Parallel Dip-pen Nanolithography Research Articles

Multiplexed Biomolecular Arrays Generated via Parallel Dip-Pen Nanolithography.

The capability of transferring target materials especially functionality-reliable biomolecules, into specific locations and with arbitrarily designed patterns are of critical importance for high-throughput disease diagnosis, multiplexing, and drug screening. Herein, we report the simultaneous patterning of two types of biomolecules using the parallel dip-pen nanolithography technology where an array of the atomic force microscope (AFM) tips can be selectively and alternately coated with target biomolecules via a specially designed inkwell array. Moreover, mixing target biomolecules at a proper volumetric ratio with polyethylene glycol dissolved in PBS buffer solution that works as an ink carrier can not only facilitate the smooth transfer of ink materials from the AFM tip to the substrate,it can also help to adjust the ink diffusion constant of different biomolecules to be highly similar so that the multiplexed biofunctional dot and/or line arrays at similar sizes can be reliably generated.

Controlling cell behavior with peptide nano-patterns

Proper cell polarization and division are critical for a developing organism and a number of downstream biological processes including cancer metastasis, cell migration, and organelle organization. Both cell behaviors are complex and influenced by a number of external factors including, the extracellular matrix (ECM), physical–mechanical and hydrodynamic forces. In particular, the ECM functions as a dynamic 3-dimensional scaffold support for tissue segregation and cell adhesion. Although cells are microns in size, they sense and respond to dynamic nanoarchitecture changes of the ECM. To further understand these complex processes model substrates have been developed to recapitulate the spatial presentation of ligands as gradients and single cell patterns. However, until now, the interplay between ligand affinity, ligand density and ligand area at the nanoscale on cell behavior has received little attention due to the lack of synergistic surface chemistry, microscopy, cell biology, and nanopatterning technologies. In this report, we develop biospecific nanopatterned peptide array substrates to examine how the nano-environment controls cell behavior utilizing parallel dip-pen nanolithography.

Mass fabrication of size-controllable hydrogel microarrays by dip-pen nanolithography with viscosity-tunable ink

A method of mass fabricating poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel microarrays is demonstrated. Microarrays of poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEG-DMA) with photoinitiator were patterned by one-dimensional (1-D) parallel dip-pen nanolithography (DPN), and the microarrays were cross-linked to form PEG hydrogels by UV irradiation in N2 air. As an ink material for DPN printing, solid and liquid phase of PEG-DMA were mixed and prepared to tune viscosity of the ink material by temperature. Thus, the diameter of the microarrays was able to be averagely controlled from 1.7 to 6.2 μm as temperature during printing was increased from 25 °C to 37 °C, respectively. The overall microarrays showed less than 16% coefficient of variation (C.V.). Moreover, small molecules, such as fluorescence dyes, were able to be embedded in the PEG hydrogel microarrays.

Generation of plasmonic Au nanostructures in the visible wavelength using two-dimensional parallel dip-pen nanolithography.

The fabrication and characterization of over millimeter (mm)-scale Au plasmonic structures are reported. Fishnet structures of Au are fabricated by the "bottom-up (direct deposition of alkanethiol)" and "top-down (wet-etching of Au)" combined approach using massively parallel dip-pen nanolithography (DPN). An array of two-dimensional (2D) parallel 55,000 pens was used for the DPN writing of 1-octadecanethiol (ODT) on an Au film in an area of 10 mm × 10 mm. The plasmonic resonance of the over millimeter-scale Au fishnet structures is shown at the visible region around 500 nm, which is measured by ellipsometrical experiments and theoretical finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculation. It was demonstrated that massive metal plasmonic structures can be conveniently obtained by using DPN, complementary with both e-beam lithography and nanoimprint lithography.

Nanolithography: User‐Friendly Universal and Durable Subcellular‐Scaled Template for Protein Binding: Application to Single‐Cell Patterning (Adv. Funct. Mater. 47/2013)

A subcellular-scaled protein array is fabricated by J.-W. Jang and co-workers on page 5840 using a parallel dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) patterned template. Micro- or nano-arrays of aldehydesilane are patterned on a SiOx substrate by DPN printing. Extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, such as fibronectin, are then attached onto the aldehydesilane template. Finally, individual cell arrays are also available by anchoring on ECM protein array. Some big advantages of this method are that the aldehyde-silane template can be stored for up to 1 year, and that user-friendly protein and cell patterning are available.

