Light-induced Electrochemical Deposition Technology: A Novel Fabrication Method for Metal Micropatterns

Two-dimensional(2D) metal microstructures are widely used in advanced electronic and optoelectronic devices, however, their low-cost and high-efficiency patterned fabrication remains a significant challenge.This study developed a maskless and flexible light-induced electrochemical deposition(LED) method for the 2D patterned deposition of Cu on the surface of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) coated conductive glass.The study systematically has investigated the influence of key parameters (e.g., deposition potential, electrode gap, and light source) on the deposition process, has successfully fabricated complex Cu micro-patterns with clear feature edges and dense morphology, and the specific composition of the sediment was analyzed by X-ray diffraction(XRD).The as-prepared microstructures exhibit a maximum dimension of less than 200 m, and the minimum characteristic dimension of the deposited structures is 10 m.This work realizes low-cost fabrication of 2D microstructures via a commercial projector.This study confirms the feasibility and superiority of LED technology in direct writing of 2D metal patterns, providing a promising low-cost solution for the rapid manufacturing of components such as flexible circuits and metal grid transparent electrodes.