Imprint Lithography with Degradable Elastomeric Polyanhydrides

A photocurable, degradable polyanhydride cross-linked elastomer that can be used as a stamp in imprint lithography applications has been developed. The degradable stamp materials are based on polyanhydrides synthesized using thiol–ene polymerization. In this study, curing the monomers 4-pentenoic anhydride and pentaerythritol tetrakis­(3-mercaptopropionate) on a master mold yields low modulus, elastomeric, degradable polyanhydride polymer stamps that are a negative of the master. These stamps can be then used as a sacrificial template during the fabrication of a replica of the master, and can be readily degraded away from the replica using water. The resultant imprinted materials exhibited excellent uniformity over a large area. Compared with other conventional imprint lithography stamp materials, the thiol–ene polymerized polyanhydrides are degradable, master mold safe, show great release properties, have fast cure rates, are relatively low cost, and can be fabricated onto variety of substrates and materials