Parallel Dip‐Pen Nanolithography using Spore‐ and Colloid‐Terminated Cantilevers

Parallel dip-pen nanolithography is used to generate micrometer-scale patterns with protein and lipid dyes on both a glass surface and spore layer. Spore- and colloid-based tips are used to facilitate parallel patterning.

Multiplexed arrays of chemosensors by parallel dip-pen nanolithography

Miniaturized combined arrays of three different pH indicators allowing for sensitive, robust and broad-range acidity detection are prepared by parallel dip-pen nanolithography, which proves the potential of this technique to fabricate multiplexed platforms at the micro- and nanoscale that can act as sensors.

Multiplexed Lipid Dip‐Pen Nanolithography on Subcellular Scales for the Templating of Functional Proteins and Cell Culture

Molecular patterning processes taking place in biological systems are challenging to study in vivo because of their dynamic behavior, subcellular size, and high degree of complexity. In vitro patterning of biomolecules using nanolithography allows simplification of the processes and detailed study of the dynamic interactions. Parallel dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) is uniquely capable of integrating functional biomolecules on subcellular length scales due to its constructive nature, high resolution, and high throughput. Phospholipids are particularly well suited as inks for DPN since a variety of different functional lipids can be readily patterned in parallel. Here DPN is used to spatially pattern multicomponent micro- and nanostructured supported lipid membranes and multilayers that are fluid and contain various amounts of biotin and/or nitrilotriacetic acid functional groups. The patterns are characterized by fluorescence microscopy and photoemission electron microscopy. Selective adsorption of functionalized or recombinant proteins based on streptavidin or histidine-tag coupling enables the semisynthetic fabrication of model peripheral membrane bound proteins. The biomimetic membrane patterns formed in this way are then used as substrates for cell culture, as demonstrated by the selective adhesion and activation of T-cells.

The Power of the Pen: Development of Massively Parallel Dip-Pen Nanolithography

If one had complete control of the architecture of a surface, in terms of composition and physical structure, one could ask and answer some of the most important scientific questions in a wide variety of fields, including surface science, catalysis, and cellular biology. Unfortunately, there are few tools that allow one to tailor surface architecture with such control, and of those that exist, such as electron- and ion-beam lithographies, most are limited in terms of the environment in which they can operate, the materials that can be patterned, cost, and throughput. Toward this end, important new scanning probe technologies have been developed that have impacted fields such as electronics, optics, and medicine.

Self‐Assembly Meets Nanofabrication: Recent Developments in Microcontact Printing and Dip‐Pen Nanolithography

Neat styles of writing: Recent reports on massively parallel dip-pen nanolithography and further improvements in the resolution of microcontact printing signify that patterning self-assembled monolayers on the submicrometer scale over large areas has now reached a level of sophistication that allows it to rival “hard” lithographic techniques, while retaining the flexibility of using the patterned substrates as a platform for further chemical modification.

Cover Picture: Massively Parallel Dip–Pen Nanolithography with 55 000‐Pen Two‐Dimensional Arrays (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 43/2006)

Massively parallel dip–pen nanolithography is possible when 55 000 AFM cantilevers are used to write molecules directly onto a surface. An optical micrograph shows the surface after etching (cover picture, left), and each round feature is a miniature image of the face of Thomas Jefferson (AFM image, right), who helped develop the polygraph, a duplicator based on an array of pens. For more information on the new technique see the Communication by C. A. Mirkin and co‐workers on page 7220 ff.

