Polymer Brushes: High-Resolution, Large-Area, Serial Fabrication of 3D Polymer Brush Structures by Parallel Dip-Pen Nanodisplacement Lithography

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1. Xuechang Zhou^1,2, 
2. Zhilu Liu^1,2, 
3. Zhuang Xie^1,2, 
4. Xuqing Liu^1,2, 
5. Zijian Zheng^1,2,*

Article first published online: 3 DEC 2012

DOI: 10.1002/smll.201290128

Large-area, serial fabrication of 3D polymer structures via parallel dippen nanodisplacement lithography (p-DNL) is demonstrated by Z. Zheng and co-workers on page 3568. p-DNL is a scanning probe-based lithography method that utilizes an array of atomic force microscopy tips to simultaneously displace the inert self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on the surface of a Au substrate with initiator-bearing thiol molecules pre-inked on the tips. By employing p-DNL, 2D patterns of initiator SAMs of rationally designed lateral spacings are readily fabricated in parallel over millimeter scales, and 3D polymer structures are fabricated from such 2D templates owing to different feature densities. This work holds great promise for the engineering of functional structures of high resolution and flexibility over large areas.