Controlling orientation of V(2)O(5) nanowires within micropatterns via microcontact printing combined with the gluing Langmuir-Blodgett technique

Previously, we suggested a facile method to transfer dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB)/V(2)O(5) nanowire hybrid patterns onto both hydrophobic and hydrophilic substrates via microcontact printing combined with the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique (Park et al 2007 Nanotechnology 18 405301). Herein, we report on the delicate control of the orientation of V(2)O(5) nanowires within the micropatterns transferred via the gluing LB technique using a patterned polydimethylsilicate (PDMS) stamp. According to the orientation of the PDMS line patterns relative to the air-water interface, the aligned orientation of the nanowires, either parallel or perpendicular to the patterns, could be obtained and attributed to the moving direction of the water menisci formed between the PDMS stamp and water. In particular, addition of a small amount of ethanol in the subphase enhanced the dispersion of the DODAB at the air-water interface as well as the aggregation of V(2)O(5) nanowires, resulting in alignment of the V(2)O(5) nanowires via compression of the hybrid LB film by a barrier. Directional alignment of nanowires has potentially broad applications in the fabrication of aligned nanowire devices.     

印章特性和印刷压力对微接触印刷工艺的影响

微接触印刷（μCP）是一种能在微纳米尺度上完成表面图案化的技术,主要特点是高效和低成本．研究了μCP过程中印章机械特性和印刷压力对形成的微图案质量的影响．为了进一步分析聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）制作的印章特性,浇注了5种配比的PDMS试样,并进行了单轴拉伸和压缩试验,获得了其应力应变关系．制作了3种配比的表面线型图案印章,实施微接触印刷使其印刷压强在1kPa～1MPa．通过图形化分析对最终的微接触印刷质量进行评估．实验结果表明：最优的压强区间为20～200kPa．较小的压力将会产生印章与基底的间隙,而较大的压力将会导致印章的严重变形．由于质量比为20：1的PDMS印章的弹性模量最小,其在中等压力下的微接触印刷质量最好,而较硬的印章可有效地抵抗印刷中产生的变形．     

Pattern-definable and low cost fabrication of nanopatterned conducting polymer film on flexible substrates

This study reports the pattern definable and low cost fabrication of nanopatterned conducting polymer film on flexible substrates. Noble nanopatterned polymer hard template was fabricated by using nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and used for electropolymerization of conducting polymer. Conducting polymer was electrochemically deposited on the template and transferred over to flexible substrates. Eventually conducting polymer films with various nanopatterns were fabricated on flexible substrates. High pattern definability was achieved by nanoimprinted polymer template, which was molded from lithographically fabricated stamp. Low cost fabrication was accomplished due to low cost NIL, reusable polymer templates, and low material consumption of electrodeposition. The electrodeposited films were transferred using double sided tape. Because the templates are made of flexible polymer, the transfer bonding method applied in this study is adaptable to both wafers and flexible polymer substrates. The fabricated nanopatterned conducting polymer film can be applied to gas sensors, super capacitors, super wetting films, and neuron interfaces due to its characteristic of high surface to volume. For an illustrative application, the gas sensing properties of films were tested. The result showed enhanced sensing characteristic with nanopatterned film, which are attributed to the high surface to volume ratio of nanopatterned films.     

Stretching DNA in polymer nanochannels fabricated by thermal imprint in PMMA

We present results regarding the fast and inexpensive fabrication of polymer biochips for investigating the statics and dynamics of DNA confined in nanochannels. The biochips have been fabricated by means of nanoimprint lithography (NIL) in low molecular weight polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) using a 4?inch diameter two-level hybrid stamp. The fluidic structures were sealed using thermal polymer fusion bonding. The stamp has nanometer-?and micrometer-sized protrusions defined in a thermally grown SiO(2) layer and the sol-gel process derived duromeric hybrid polymer Ormocomp, respectively. The stamp is compatible with molecular vapor deposition (MVD), used for applying a durable chlorosilane based antistiction coating, and allows for imprint up to a temperature of 270?°C. The extension of YOYO-1 stained T4 GT7 bacteriophage DNA inside the PMMA nanochannels has been experimentally investigated using epi-fluorescence microscopy. The measured average extension length amounts to 20% of the full contour length with a standard deviation of 4%. These results are in good agreement with results obtained by stretching DNA in conventional fused silica nanochannels.     

