High-resolution combinatorial patterning of functional nanoparticles

Abstract

Fast, low-cost, reliable, and multi-component nanopatterning techniques for functional colloidal nanoparticles have been dreamed about by scientists and engineers for decades. Although countless efforts have been made, it is still a daunting challenge to organize different nanocomponents into a predefined structure with nanometer precision over the millimeter and even larger scale. To meet the challenge, we report a nanoprinting technique that can print various functional colloidal nanoparticles into arbitrarily defined patterns with a 200 nm (or smaller) pitch (>125,000 DPI), 30 nm (or larger) pixel size/linewidth, 10 nm position accuracy and 50 nm overlay precision. The nanopatterning technique combines dielectrophoretic enrichment and deep surface-energy modulation and therefore features high efficiency and robustness. It can form nanostructures over the millimeter-scale by simply spinning, brushing or dip coating colloidal nanoink onto a substrate with minimum error (error ratio < 2 × 10−6). This technique provides a powerful yet simple construction tool for large-scale positioning and integration of multiple functional nanoparticles toward next-generation optoelectronic and biomedical devices.