Polymer Pen Lithography
Fengwei Huo,1,2*
Zijian Zheng,1,2*
Gengfeng Zheng,1,2
Louise R. Giam,2,3
Hua Zhang,1,2
Chad A. Mirkin1,2,3
We report a low-cost, high-throughput scanning probe lithography
method that uses a soft elastomeric tip array, rather than tips
mounted on individual cantilevers, to deliver inks to a surface
in a "direct write" manner. Polymer pen lithography merges the
feature size control of dip-pen nanolithography with the large-area
capability of contact printing. Because ink delivery is time
and force dependent, features on the nanometer, micrometer,
and macroscopic length scales can be formed with the same tip
array. Arrays with as many as about 11 million pyramid-shaped
pens can be brought into contact with substrates and readily
leveled optically to ensure uniform pattern development.
2 International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208–3113, USA.
3 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208–3113, USA.
* These authors contributed equally to this work.
Current address: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: chadnano{at}northwestern.edu
