AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition
    Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Monday Sessions
       Session NS+SE-MoM

Paper NS+SE-MoM11
Desktop Nanofabrication with Cantilever-Free Scanning Probes

Monday, November 10, 2014, 11:40 am, Room 304

Session: Delivering Energy and Mass at the Nanoscale 
Presenter: Keith A. Brown, Northwestern University
Authors: K.A. Brown, Northwestern University
D.J. Eichelsdoerfer, Northwestern University
X. Liao, Northwestern University
C.A. Mirkin, Northwestern University
Correspondent: Click to Email
The availability of reliable nanofabrication methods has dictated the pace of progress in many areas of physics, materials science, electronics, and biotechnology. A major deficiency in these fields is our inability to simultaneously control the architecture of soft materials from macroscopic to nanoscopic length scales. Scanning probe instruments, such as the atomic force microscope, are promising platforms for nanofabrication because they provide direct access to the nanoscale. However, the central barrier to their widespread use as lithographic instruments is throughput, as it is prohibitively slow to pattern large areas with a single nanoscale probe. To address this challenge, we explored a new architecture that utilizes a thin elastomeric film on a glass slide in lieu of cantilevers to enable the use of a massive array of probes in a simple format. Unfortunately, these cantilever-free probe arrays are passive duplication tools where each probe writes a copy of the same pattern. Here, we report on our recent advances in developing techniques for actuating individual probes in cantilever-free arrays and discuss the new scientific directions that these advances enable. Specifically, we present methods for both physically actuating cantilever-free probes using local heating and optically addressing probes that function as light valves for near-field photolithography, and find both to be capable of stitching together high resolution patterns that span multiple probes. These advances in nanofabrication have enabled new types of experiments, and in particular, we present recent progress in the combinatorial study of biochemical interactions and the high throughput fabrication of functional metamaterials using cantilever-free techniques. Taken together, these observations indicate that versatile desktop nanofabrication is possible using scanning probes and that these techniques can address the emerging challenges related to patterning soft materials.