US Patent Issued to Iowa State University Research Foundation on July 15 for "Mask-free photolithography using metastable undercooled metal particles" (North Carolina, Iowa Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,358,077, issued on July 15, was assigned to Iowa State University Research Foundation Inc. (Ames, Iowa).

"Mask-free photolithography using metastable undercooled metal particles" was invented by Martin Thuo (Apex, N.C.), Peter C. Collins (Ames, Iowa) and Andrew Martin (Ames, Iowa).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Various embodiments relate to forming particles using undercooled metal particles in response to focused low power laser light. Particle growth can be initiated by utilizing the metastable and liquid nature of the particles, allowing for surface instability promoted by the laser light to induce liquid flow to translate to a neighbo...