Abstract
Nowadays, there is a growing demand for structures in the micrometer and submicrometer regime for electrochemical and optical applications to fabricate circuit paths or optical gratings. Therefore, the aim of this work
is to show the applicability of a simple and inexpensive method to manufacture micrometer- and submicrometer
structures of ultrathin metal coatings on polymer substrates of cyclic olefin copolymer (COP) as well as on glass using maskless photolithography followed by lift-off. To enhance the adhesion of the photoresist on the polymer
substrates surface pretreatments of the polymer substrates, e.g., by glow discharge or atmospheric plasma
treatment were executed. The lithography process was carried out using a sprayed negative photoresist on glass
and COP substrates exposed to ultraviolet light via a micromirror assay and without a mask. Based on the exposure
limit and an initial proof of concept, gratings with a line width of 100 µm and a period of 200 µm were manufactured.
After development, no adhesion layers were applied to facilitate fabrication and minimize costs. Thus, the substrates
were sputtered with 50 nm gold layers, which were lifted off with acetone. During the processing, the factors
influencing the accuracy of the structures, such as prebake, postbake and development parameters, were
determined and an optimal parameter setting was derived.
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