Correlating spectral position of chemical species on a substrate with molecular weight, structure and chemical reactivity

摘要

A system for directly printing a variety of chemicals, including very large molecules on the substrate, includes a channel of nanometric dimension movable with respect to a substrate on which printing is to occur or a substrate movable with respect to the channel. Precision contact of the end aperture, or tip, of the channel with the surface deposits the chemical on the surface. Precision contact can be made by normal force atomic force microscopy or by other techniques that allow controlled contact or near contact with the surface on which the chemical is to be written with fine precision. Multiple channels with multiple orifices may be provided. The channel is connected to a suitable separation device such as a high performance liquid chromatograph and the chemicals are delivered through a probe orifice onto a substrate. The nanometric scale of the probe allows the chemicals to be printed on the substrate at spacings of from several nanometers to hundreds of micrometers in a fashion correlated with some external signal from a device that signals the ejection of a specific chemical.