Soft lithographic methods for nano-fabrication

Soft lithography is a low-cost, non-photolithographic strategy for carrying out micro- and nano-fabrication. This unconventional approach consists of techniques based on self-assembly and replica molding of organic molecules and polymeric materials. Four such techniques, microcontact printing (µCP), replica molding, micromolding in capillaries (MIMIC), and microtransfer molding (µTM), have been demonstrated for the fabrication of patterns and structures of a variety of materials with dimension ≥30 nm. This review describes these techniques and their applications in fabrication and manufacturing at the sub-100 nm scale.