Patent ID: 6900126

Claim:
A method of forming metallized features on a substrate, comprising: applying a layer of a polymerizable composition onto a substrate; contacting the layer with a mold having protrusions thereon to form a pattern in the layer; curing the polymerizable composition, thereby forming a cured polymeric layer; removing the mold from the cured polymeric layer; applying to the cured polymeric layer a seeding composition having a species that forms a complex at sites on the cured polymeric layer, the sites acting as acceptor sites to which a preselected metal can be bound, wherein portions of the substrate corresponding to areas contacted by the protrusions are free of polymeric material prior to said applying of the seeding composition; and forming metallized features by electrolessly depositing a film of the preselected metal onto the cured polymeric layer, wherein during said application of the seeding composition the substrate remains substantially free of any sites to which the preselected metal would bind, to reduce the amount of metal deposited onto the substrate.