Microcontact Printing with Laser Direct Writing Carbonization for Facile Fabrication of Carbon-Based Ultrathin Disk Arrays and Ordered Holey Films

A nanometer-thick carbon film with a highly ordered pattern structure is very useful in a variety of applications. However, its large-scale, high-throughput, and low-cost fabrication is still a great challenge. Herein, microcontact printing (µCP) and direct laser writing carbonization (DLWc) are combined to develop a novel method that enables ease of fabrication of nanometer-thick and regularly patterned carbon disk arrays (CDAs) and holey carbon films (HCFs) from a pyromellitic dianhydride-oxydianiline-based polyamic acid (PAA) solution. The effect of PAA concentration and pillar lattice structure of the polydimethyl siloxane stamp are systematically studied for their influence on the geometrical parameter, surface morphology, and chemical structure of the finally achieved CDAs and HCFs. Within the PAA concentration being investigated, the averaged thickness of CDAs and HCFs can be tailored in a range from a few tens to a few hundred of nanometers. The µCP+DLWc-enabled electrically conductive CDAs and HCFs possess the characteristics of ease-of-fabrication, nanometer-thickness, highly regular and controlled patterns and structures, and the ability to form on both hard and soft substrates, which imparts usefulness in electronics, photonics, energy storage, catalysis, tissue engineering, as well as physical, chemical, and bio-sensing applications.