Serial and Parallel Dip-Pen Nanolithography Using a Colloidal Probe Tip

摘要

Dip-pen nanolithography (DPN)1 has become a versatile andnwidely used lithographic technique. This patterning methodologynrequires direct contact between the “pen” (atomic force microscopen(AFM) tip) and substrate. Many substrates including inorganics2nand tissues3 can be modified with various inks using this approach.nOne can apply the technique in both passive and active4 parallelnmodes. Numerous examples have been reported in the literature tonexpand the versatility of the method. Relatively few reports havenbeen published that utilize soft tips without the need for additionalnfabrication. Here we report the development of a passive, parallelnDPN methodology that takes advantage of the attributes of anpolymer colloid at the end of the AFM tip. The approach takesnadvantage of the chemical properties of the colloid on the tip (abilitynto swell under different environmental conditions) rather thannrelying on microfabrication advances that enable the production ofnarrays of “writing” pens.