jp065404d_si_001.pdf (60.04 kB)
Dip-Pen Nanolithography of High-Melting-Temperature Molecules
journal contribution
posted on 2006-10-26, 00:00 authored by Ling Huang, Yu-Hsu Chang, Joseph J. Kakkassery, Chad A. MirkinDirect nanopatterning of a number of high-melting-temperature molecules has been systematically investigated
by dip-pen nanolithography (DPN). By tuning DPN experimental conditions, all of the high-melting-temperature
molecules transported smoothly from the atomic force microscope (AFM) tip to the surface at room temperature
without tip preheating. Water meniscus formation between the tip and substrate is found to play a critical
role in patterning high-melting-temperature molecules. These results show that heating an AFM probe to a
temperature above the ink's melting temperature is not a prerequisite for ink delivery, which extends the
current “ink−substrate” combinations available to DPN users.