Micro‐ and Nanoprinting into Solids Using Reaction‐Diffusion Etching and Hydrogel Stamps

Abstract Micropatterned hydrogel stamps soaked in appropriate chemical etchants can imprint various types of micro‐ and nanoarchitectures into metals, conductive oxides, semiconductors, glasses, and crystals. Localized etching is mediated by a reaction‐diffusion process initiated from the stamp microfeatures and gives lateral resolution down to approximately 300 nm. The method is well suited for the rapid prototyping of small‐scale devices including multilevel microfluidic systems and curvilinear optical elements.