Fabrication of micro- and nano-scale gold patterns on glass by transfer printing

Nano-transfer printing is a soft-lithographic technique which allows the transfer of metal patterns deposited on a polymer stamp to different surfaces. The nano-transfer printing process allows various nanostructures to be formed without using sophisticated methods and expensive equipment. In the present work, we present the formation of gold micro- and nano-structures on a glass surface using a self-assembled monolayer as a transfer agent. A polydimethylsiloxane replica was fabricated from a master chip that has micro- and nano-meter size patterns. A thin gold layer was deposited on the replica stamp and the glass surface was modified with a self-assembled monolayer of 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane, followed by the transfer of the gold patterns from the polydimethylsiloxane stamp to glass by simple contact printing. The patterns sp obtained were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy.