Fabrication of nanopatterned metal sheet using photolithography and electroplating

This paper describes a technique for fabricating submicron nickel (Ni) structures on flexible metal substrate. Conventional photolithography and electroplating techniques are used for simple and cost-effective fabrication of size-tunable Ni nanostructures. In the photolithography process, to separate the substrate and metal layer, a residual layer was intentionally preserved when patterning the thick photoresist layer. Then, the Ni seed layer was deposited on the photoresist pattern. By applying pulse electroplating to the seed layer, a Ni metal layer was formed on the seed layer. As a result, a nanopatterned Ni metal sheet was easily obtained using the photoresist strip process. Then, the Ni nanopattern was transferred onto a flexible polycarbonate substrate. In addition, various energy-controlled exposures of the resist were demonstrated for fabricating size-tunable Ni nanostructures, by simply removing the intentionally induced residual layer of the resist pattern. This research is adaptable for the fabrication of various sensor applications and energy storage devices.