Glossary: Liquid embossing

Liquid embossing and offset liquid embossing (OLE) are printing techniques that have created resistors, capacitors, and thin-film transistors without etching, vacuum deposition, or high temperatures. The fabrication of all-printed electrostatic actuators has been described by MIT medis Laboratory.

In liquid embossing, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamp with bas-relief features is brought into intimate contact with a thin liquid film such as a metal or semi-conductor nanoparticle colloid, spin-on-glass, or polymer to create patterns as small as 100 nm. At MIT Media Lab. A simulation of liquid embossing was developed by coupling fluid flow in a thin liquid film to the diffusion of solvent into a PDMS stamp. The model accurately predicted real aspects of the printing process including the time required to stamp and usable stamp geometries.