Urethane–acrylate polymers in high-resolution contact printing

This study describes polyurethane-acrylates (PUAs) as polymeric stamp materials that can be used in a number of contact printing applications. We demonstrate that the surface energy of PUA polymers can be controlled chemically, producing stamps with tunable polarity and eliminating the need to apply release coatings or to adjust stamping kinetics to facilitate material transfer. To demonstrate the general nature of the proposed materials, PUA polymers were used in the contact printing of organic molecules and organic thin films. The results suggest that PUA-based contact printing can be used as a simple alternative to a kinetically modulated PDMS stamping of thin films, and that thin film features with sub-micrometer lateral dimensions and sub-100 nm thicknesses can be accurately reproduced using a universal set of printing conditions.