Motivated by a macrocutting process often used in manufacturing industry to pattern sheet metals, an innovative intenriediate-layer lithography (ILL) approach is developed in this work to generate rriJicropatterns in a thin metal film. In the ILL method, an intermediate layer of polymethyl methacrylate PMMA is introduced between a silicon substrate and a thin metal film. Subsequently, the metal is printed through the insertion of a silicon mold using a hot-embossing technique. Al films of thickness ranging from 100 to 500 nm have been patterned by silicon molds of depths of 10- 100 mu m. Various Al patterns of lateral dimensions ranging from 10 to 300 mu m have been produced, including channels, lines, square dots, square holes, and truss structures. The effects of printing temperatures, thicknesses of Al films, and geometries of silicon mold structures on the patterning results were experimentally investigated, followed by numerical exploration. As a new patterning method, the ILL approach has advantages of simplicity and massive production and is free of aggressive chemistry. (c) 2007 American Vacuum Society.