Three-dimensional nanoprinting with charged aerosol focusing via an electrified mask

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) nanoprinting techniques attract significant research interest due to their capacity to manufacture diverse structures. The techniques enhance the performance of various applications by realizing unique functionalities from the size and geometrical effects of small-scale 3D structures. A recently reported 3D nanoprinting technique that utilizes charged aerosol jets generated by ion accumulation on the dielectric mask as a printing tool is promising for enabling parallel intricate 3D nanostructures in atmospheric conditions. In this technique, modulating the voxel size of the printed structure was difficult because the ion accumulation that was necessary for the generation of converged aerosol jets was not easy to be controlled. Here, we demonstrate a charged aerosol jet-based advanced 3D nanoprinting technique that enables the programming of the voxel size of 3D nanostructures by replacing the ion accumulated dielectric mask with the electrified mask. The electrified mask readily controls the local electric field strength between the mask and conducting substrate, which influences the diameter of charged aerosol jets and thus determines the voxel size of the 3D nanostructures. By additionally controlling the distance between the mask and substrate and changing the hole size of the mask, we show that the voxel size can be further altered. Moreover, moving the substrate in three-dimensions prints desired shapes of the 3D nanostructures, such as overhanging structures and helices with controlled voxel sizes. In addition, we present theoretical approaches to predict the geometries and voxel sizes of 3D nanostructures.