Massively Parallel Dip–Pen Nanolithography with 55 000‐Pen Two‐Dimensional Arrays

Schreibstube plus: Einfach und flexibel präsentiert sich eine zweidimensionale Anordnung von 55 000 Rasterkraftmikroskop(AFM)-Federarmen als „Stifte“ bei der Hochdurchsatzbemusterung großer Flächen durch direktes Aufbringen von Molekülen. Dank pyramidaler Spitzen mit niedrigem Seitenverhältnis, gebogener Federarme und einer neuartigen Ausrichtungsmethode unter Nutzung der Schwerkraft können 1 cm2 große Molekülmuster mit einer Auflösung unter 100 nm erzeugt werden.

Massively Parallel Dip–Pen Nanolithography with 55 000‐Pen Two‐Dimensional Arrays

Massively Parallel Dip–Pen Nanolithography with 55 000‐Pen Two‐Dimensional Arrays

Thermally actuated probe array for parallel dip-pen nanolithography

Dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) uses scanning probes to directly deposit chemical and biological materials on a solid substrate. It offers the advantages of nanometer resolution and flexibility in pattern generation. Conventional DPN uses a single probe and its throughput is limited due to the serial nature of the process. This article reports the development of a linear silicon probe array that enables parallel DPN writing with improved throughput. The probe array has ten probes with tips with 100nm radius of curvature. Each probe in the array is individually controllable by a bimorph thermal actuator on its cantilever. DPN writing tests with octadecanethiol (ODT) as ink on gold surface have been conducted on an atomic force microscope. Simultaneous generation of ten different ODT patterns has been achieved with an average linewidth of 40nm.

Parallel dip-pen nanolithography with arrays of individually addressable cantilevers

In dip-pen nanolithography (DPN), nanoscale chemical patterns are created by directly transferring chemical molecules from the tip of an atomic force microscope probe to a surface. We report the development of a thermally actuated probe array for DPN applications. The array consists of ten thermal bimorph actuated probes, each 300 μm long, with a lateral spacing of 100 μm. The probes are actuated by passing dc current through a heater embedded in the probe base. The array is demonstrated by using it to simultaneously write ten different octadecanethiol patterns on a gold surface.

A MEMS nanoplotter with high-density parallel dip-pennanolithography probe arrays

We report on the development of a nanoplotter that consistsof an array of microfabricated probes for parallel dip-pennanolithography. Two types of device have been developed by usingmicroelectromechanical systems micromachining technology. The firstconsists of 32 silicon nitride cantilevers separated by 100 µm,while the second consists of eight boron-doped silicon tips separatedby 310 µm. The former offers writing and imaging capabilities,but is challenged with respect to tip sharpness. The latter offerssmaller linewidths and increased imaging capabilities at the expenseof probe density. Parallel generation of nanoscopic monolayerpatterns with a minimum linewidth of 60 nm has been demonstratedusing an eight-pen microfabricated probe array.

Development of Parallel Dip Pen Nanolithography Probe Arrays for High Throughput Nanolithography

ABSTRACTDip Pen Nanolithography (DPN) is a lithographic technique that allows direct deposition of chemicals, metals, biological macromolecules, and other molecular “inks” with nanometer dimensions and precision. This paper addresses recent developments in the design and demonstration of high-density multiprobe DPN arrays. High-density arrays increase the process throughput over individual atomic force microscope (AFM) probes and are easier to use than arrays of undiced commercial probes. We have demonstrated passive arrays made of silicon (8 probes, 310 μm tip-to-tip spacing) and silicon nitride (32 probes, 100 μm tip-to-tip spacing). We have also demonstrated silicon nitride “active” arrays (10 probes, 100 μm tip-to-tip spacing) that have embedded thermal actuators for individual probe control. An optimization model for these devices, based on a generalized multilayer thermal actuator, is also described.

A nanoplotter with both parallel and serial writing capabilities

The development of an eight-pen nanoplotter capable of doing parallel dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) is reported. Because line width and patterning speed in DPN are independent of contact force, only one of the tips in the parallel writing mode (the "imaging" tip) has a feedback system to monitor tip position and to write the pattern; all other tips reproduce what occurs at the imaging tip in a passive fashion. Proof-of-concept experiments that demonstrate eight-pen parallel writing, ink and rinsing wells, and "molecular corralling" via a nanoplotter-generated structure are reported.