title: Hard Transparent Arrays for Polymer Pen Lithography.
abstract: Patterning nanoscale features across macroscopic areas is challenging due to the vast range of length scales that must be addressed. With polymer pen lithography, arrays of thousands of elastomeric pyramidal pens can be used to write features across centimeter-scales, but deformation of the soft pens limits resolution and minimum feature pitch, especially with polymeric inks. Here, we show that by coating polymer pen arrays with a ∼175 nm silica layer, the resulting hard transparent arrays exhibit a force-independent contact area that improves their patterning capability by reducing the minimum feature size (∼40 nm), minimum feature pitch (<200 nm for polymers), and pen to pen variation. With these new arrays, patterns with as many as 5.9 billion features in a 14.5 cm(2) area were written using a four hundred thousand pyramid pen array. Furthermore, a new method is demonstrated for patterning macroscopic feature size gradients that vary in feature diameter by a factor of 4. Ultimately, this form of polymer pen lithography allows for patterning with the resolution of dip-pen nanolithography across centimeter scales using simple and inexpensive pen arrays. The high resolution and density afforded by this technique position it as a broad-based discovery tool for the field of nanocombinatorics.
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hedrick
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Division of Materials Science & Engineering, Boston University , 110 Cummington Mall, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States.
authors.forename: Keith A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kluender
authors.forename: Maria D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cabezas
authors.forename: Peng-Cheng
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chad A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Mirkin
mesh_terms: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D058626:Plasma Gases / Q000737:chemistry; D011327:Printing / Q000379:methods; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D058626:Plasma Gases; C013830:baysilon; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
keywords: atomic force microscopy; dip-pen nanolithography; plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition; polydimethylsiloxane; polymer pen lithography; scanning probe lithography