Patterning of polymer-supported metal films by microcutting

The ability to micropattern materials is of great importance for manufacturing advanced electronic, optical and mechanical devices ranging from displays to biosensors1,2,3,4,5,6. For this purpose a variety of methods have been developed, including X-ray, electron-beam and photo-lithography7,8, microcontact printing9, embossing10,11, micromoulding8,12 and cold welding13. But these techniques are often of restricted applicability, involve a multitude of elaborate and cumbersome processing steps, or require aggressive chemistry. Here we describe a simple and versatile way to create well resolved metallic structures on polymer substrates, which is based on solid-state embossing of metal-coated polymer films. Ductility of both the metal layer and the polymer substrate permits the metal to be cut into surprisingly regular, micrometre-size structures. We illustrate the method by preparing patterned electrically conducting structures, highly efficient infrared polarizers and polarization-dependent colour filters.