玻璃基底上的蛋白质微接触压印图型化

研究了一种将胶原Ⅰ型蛋白通过微接触压印技术图型化于玻璃基底表面的方法.采用标准光刻工艺制备印章母版,并运用反应离子刻蚀设备对印章表面进行氧等离子体处理,以期改善印章表面亲水性能.将涂敷了胶原Ⅰ型蛋白,并经返潮处理的印章以50 g/cm^2大小的力与玻璃表面接触10 s,得到蛋白质微图型.结果表明,采用反应离子刻蚀技术能显著改善聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）印章表面的亲水性.表面亲水性得到改善的PDMS印章,在经过湿盒返潮后,再进行微接触压印得到的蛋白质微图型其质量得到显著提高.     

Patterned Paper as a Low-Cost, Flexible Substrate for Rapid Prototyping of PDMS Microdevices via "Liquid Molding"

This report describes the use of patterned paper as a low-cost, flexible substrate for rapidly prototyping PDMS microdevices via "liquid molding". The entire fabrication process consists simply of three steps: (1) fabrication of patterned paper in NC membrane by direct wax printing (or modified wax printing that we call "transfer wax printing"); (2) formation of liquid mold on wax-patterned NC membrane; (3) PDMS molding and curing on wax-patterned NC membrane anchored with liquid micropatterns. All these procedures can be finished within only 1.5 h without the use of a photomask, photoresist, UV lamp, etc. Through the use of wax-patterned NC membrane coupled with a liquid mold as a template, different PDMS microdevices such as microwells and microchannels have been fabricated to demonstrate the usefulness of the method for PDMS microfabrication. The height of microwells and microchannels can also be tailored flexibly by adjusting the liquid filling volume. This method for prototyping PDMS microdevices has some favorable merits including simple operation procedures, fast concept-to-device time, and low cost, indicating its potential for simple PDMS microdevice fabrication and applications.     

A Simplified Method to Produce a Functional Test Stamp for Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL)

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a novel technique that allows fabrication of submicron features into substrates using a modified embossing method into a polymer resist. In most cases, a stamp is produced by direct e-beam writing into a resist and then the pattern is etched into the substrate. Other stamp fabrication methods exist but, in general, they are expensive to produce. When performing NIL, damage may occur to the stamp unless the process steps are optimized. In this letter, we illustrate a simple and inexpensive method to produce a test stamp to use for NIL process optimization. This may have wide applications in both industrial and academic settings.      

基于微接触印刷法的PbS微图案的制备

以聚二甲基硅氧(PDMS)弹性体为印模,十八烷基三氯硅烷(OTS)为"墨水",采用微接触印刷法分别在平整的玻璃基片表面和弯曲的玻璃棒表面进行印刷操作,将印刷后的基片浸入到PbS化学浴液中沉积得到微图案化的PbS薄膜.交叉印刷和光学显微观察结果表明,所沉积的PbS微图案边界清晰规整,并且PbS会选择性沉积在基片表面没有被OTS覆盖的区域.     

Thermowetting embossing nanoimprinting of the organic-inorganic hybrid materials

A new UV-based soft-lithographic technique for submicron patterns via thermowetting of organic-inorganic hybrid materials is described. Specifically, 300-nm scale patterns were replicated utilising this coating-free fabrication method. With thermowetting embossing nanoimprinting technique, a poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) mold with a submicron-scale relief was placed on a thermally wetted organic-inorganic hybrid material, which was then polymerized with UV light. The thermowetting embossing nanoimprinting technique can be applied universally to patternable organic-inorganic hybrid materials, such as methacrylic and vinylic organic-inorganic hybrid materials. Fabricated submicron patterns can also be applied to the nanoscale patterning, e.g., arrayed photonic band gap materials.     

Fabrication of polyethylene surface with stable superhydrophobicity by nanoparticle assisted thermal micromolding process

Superhydrophobic surface with lotus leaf effect has many practical and potential applications in different fields. In this paper, a novel process based on nanoparticle assisted thermal micromolding was developed to create polyethylene superhydrophobic surface. Briefly, a thin layer of TiO2 nanoparticles was first coated on the featured surface of the poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) stamp replicated from a fresh lotus leaf. Then low-density polyethylene (LDPE) was thermally pressed onto such TiO2 coated stamp. A control process was also performed by thermally pressing TiO2/LDPE nanocomposite material onto a blank PDMS stamp. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging and contact angle measurements showed that the surfaces of LDPE films replicated from stamp coated with TiO2 had more delicate nano-structures and higher water contact angles (> or = 155 degrees) than those replicated from the blank stamp. Moreover, the superhydrophobic surface formed by TiO2 assisted micromolding was relatively stable under water stream with high pressure. This study shows that nanoparticle assisted micromolding is an alternative technique to other techniques for large scale production of superhydrophobic polymeric films.     

