Nanogap Lithography: Spontaneous Formation of Nanogap Electrodes by Self‐Peeling Adhesion Lithography (Adv. Mater. Interfaces 17/2019)

In article number 1900243, Sihai Luo, Bård H. Hoff, and John C. deMello report the fabrication of nanogap electrodes using a modification of adhesion lithography. A metal is patterned on a substrate, and conformally coated with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM). A second metal is then deposited over the full area of the substrate. Finally, a polymer film with a high coefficient of thermal expansion is spin-cast onto the second metal from a heated solution. As it cools, the polymer delaminates and strips away those parts of the second metal that are in contact with the SAM, leaving the two metals side-by-side on the substrate, separated by a nanogap.