AFM for preparing Si masters in soft lithography

Atom Force Microscopy (AFM) can be employed to create surfaces in Si substrate with recessed features. The resulting patterns can serve as masters to make the required elastomeric stamps for soft lithography. Morphology analysis of patterned features on Si substrate and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamp by AFM imaging confirms that pattern can be successfully transferred from Si substrates to PDMS stamps. It is shown that this method for creating masters can be performed with an AFM, making this method particularly straightforward, economical and accessible to a large technical community that are provided with AFM for measurement.