Dip Pen Nanolithography^® (DPN^®) is an inherently additive SPM-based technique which operates under ambient conditions, making it suitable to deposit a wide range of biological and inorganic materials. Massively parallel two-dimensional nanopatterning with DPN is now commercially available via NanoInk's 2D nano PrintArray^TM, making DPN a high-throughput, flexible and versatile method for precision nanoscale pattern formation. By fabricating 55,000 tip-cantilevers across a 1 cm² chip, we leverage the inherent versatility of DPN and demonstrate large area surface coverage, routinely achieving throughputs of 3x10⁷ μm² per hour. Further, we have engineered the device to be easy to use, wire-free, and fully integrated with the NSCRIPTOR's scanner, stage, and sophisticated lithography routines. In this talk we discuss the methods of operating this commercially available device, subsequent results showing sub-100 nm feature sizes and excellent uniformity (standard deviation < 16%), and our continuing development work. Simultaneous multiplexed deposition of a variety of molecules is a fundamental goal of massively parallel 2D nanopatterning, and we will discuss our progress on this front, including ink delivery methods, tip coating, and patterning techniques to generate combinatorial libraries of nanoscale patterns. Another fundamental challenge includes planar leveling of the 2D nano PrintArray, and herein we describe our successful implementation of device viewports and integrated software leveling routines that monitor cantilever deflection to achieve planarity and uniform surface contact. Finally, we will discuss the results of 2D nanopatterning applications such as: 1) rapidly and flexibly generating nanostructures; 2) chemically directed assembly and 3) directly writing biological materials.

Date Published: 30 April 2008
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 6959, Micro (MEMS) and Nanotechnologies for Space, Defense, and Security II, 69590I (30 April 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.777219

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6959:
Micro (MEMS) and Nanotechnologies for Space, Defense, and Security II
Thomas George; Zhongyang Cheng, Editor(s)