TY - JOUR
T1 - A cantilever-free approach to dot-matrix nanoprinting
AU - Brown, Keith A.
AU - Eichelsdoerfer, Daniel J.
AU - Shim, Wooyoung
AU - Rasin, Boris
AU - Radha, Boya
AU - Liao, Xing
AU - Schmucker, Abrin L.
AU - Liu, Guoliang
AU - Mirkin, Chad A.
PY - 2013/8/6
Y1 - 2013/8/6
N2 - Scanning probe lithography (SPL) is a promising candidate approach for desktop nanofabrication, but trade-offs in throughput, cost, and resolution have limited its application. The recent development of cantilever-free scanning probe arrays has allowed researchers to define nanoscale patterns in a low-cost and high-resolution format, but with the limitation that these are duplication tools where each probe in the array creates a copy of a single pattern. Here, we report a cantilever-free SPL architecture that can generate 100 nanometerscale molecular features using a 2D array of independently actuated probes. To physically actuate a probe, local heating is used to thermally expand the elastomeric film beneath a single probe, bringing it into contact with the patterning surface. Not only is this architecture simple and scalable, but it addresses fundamental limitations of 2D SPL by allowing one to compensate for unavoidable imperfections in the system. This cantilever-free dot-matrix nanoprinting will enable the construction of surfaces with chemical functionality that is tuned across the nano- and macroscales.
AB - Scanning probe lithography (SPL) is a promising candidate approach for desktop nanofabrication, but trade-offs in throughput, cost, and resolution have limited its application. The recent development of cantilever-free scanning probe arrays has allowed researchers to define nanoscale patterns in a low-cost and high-resolution format, but with the limitation that these are duplication tools where each probe in the array creates a copy of a single pattern. Here, we report a cantilever-free SPL architecture that can generate 100 nanometerscale molecular features using a 2D array of independently actuated probes. To physically actuate a probe, local heating is used to thermally expand the elastomeric film beneath a single probe, bringing it into contact with the patterning surface. Not only is this architecture simple and scalable, but it addresses fundamental limitations of 2D SPL by allowing one to compensate for unavoidable imperfections in the system. This cantilever-free dot-matrix nanoprinting will enable the construction of surfaces with chemical functionality that is tuned across the nano- and macroscales.
KW - Nanofabrication
KW - Polymer pen lithography
KW - Soft microelectromechanical systems
KW - Thermal actuation
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84881406604&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1311994110
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1311994110
M3 - Article
C2 - 23861495
AN - SCOPUS:84881406604
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 110
SP - 12921
EP - 12924
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 32
ER -