Submicron Contact Printing on Silicon Using Stamp Pads

Submicron scale microcontact printing of silanes onto silicon wafers is studied. Silicon microstructures are used as masters to prepare silicone rubber stamps, which are found to peel off the master easily even at wedge angles of 80° if the master has been silanized before. Stripe structures with periodicities down to 200 nm were generated. At these small scales, capillary condensation in the wedges of the stamp during the stamping process is difficult to avoid. We demonstrate a novel “stamp pad” technique which allows us to overcome this problem.