum dots and organic semiconductors. Moreover, it supports a sustainable “dry lift-off” process for patterning functional layers, demonstrating a successful high-resolution microfabrication on paper-based substrate. The reusability of both the transfer carrier and photoresist markedly enhances process sustainability and scalability, representing a significant advance in microfabrication. This unprecedented capability is further demonstrated by fabricating a micro-sized UV photodetector array featuring wide-angle sensing capability on a curved glass bottle.
Guo et al. (2026) studied this question.