Advanced nanopatterning method developed

[nanoorg]

Advanced nanopatterning method developed

U.S. scientists have developed a system allowing the simultaneous creation of 55,000 identical patterns drawn with tiny dots of molecular ink.

Each two-dimensional array drawn on substrates of gold or glass is a single molecule tall. That, said the Northwestern University scientists, is an advance of a patterning method called Dip-Pen Nanolithography.

To demonstrate the technique, researchers reproduced the face of Thomas Jefferson from a 5-cent coin 55,000 times within 30 minutes. Each identical image was 12 micrometers wide - about twice the diameter of a red blood cell - consisting of 8,773 dots, each 80 nanometers in diameter.

The advantage of DPN, a maskless lithography, is it can be used to deliver many different types of inks simultaneously to a surface in any configuration one desires.

"This development should lead to massively miniaturized gene chips, combinatorial libraries for screening pharmaceutically active materials and new ways of fabricating and integrating nanoscale or even molecular-scale components for electronics and computers," said study leader Professor Chad Mirkin, director of Northwestern's International Institute for Nanotechnology.


Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/
Copyright 2006 by United Press International



This story was first posted on 27th September 2006.