The
miniscule tip on an atomic-force microscope (AFM)
helps researchers both "see" and manipulate the nanoscale
environment. Now, engineers have created two novel
technologies that enable such tips to write features
as small as viruses and to withstand abuse with the
resilience of diamond. Eventually, they believe,
vast arrays of such nanofountain probes could prove
useful for crafting such intricate systems as protein
arrays or complex semiconductors.
By taking advantage of the same capillary forces
that keep fountain pens flowing, researchers from
Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., created
a specialized structure that channels inks from a
tiny reservoir down to a miniscule AFM tip.
Existing "dip-pen" techniques utilize the same inks,
which range from pigments for creating patterns to
organic materials for creating sensors, but they
suffer from difficulties with maintaining a regular
ink supply. The new "nanofountain probe" can paint
features as small as 40 nanometers and carries its
own ink reservoir.
Horacio Espinosa and colleagues from the NSF Nanoscale
Science and Engineering Center for Integrated Nanopatterning
and Detection Technologies crafted the probe using
standard microfabrication techniques, so device production
is scalable.
The center, a collaboration among researchers from
Northwestern University, the University of Chicago,
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and
Argonne National Laboratory, was also behind the
development of another AFM breakthrough, single-piece,
ultra-nano-crystalline diamond cantilevers and tips.
Existing commercially available tips incorporate
a diamond tip glued to a cantilever, a difficult
component to craft, or less durable silicon tips
coated with layers of diamond.
In addition to being extremely durable, the new
tips are also crafted using standard microfabrication
techniques and offer the same manufacturing advantages
as the nanofountain probes.
Both developments appeared in the journal Small.
A report on the nanofountain probe appeared in the April
2005 issue, and one on the ultra-nano-crystalline
diamond tip appeared in the August
2005 issue.
The research was supported by NSF Grants 0304472 and 0118025
-- Josh Chamot
Investigators
Zhen Chen
Chad Mirkin
Mark Hersam
Ted Belytschko
Horacio Espinosa
Orlando Auciello
Related Institutions/Organizations
Northwestern University
Argonne National Laboratory
University of Missouri-Columbia
Locations
NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for, Illinois
Related Awards
#0118025
Nanoscale Science & Engineering Center for
Integrated Nanopatterning and Detection Technologies
#0304472 NIRT: Science
and Technology of Ultrananocrystalline Diamond Films for Multifunctional
MEMS/NEMS Devices
Total Grants
$1,300,001
Related Agencies
Department of Energy
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