Transfer printing of graphene strip from the graphene grown on copper wires

A simple, cost-effective and lithography-free fabrication of graphene strips for device applications is demonstrated. The graphene thin layers were directly grown on Cu wires, followed by Cu etching and transfer printing to arbitrary substrates by a PDMS stamp. The Cu wires can be arranged on the PDMS stamp in a desired pattern; hence, the substrates can receive graphene strips with the same pattern. Moreover, the preparation of graphene strips does not involve conventional lithography; therefore, the surface of the graphene strip is free of residual photoresists, which may be useful for studies requiring clean graphene surfaces.     

A hybrid mask-mould lithography scheme and its application in nanoscale organic thin film transistors

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) has stimulated great interest in both academic research and industrial development due to its high resolution, high throughput and low cost advantages. Though NIL has been demonstrated to be very successful in replicating nanoscale features, it also has its limitations as a general lithography technique. Its fundamental moulding characteristics (i.e.?physically displacing polymer materials) frequently lead to pattern defects when replicating arbitrary patterns, especially patterns with broad size distribution. To solve this problem, we have developed a combined nanoimprint and photolithography technique that uses a hybrid mould to achieve good pattern definitions. In this work, we applied this technique to fabricate finger-shaped nanoelectrodes, and demonstrated nanoscale pentacene organic thin film transistors (OTFTs). Methods of the hybrid mask-mould (HMM) fabrication and results on the device electrical characteristics are provided. With combined advantages of both photolithography and NIL, and the applicability to general nanoscale device and system fabrication, this method can become a valuable choice for low cost mass production of micro-?and nanoscale structures, devices and systems.     

Prototyping of masks, masters, and stamps/molds for soft lithography using an office printer and photographic reduction

This paper describes a practical method for the fabrication of photomasks, masters, and stamps/molds used in soft lithography that minimizes the need for specialized equipment. In this method, CAD files are first printed onto paper using an office printer with resolution of 600 dots/in. Photographic reduction of these printed patterns transfers the images onto 35-mm film or microfiche. These photographic films can be used, after development, as photomasks in 1:1 contact photolithography. With the resulting photoresist masters, it is straightforward to fabricate poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) stamps/molds for soft lithography. This process can generate microstructures as small as 15 microm; the overall time to go from CAD file to PDMS stamp is 4-24 h. Although access to equipment-spin coater and ultraviolet exposure tool-normally found in the clean room is still required, the cost of the photomask itself is small, and the time required to go from concept to device is short. A comparison between this method and all other methods that generate film-type photomasks has been performed using test patterns of lines, squares, and circles. Three microstructures have also been fabricated to demonstrate the utility of this method in practical applications.     

Micropatterning of emitting layers by microcontact printing and application to organic light-emitting diodes

The microcontact printing (μCP) technique, which is a simple and low damage fabrication technique for thin films, was successfully applied to fabricate patterned emitting layers such as polyfluorene (PF). We fabricated micropatterns by transferring dried and uniform thin films, and observed strong electroluminescence (EL) from the fabricated organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with the patterned emitting layers. The performance of the fabricated device was superior to that of a conventionally fabricated device. This demonstrates the well-controlled interfaces achieved by μCP. Furthermore, we succeeded in fabricating OLEDs with multiple emitting layers. These results show that this technique is promising for application to cost-effective, high luminance and multicolored OLED displays.     

Shaping Metallic Nanolattices: Design by Microcontact Printing from Wrinkled Stamps

A method for the fabrication of well‐defined metallic nanostructures is presented here in a simple and straightforward fashion. As an alternative to lithographic techniques, this routine employs microcontact printing utilizing wrinkled stamps, which are prepared from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and includes the formation of hydrophobic stripe patterns on a substrate via the transfer of oligomeric PDMS. Subsequent backfilling of the interspaces between these stripes with a hydroxyl‐functional poly(2‐vinyl pyridine) then provides the basic pattern for the deposition of citrate‐stabilized gold nanoparticles promoted by electrostatic interaction. The resulting metallic nanostripes can be further customized by peeling off particles in a second microcontact printing step, which employs poly(ethylene imine) surface‐decorated wrinkled stamps, to form nanolattices. Due to the independent adjustability of the period dimensions of the wrinkled stamps and stamp orientation with respect to the substrate, particle arrays on the (sub)micro‐scale with various kinds of geometries are accessible in a straightforward fashion. This work provides an alternative, cost‐effective, and scalable surface‐patterning technique to fabricate nanolattice structures applicable to multiple types of functional nanoparticles. Being a top‐down method, this process could be readily implemented into, e.g., the fabrication of optical and sensing devices on a large scale.     

