A new lithography technology called thin layer soft lithography (TLSL) was proposed for the improvements of soft lithography.In this article

PMMA uniform thin layer was first deposited on glass substrate using dip-coating technology with 30 mm/h immersion and withdrawn velocity.When a micropatterned PDMS stamp is placed on the PMMA thin layer surface with 20 g contact load and heated above the PMMA glass-transition temperature (Tg)

PMMA melt will fill into the cavity between the stamp and the PMMA thin layer within 60 min time

thereby generating a negative replica of the stamp.SEM and optical micrograph images show that the PMMA micropatterns are separated from each other

which is very hard to obtain in normal micromolding or nanoimprint lithography.Hence this technology is the combination of the advantages of room temperature nanoimprint lithography with the capillary force lithography.It overcomes the use of extremely high pressure in room temperature nanoimprint lithography and the lack of the drive force in capillary force lithography.