Fabrication of Shape‐Controlled Copper Line Arrays by Meniscus‐Confined 3D Microprinting on Insulating Substrates

Abstract

Meniscus‐confined electrodeposition (MCED), as a 3D printing process, exhibits excellent capabilities in microstructure fabrication. However, it faces numerous challenges, particularly when integrating with different substrates, especially insulating ones and cross‐layer interconnection. This study intends to investigate the impact of factors such as nozzle diameter, flight height of the nozzle over insulating substrates, and applied current by MCED on micro/nanoscale metal structures, to fabricate shape‐controllable and nanogap copper lines. As the flight height of the nozzle increases, there is no significant variation in the line height (≈60 nm) or width (≈15 nm) of the printed copper lines. And copper lines are successfully fabricated with consistent feature size oversteps totaling 1.2 μm in height. Additionally, highly dense copper line arrays are fabricated, achieving a minimum wire spacing of 120 nm. Remarkable stability and simplicity are realized in producing high‐resolution copper microstructures, demonstrating an acceptable degree of variability in insulating substrates and promising applications in integrated microsystems.