A Paste-like Polymeric Resist with High Thermal Endurance for Vapor-Phase Bottom-Up Fabrication

Bottom-up microfabrication based on vapor-phase depositions (e.g., sputtering and atomic layer deposition) requires patterning resists that can endure the parasitic thermal treatment during deposition. Conventional polymeric resists encounter removability issues due to thermally induced carbonization at the interface, while emerging molecular resists face challenges of hermeticity and shape retention in bulk. Here, we introduce a paste-like patterning resist with high interfacial and bulk thermal stability, which leads to multifaceted processing characteristics: this resist is hermetic and shape-preservable during the deposition and easily removable after the deposition. Based on a wetting-driven self-assembly process, we develop a nonphotolithographic patterning procedure for this paste resist and demonstrate high-accuracy and defect-free bottom-up patterning of dielectrics, semiconductors, and conductors. Beyond vapor-phase depositions, this resist is compatible with most manufacturing techniques, providing fruitful implications for bottom-up microfabrication.