  This review covers experimental results of evaporative lithography and
analyzes existing mathematical models of this method. Evaporating droplets and
films are used in different fields, such as cooling of heated surfaces of
electronic devices, diagnostics in health care, creation of transparent
conductive coatings on flexible substrates, and surface patterning. A method
called evaporative lithography emerged after the connection between the coffee
ring effect taking place in drying colloidal droplets and naturally occurring
inhomogeneous vapor flux densities from liquid--vapor interfaces was
established. Essential control of the colloidal particle deposit patterns is
achieved in this method by producing ambient conditions that induce a
nonuniform evaporation profile from the colloidal liquid surface. Evaporative
lithography is part of a wider field known as "evaporative-induced
self-assembly" (EISA). EISA involves methods based on contact line processes,
methods employing particle interaction effects, and evaporative lithography. As
a rule, evaporative lithography is a flexible and single-stage process with
such advantages as simplicity, low price, and the possibility of application to
almost any substrate without pretreatment. Since there is no mechanical impact
on the template in evaporative lithography, the template integrity is preserved
in the process. The method is also useful for creating materials with localized
functions, such as slipperiness and self-healing. For these reasons,
evaporative lithography attracts increasing attention and has a number of
noticeable achievements at present. We also analyze limitations of the approach
and ways of its further development.
