Slice and dice, peel and stick: Emerging methods for nanostructure fabrication

Techniques for nanofabrication are central to nearly every field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. As a result, development of experimentally simple methods with capabilities that can complement or extend those of traditional approaches represents a growing area of research. A new paper by the Whitesides group in this issue demonstrates the ability to exploit precise mechanical cutting operations, performed with an ultramicrotome, as a route to unusual types of nanostructures. Manipulation and assembly of nanomembranes with these structures embedded enables quasi-3D, curved, and other complex layouts. These ideas, particularly when taken together with emerging methods for transfer printing of nanomembranes and related solid nanostructures, have the strong potential for applicability across many areas of nanotechnology.