Author: Noelle Maire

Micro-patterning is commonly done through masking. Creating a photomask involves important specifications that can directly affect a resulting pattern transfer. Mask material, environmental conditions, and type of resist should be considered. But prior to processing, photomask design characteristics must be determined.  

During the photolithography process, thin film interference effects can influence a substrates surface properties. Common interference effects include the standing wave effect, reflective notching, edge bead formation, and under/over baking. The Platypus Technologies engineers have enhanced our standard operating procedures to account for potential defects caused by thin film interference effects.

The field of flexible electronics continues to be on the rise as technological advances continue. New materials are beginning to be utilized in fabricating electrodes for flexible electronic applications. 

Microelectrodes are specially patterned electrodes with very small tip diameters (less than 1 µm) that enable in-vitro electrochemical measurements in living tissues. Other applications using microelectrodes include measuring substance concentrations and determining pH levels.  

Lift-off is often conducted following a series of photolithography steps that create a photoresist layer onto a substrate. Chemical and metal lift-off methods are used to create distinctive patterns onto a surface. Both types of lift-offs can be time consuming compared to wet etching, however lift-off is a safer method that offers lower production costs and enhanced processing capabilities.

Photolithography refers to a binary image transfer process that can be used to enhance many microfabrication applications.

Wet etching is a technique to pattern metal films into functional devices. A metal film covered with a patterned photoresist is submerged into a liquid that selectively removes exposed areas of the metal.  This form of etching is an isotropic method, meaning that the metal is removed with equal rate all directions.