Pick-and-place nanoassembly

A new all-additive method for direct fabrication of nanometer-scale planar and multilayer structures using the probe tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) and a material reservoir is proposed. The process, which is called Pick-and-Place NanoAssembly, enables true "pick-and-place" retrieval and deposition of materials with a wide range of electrical, chemical, and mechanical properties. The silicon tip of an AFM is used to discretely pick up molecules from a reservoir, transfer them to a construction zone, and then weld them to a surface. Unlike the prior art, this assembly method offers high-resolution direct patterning of a variety of materials, many of which are not amenable to patterning using current probe-based or conventional lithography methods. Metal nanoparticles, polymers, inks, solvents, and organics have been deposited onto a variety of substrates with resolutions approaching 1 million dots per inch (1 trillion dots per square inch). Lines of nanoparticles have been deposited with line widths of less than 17 nm. These materials can be assembled using reservoirs of viscous liquids, non-viscous liquids, and soft solids. Deposited volumes span a range of 10 orders of magnitude from 10-24 to 10-14 liters. Structures with dimensions of 60 to 100 nm are common.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Hubert, Brian N., 1973-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Joseph M. Jacobson.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8139

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/8139