Optimizing microfluidic ink delivery for dip pen nanolithography

Debjyoti Banerjee; Nabil A. Amro; Sandeep Disawal; Joseph Fragala

doi:10.1117/1.1898245

1 April 2005 Optimizing microfluidic ink delivery for dip pen nanolithography

Debjyoti Banerjee, Nabil A. Amro, Sandeep Disawal, Joseph Fragala

Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS, Vol. 4, Issue 2, 023014 (April 2005). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.1898245

Abstract

In Dip Pen Nanolithography^TM (DPN^TM) ultrasharp tips coated with chemical compounds (or "ink") are in contact with a surface to produce submicron sized features. There is a need to deliver multiple inks to an array of closely spaced tips (or "pens"). This work demonstrates the design optimization, fabrication process development, process optimization, and testing of a microfluidic ink delivery apparatus (called "inkwells") for simultaneously coating an array of DPN pens with single or multiple inks. The objective of this work is to deliver between four and ten different inks from reservoirs into an appropriately spaced microwell array. The tips of the multipen array are coated with the same or different inks by dipping them into the microwell array. The reservoirs, microwells, and their connecting microchannels were etched in silicon wafers using deep reactive ion etching. Fluid actuation was achieved by capillary flow (wicking). The optimum layouts for different applications were selected with respect to the volume requirement of different inks, the efficacy of ink-well filling, prevention of bubble formation, and the ease of operation (such as dipping and writing) with a parallel array of pens.

©(2005) Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Citation Download Citation

Debjyoti Banerjee, Nabil A. Amro, Sandeep Disawal, and Joseph Fragala "Optimizing microfluidic ink delivery for dip pen nanolithography," Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS 4(2), 023014 (1 April 2005). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.1898245

Published: 1 April 2005

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available