Nanolithography methods and products therefor and produced thereby
AssigneeNorthwestern University
InventorsChad A. Mirkin, Peter V. Schwartz, James J. Storhoff, So-Jung Park
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Abstract
The invention provides methods of nanolithography and products therefor and produced thereby. In particular, the invention provides a nanolithographic method referred to as high force nanografting (HFN). HFN utilizes a tip (e.g., a scanning probe microscope (SPM) tip such as an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip) to pattern a substrate passivated with a resist. In the presence of a patterning compound, the tip is used to apply a high force to the substrate to remove molecules of the resist from the substrate, whereupon molecules of the patterning compound are able to attach to the substrate the form the desired pattern.
Claims29
A method of nano lithography comprising:
- providing a substrate;
- coating at least a portion of the substrate with a resist;
- providing a tip with a drop of patterning compound on the tip;
- applying the tip to a portion of the substrate coated with the resist wherein a high normal force is formed between the tip and the substrate by the surface tension of the drop of patterning compound on the tip that forms a thin film of the patterning compound on the substrate in an area proximate the tip;
- and,
- moving the tip to remove resist from the substrate, whereupon the patterning compound attaches to the substrate from which the resist has been removed by the tip to form a pattern of the patterning compound on the substrate.
A method of forming a three-dimensional structure on a substrate comprising:
- (a) applying a foundation layer to a substrate by
- providing a tip with a drop of patterning compound on a surface of the tip;
- applying the tip to a portion of the substrate coated with a resist wherein a high normal force is formed between the tip and the substrate by the surface tension of the drop of patterning compound on the tip that forms high normal force between the tip and substrate;
- and,
- moving the tip to remove resist from the substrate, whereupon the patterning compound attaches to the substrate from which the resist has been removed by the tip to form a pattern of the patterning compound on the substrate wherein the patterning compound comprises a nucleic acid;
- (b) providing a structure-forming compound comprising a nucleic acid having a sequence complementary to the sequence of at least a portion of the nucleic acid of the patterning compound;
- (c) applying the structure-forming compound to the foundation layer;
- and
- (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) to form the desired three-dimensional structure, wherein the three-dimensional structure is formed at least in part by the hybridization of the nucleic acids of the structure-forming compound and the patterning compound.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.