Stencil lithography

Stencil lithography is a novel method of fabricating nanometer scale patterns using nanostencils, stencils (shadow mask) with nanometer size apertures. It is a resist-less, simple, parallel nanolithography process, and it does not involve any heat or chemical treatment of the substrates (unlike resist-based techniques). Stencil lithography is a novel method of fabricating nanometer scale patterns using nanostencils, stencils (shadow mask) with nanometer size apertures. It is a resist-less, simple, parallel nanolithography process, and it does not involve any heat or chemical treatment of the substrates (unlike resist-based techniques). Stencil lithography was first reported in a scientific journal as a micro-structuring technique by S. Gray and P. K. Weimer in 1959. They used long stretched metallic wires as shadow masks during metal deposition. Various materials can be used as membranes, such as metals, Si, SixNy, and polymers. Today the stencil apertures can be scaled down to sub-micrometer size at full 4' wafer scale. This is called a nanostencil. Nano-scale stencil apertures have been fabricated using laser interference lithography (LIL), electron beam lithography, and focused ion beam lithography.