Integrated 3-D Silicon Electrodes for Electrochemical Sensing in Microfluidic Environments: Application to Single-Cell Characterization

A microtechnology allowing the integration of thin metal electrodes and three dimensional highly doped bulk silicon electrodes on a hybrid PDMS/glass fluidic microchip has been developed. The fabrication involved anodic bonding of a silicon wafer onto glass substrate, deep reactive ion etching of 3-D bulk silicon electrodes, and plasma bonding of a PDMS microfluidic structure on a silicon/gold/glass substrate. The devices realized using this technology have been used for electrical impedance characterization of chemical and biological material. Microdevices with typical dimensions of hundreds of micrometers have been fabricated and tested in the determination of the conductivity of NaCl solutions. Smaller sensors, with critical dimensions under 10 m, have been achieved for single-cell characterization. Human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cells have been introduced in the microimpedance sensors. Measurements show the interfacial relaxation of the cellular membrane in the range. It is expected that other electrochemical sensors and electrokinetic actuators can benefit from this technology.     

Fabrication of periodic metal nanowires with microscale mold by nanoimprint lithography

In this paper, a simple method is demonstrated for fabricating periodic metal nanowires based on the unconventional nanoimprint lithography (NIL) technique. Using this method, sub-100 nm metal nanowires with the rectangular cross-section are fabricated with microscale stamp. Furthermore, the metal nanowires with different widths and heights can be generated by adjusting the imprinting parameters with the same stamp. The metal nanowires prepared with this method can be used for chemical sensing, such as ammonia sensing, and it may have applications in optical signal processing.     

Parallel-local anodic oxidation of silicon surfaces by soft stamps

We investigate the fabrication of nanometric patterns on silicon surfaces by using the parallel-local anodic oxidation technique with soft stamps. This method yields silicon oxide nanostructures 15?nm high, namely at least five times higher than the nanostructures made with local anodic oxidation using atomic force microscopy, and thanks to the size of the stamp enables one to pattern the surface across a centimetre length scale. To implement this technique, we built a machine to bring the metallized polydimethylsiloxane stamp in contact with the silicon surface, subsequently inserted in a sealed chamber with controlled relative humidity. The oxide nanostructures are fabricated when a bias voltage of 36?V is applied between the stamp and the silicon for 2?min, with a relative humidity of 90%. The flexibility of the stamp enables a homogeneous conformal contact with the silicon surface, resulting in an excellent reproducibility of the process. Moreover, by means of two subsequent oxidations with the same stamp and just rotating the sample, we are able to fabricate complex nanostructures. Finally, a detailed study of the oxidation mechanism, also using a finite element analysis, has been performed to understand the underlying mechanism.     

Direct metal nano-imprinting using an embossed solid electrolyte stamp

In this paper, we report direct patterning of metal nanostructures using an embossed solid electrochemical stamp. Microforming of solid superionic stamps using Si templates--analogous to polymer patterning in nano-imprint lithography--is explored. Silver sulfide (Ag?S)--a superionic conductor with excellent microforming properties--is investigated as a candidate material. Important parameters of the superionic stamp, including mechanical behavior, material flow during forming and feature recovery after embossing, are studied. Excellent feature transferability during embossing as well as etching is observed. To illustrate the capability of this approach silver nano-antennas with gaps < 10 nm were successfully fabricated. The possibility for large area patterning with stamp diameters > 6 mm is also demonstrated. Embossing-based metal patterning allows fabrication beyond two-dimensional nanofabrication and several patterning schemes are reported.     

Soft lithography meets self-organization: Some new developments in meso-patterning

This is a brief review of our recent and ongoing work on simple, rapid, room temperature, pressure-less and large area (∼ cm²) imprinting techniques for high fidelity meso-patterning of different types of polymer films. Examples include soft solid polymer films and surfaces like cross-linked polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyacrylamide (PAA) based hydrogels, thermoplastics like polystyrene (PS), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) etc both on planar and curved surfaces. These techniques address two key issues in imprinting: (i) attainment of large area conformal contact with the stamp, especially on curved surfaces, and (ii) ease of stamp detachment without damage to the imprinted structures. The key element of the method is the use of thin and flexible patterned foils that readily and rapidly come into complete conformal contact with soft polymer surfaces because of adhesive interfacial interactions. The conformal contact is established at all length scales by bending of the foil at scales larger than the feature size, in conjunction with the spontaneous deformations of the film surface on the scale of the features. Complex two-dimensional patterns could also be formed even by using a simple one-dimensional master by multiple imprinting. The technique can be particularly useful for the bulk nano applications requiring routine fabrication of templates, for example, in the study of confined chemistry phenomena, nanofluidics, bio-MEMS, micro-imprinting, optical coatings and controlled dewetting.