{"48144":{"#nid":"48144","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Thermochemical Nanolithography Now Allows Multiple Chemicals on a Chip","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EScientists\nat Georgia Tech have developed a nanolithographic technique that can produce\nhigh-resolution patterns of at least three different chemicals on a single chip\nat writing speeds of up to one millimeter per second.\u0026nbsp; The chemical nanopatterns can be tailor-designed with any\ndesired shape and have been shown to be sufficiently stable so that they can be\nstored for weeks and then used elsewhere. The technique, known as\nThermochemical Nanolithography\u0026nbsp; is\ndetailed in the December 2009 edition of the journal Advanced Functional\nMaterials. The research has applications in a number of scientific fields from\nelectronics to medicine. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003E\u201cThe\nstrength of this method is really the possibility to produce low-cost,\nhigh-resolution and high-density chemical patterns on a sample that can be\ndelivered in any lab around the world, where even non experts in nanotechnology\ncan dip the sample in the desired solution and, for example, make nano-arrays\nof proteins, DNA or nanoparticles,\u201d said Elisa Riedo, associate professor in the\nSchool of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EConceptually, the technique is surprisingly simple. Using an\natomic force microscope (AFM), researchers heat a silicon tip and run it over a\nthin polymer film. The heat from the tip induces a local chemical reaction at\nthe surface of the film. This reaction changes the film\u0027s chemical reactivity\nand transforms it from an inert surface to a reactive one that can selectively\nattach other molecules. The team first developed the technique in 2007.\u0026nbsp; Now they\u0027ve added some important new\ntwists that should make thermochemical nanolithography (TCNL) an extremely\nuseful tool for scientists working at the nanoscale.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003E\u201cWe\u0027ve created a way to make independent patterns of multiple\nchemicals on a chip that can be drawn in whatever shape you want,\u201d said\nJennifer Curtis, assistant professor in the School of Physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EBeing able to create high-resolution features of different\nchemicals in arbitrary shapes is important because some nanolithography\ntechniques are limited to just one chemistry, lower resolutions and\/or fixed\nshapes.\u0026nbsp; In addition, TCNL\u0027s speed\ncapability of one millimeter per second makes it orders of magnitude faster\nthan the widely used dip-pen nanolithography, which routinely clocks at a speed\nof\u0026nbsp;0.0001 millimeters per second per pen.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EThe\nresearch is enabled by heated AFM probe tips that can create a hot spot as\nsmall as a few nanometers in diameter. \u0026nbsp;Such tips are designed and\nfabricated by collaborator Professor William King at the University of Illinois,\nUrbana-Champaign. \u0026nbsp;\u0022The heated tip allows one to direct nano-scale\nchemical reactions,\u0022 said King.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EThe new technique produces multiple chemical patterns on the\nsame chip by using the AFM to heat a polymer film and change its reactivity.\nThe chip is then dipped into a solution, which allows chemicals (for example,\nproteins or other chemical linkers) in the solution to bind to the chip on the\nparts where it has been heated. The AFM then heats the film in another spot.\nThe chip is dipped into another solution and again another chemical can bind to\nthe chip.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EIn the paper, the scientists show they can pattern amine, thiol,\naldehyde and biotin using this technique. But in principle TCNL could be used\nfor almost any chemical.\u0026nbsp; Their\nwork also shows that the chemical patterns can be used to organize functional\nmaterials at the surface, such as proteins and DNA.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003E\u201cThe power of this\ntechnique is that in principle it can work with almost any chemical or\nchemically reactive nano-object. It allows scientists to very rapidly draw many\nthings that can then be converted to any number of different things, which\nthemselves can bind selectively to yet any number of other things. So, it\ndoesn\u0027t matter if you\u0027re interested in biology, electronics, medicine or\nchemistry, TCNL can create the reactive pattern to bind what you choose,\u201d said Seth\nMarder, professor in Tech\u0027s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and\ndirector of the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003EIn\naddition, TCNL allows the chemical writing to be done in one location with the\nnano-object patterning in another, so that scientists who aren\u0027t experts in\nwriting chemical patterns on the nanoscale can still attach their objects to\nit. It\u0027s the technique\u0027s stability that makes this possible.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cOnce\nyou draw the pattern, it\u0027s very stable and non-reactive. We\u0027ve shown that you\ncan have it for more than a month, take it out and dip it and it still will\nbind,\u201d said Riedo.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cI\nwould like to think that several years from now people will have access to a\nTCNL tool that enables them to do this patterning at a place like Georgia Tech,\nthat\u0027s much less expensive than the kind of nanolithography tools we currently\nuse in our clean room,\u201d said Marder.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;The\nresearch was supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department\nof Energy, the Georgia Institute of Technology, GT Innovative Award, and ONR\nNanoelectronics.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Controlled Attachment of Nano-Objects Can Be Performed Weeks Apart in Any Lab"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Scientists at Georgia Tech have developed a nanolithographic technique that can produce high-resolution patterns of at least three different chemicals on a single chip at writing speeds of up to one millimeter per second.  The chemical nanopatterns can be tailor-designed with any desired shape and have been shown to be sufficiently stable so that they can be stored for weeks and then used elsewhere.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Chips can be stored for weeks and then used elsewhere"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2009-12-15 09:26:45","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:04:04","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-12-16T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2009-12-16T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"48159":{"id":"48159","type":"image","title":"Thermochemical Nanolithography","body":null,"created":"1449175379","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:42:59","changed":"1475894455","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:55","alt":"Thermochemical Nanolithography","file":{"fid":"190135","name":"AFMPolymerFilm.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/AFMPolymerFilm.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/AFMPolymerFilm.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1671410,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/AFMPolymerFilm.jpg?itok=lwSUCl0-"}}},"media_ids":["48159"],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"89","name":"chemistry"},{"id":"2286","name":"nano"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDavid Terraso\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications and Marketing\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edavid.terraso@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}