It is a resist-less, simple, parallel nanolithography process, and it does not involve any heat or chemical treatment of the substrates (unlike resist-based techniques).
Stencil lithography was first reported in a scientific journal as a micro-structuring technique by S. Gray and P. K. Weimer in 1959.
Several process are available using stencil lithography: material deposition and etching, as well as implantation of ions.
There are three main modes of operation of stencil lithography: static, quasi-dynamic and dynamic.
The stencil-substrate pair is placed in the evaporation/etching/ion implantation machine, and after the processing is done, the stencil is simply removed from the now patterned substrate.
In the quasi-dynamic mode (or step-and-repeat), the stencil moves relative to the substrate in between depositions, without breaking the vacuum.
In the dynamic mode, the stencil moves relative to the substrate during deposition, allowing the fabrication of patterns with variable height profiles by changing the stencil speed during a constant material deposition rate.
represents the height profile that would be produced by a static immobile mask (inclusive of any blurring).
20: Marc Antonius Friedrich van den Boogaart, "Stencil lithography: An ancient technique for advanced micro- and nanopatterning", 2006, VIII, 182 p.; ISBN 3-86628-110-2