NER: Nano-Contact Printing: Stamping in the Nano-World

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The recent interest in nano-science has catalyzed research in the development of nano-fabrication techniques. New highly versatile nanolithography techniques based on scanning probe microscopes have been reported. It is now possible to pattern a wide variety of organic and inorganic substrates either by inducing localized chemical modifications of or by forming self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on surfaces with resolutions of less than 4 nm. Unfortunately, all these techniques are very slow. Here we propose to develop a novel stamping method (nano-contact printing, NCP) based on the reversible self-assembly of patterned DNA monolayers that, independently from the original fabrication technique, will be able to quickly reproduce a large number of nano-patterns and nano-devices thus allowing for their industrial production. The working principle of this technique will be completely different from any of the present macro and micro- stamping methods. NCP will be tailor-made to transfer organic and inorganic patterns reversibly and reliably with an enormous versatility. The main innovative characteristics of this technique will be the possibility of (i) transferring organic monolayers, (ii) stamping a large number of different information all at the same time, and (iii) stamping new molds starting from the original one. NCP will also be able to replicate flat inorganic, as well as organic, nanofabricated substrate (not possible with any of the present techniques). This work aims at providing researchers with a nano-fabrication tool that meets industrial standards, thus it could impact the whole nanotechnology field. The students involved with the project will learn about (1) a great variety of nanolithography techniques, (2) fundamental concepts of SAM fabrication and characterization, and, finally, (3) the basics of DNA hybridization. If successful, NCP will become one of the experiments performed in the laboratory part of the nano-science undergraduate class that the P.I. is developing for fall '04 ("Nanosize Materials").