Low cost nanolithography with nanoaccuracy

Because many applications of lithography cannot use the optical projection tools developed for the semiconductor industry, either because of high cost or inflexibility, low-cost, flexible alternatives are essential to research and future industries. A subset of these low-cost alternatives is discussed: intimate-contact lithography, interference lithography, and spatial-phase-locked e-beam lithography. It is asserted that self assembly, an important element of future nanotechnology, will likely utilize lithography in so-called “templated self-assembly”.