1. 2 Potential Next Generation Soft-Lithographic Methods
Part 4:
2 Potential Next Generation
Soft-Lithographic Methods
For Nanostructuring Surfaces
Micro-Contact Printing
Dip Pen Nanolithography

2. Micro-Contact Printing
Part 4i:
Micro-Contact Printing
(mCP)

3. Learning Objectives
After completing PART 4i of this course you should have an understanding of, and be able to demonstrate, the following terms, ideas and methods.
Appreciate the mCP methodology,
Factors making a good stamp,
Limitations in stamp design,
Methods of stamp inking, and
Methods of how mCP has been utlised in applications/nanostructuring surfaces.

4. …Nano-Contact Printing
m-Contact Printing 1 2 3
PDMS Monomer
Infact structures as small as 50 nm can be fabricated.
PDMS Stamp
Master
In order to achieve this the master has to be prepared by e-beam processing. 4 5
PDMS Stamp
Inked with Thiols
So in fact the process has evolved into…
SAM of Thiol
Gold Surface
…Nano-Contact Printing

5. Post Processing of Printed Features

6. The Stamp
The stamp must
(i) exhibit an exact negative of the relief pattern on the master
have good release properties from the master after curing the stamp,
be robust enough to hold its shape after release,
be aable to adsorb the ink,
be able to transfer the ink,
be able to make conformal contact with the substrate, and
be easily removed from the substrate.

7. The Stamp Material (PDMS)
The most common choice of stamp material is theSylgard 184 (Dow Corning) which is a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)
PDMS has
(i) low surface energy allowing easy release form the master.
(ii) has sufficient mechanical strength to hold its shape,
(iii) is soft enough to allow conformal contact with the surface of the substrate.
The PDMS monomer
is a fluid, allowing it to fill the master relief pattern,
is cured at near ambient temperatures,
gives a cross-linked elastomer,
reproduces a high fidelity negative of the master after curing

8. The Stamp Limitations

9. The Stamp Roof Collapse
Roof Collapse occurs due to the roof of the features collapsing under the weight of the stamp itself, or under pressure during the printing process,
Conditions r>> h
Langmuir (2005)

10. Pairing of Features Printed Feature Stamp
Pairing occurs due to mechanical instability of small PDMS features with high aspect ratios (h/w) and relatively narrow rooves (r).
The collapsed features can pair up due to interfacial adhesive forces.
Capillary forces, occurring due to the receding solvent meniscus upon drying of the stamp during wet inking, have also been proposed as a mechanism that induces pairing [34].
The pairing process results in poor replication of the desired pattern due to distortions of the pattern on the stamp.
Printed Feature
Adv. Mater (1997).

11. Stamp-Substrate Contact Time
Langmuir (2004).
Stamp-Substrate Contact Time
The transfer of ink from the stamp to the substrate is a diffusion process.
Thus, molecules can diffuse outwards from the point of stamp contact with the substrate.
This edge diffusion increases the size of the printed patterns and this compromises their edge definition and lateral dimensions.
The effect of edge diffusion can be reduced by the use of (i) higher molecular weight inks and (ii) by shorter printing times.
The effect of printing time on linewidths and clarity of square features
15s
105s
195s
Features created by printing 10mM mercaptohexadecanoic acid on Au then etching

12. Inking The Stamp

13. Wet Inking
simply involves covering the entire patterned surface of the stamp with ink solution and then drying the stamp with an inert gas to form a uniform covering of ink on the patterned surface.
The inking of the rooves and sidewalls of the stamp features allows ink transfer to the substrate via gas diffusion; this can have a deleterious effect in the printed pattern [38].
Permanently inked stamp
This method involves the use of a 'reservoir' of ink solution that is located at the back of the stamp allowing ink to diffuse through the bulk of the stamp.
As the rooves and feature sidewalls of the stamps are inked, the same problems of gas diffusion can occur for a permanently inked stamp as for wet inking.
Contact inking
Contact inking involves the inking and blow drying of a featureless block of PDMS which has been immersed in the ink solution, thus creating an ink pad. The patterned stamp is then left in contact with this pad resulting in the diffusion of ink molecules from the ink pad to the raised features of the stamp.
As only the raised features are inked, the problems associated with ink diffusionfrom rooves and sidewalls is eliminated.

14. Serially Inking the Stamp
J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 2005, 127,
Flip Stamp
And Print
AFM cantilever is inked,
And ink transferred to a feature on a PDMS stamp.
This process repeated for different inks onto different features of the stamp
10 mM
Inks:
Three different fluorophores

15. Inkless Printing Nano Lett., 2003, 3, 1449 Oxidation Silicon Oxide TMSOH
TMS SAM
Rinse Au
Acid Labile
TMS

16. Aligning Carbon Nanotubes
J. Phys. Chem. B 2003, 107,
Aligning Carbon Nanotubes

17. Hierarchical assemblies of mesoporous silica can be fabricated using microcontact printing to define patterns of nucleation sites.
A. S. G. Khalil et al, Adv. Mater (2006).

18. Diagram depicting μcp in a microchannel and
Fluorescence image of TRITC-labelled Abs printed into Au coated microchannels.
Foley et al, Langmuir (2005). ©2005, American Chemical Society.

19. Arrays of human epidermal carcinoma A431 cells formed on arrays of RADSC-14 peptide.
S. Zhang et al, Biomater (1999). ©1999, Elsevier.

20. Immobilization of E-Coli bacteria to a MHA-dot array.
S. Rozhok et al, Small (2005). ©2005, Wiley-VCH STM)

21. Conclusions on mCP
mCP is a very facile and versatile route to create nanostructured surfaces, with resolution better than photolithography and almost equalling EBL. Although to produce structures with less than 100 nm is still challenging.
The master formation requires photolithogrphy or EBL for formation but can be designed and purchased from various companies, and is reusable.
It is a parallel process.
Technology is very simple.