New developments in Dip Pen NanolithographyTM: Active probes and microfluidic ink delivery

COLL 445

Bjoern Rosner, Linette Demers, Terrisa Duenas, Debjyoti Banerjee, Roger Shile, Nabil Amro, and Jeff Rendlen. NanoInk Inc, 1335 W. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60607
Dip Pen Nanolithography (DPNTM) is an enabling technique for nanotechnology. In this scanning probe technique a sharp tip is coated with a functional substance and then brought into contact with a surface where it deposits ink via a water meniscus. The DPN process is a direct-write pattern transfer technique with nanometer resolution and is inherently general with respect to usable inks and substrates — including polymers and biomolecules such as oligonucleotides. We present thermomechanically actuated probes for DPN patterning andthe current state of integration of these probes with control electronics and an interface module. As an additional improvement to DPN functionality, we developed the capability to write with different inks on densely spaced tips. For this purpose, we fabricate passive microfluidic devices and present microfluidic behavior and DPN application of these components.