Patent ID: 7267932

Claim:
A method for high resolution patterning, comprising: (a) forming a self-assembled aminosilyated or aminothiolated monolayer on a substrate and reacting amine groups in said self-assembled aminosilyated or aminothiolated monolayer with aromatic aldehydes having terminal aromatic rings containing substituents, to form an aromatic imine monolayer on said substrate, wherein imine bonds are formed between said self-assembled aminosilyated or aminothiolated monolayer and said aromatic aldehydes; (b) removing said substituents of said terminal aromatic rings in selected areas of said aromatic imine monolayer to transform said imine bonds to be non-hydrolyzable in said selected areas; and then (c) hydrolyzing said aromatic imine monolayer obtained from step (b) to remove said aromatic aldehydes from areas not selected in step (b), thereby exposing said amine groups in the areas not selected in step (b).