High-resolution patterning of silver thin films with a water-mediated metal transfer printing

We report a direct printing method, water-mediated metal transfer printing (mTP), for generating Ag patterns with a wide range of feature sizes. Water-mediated mTP is based on the direct transfer of a metal thin film from a stamp to a substrate via a water-mediated surface bonding. An Ag thin film is used as a solid "ink" in the mTP, which can be used for the formation of micro- and nanoscale Ag structures. To demonstrate its usefulness, we used the water-mediated mTP to fabricate low voltage ZnO thin-film transistors.