"Force-feedback" leveling of massively parallel arrays in polymer pen lithography

Nano Lett. 2010 Apr 14;10(4):1335-40. doi: 10.1021/nl904200t.

Abstract

Polymer pen lithography is a recently developed molecular printing technique which can produce features with diameters ranging from 80 nm to >10 microm in a single writing step using massively parallel (>10(7) pens) arrays of pyramidal, elastomeric pens. Leveling these pen arrays with respect to the surface to produce uniform features over large areas remains a considerable challenge. Here, we describe a new method for leveling the pen arrays that utilizes the force between the pen arrays and the surface to achieve leveling with a tilt of less than 0.004 degrees, thereby producing features that vary by only 50 nm over 1 cm.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Gold / chemistry
  • Ink*
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry
  • Nanotechnology / instrumentation
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Particle Size
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Printing / instrumentation
  • Printing / methods*
  • Surface Properties

Substances

  • Polymers
  • Gold