Scanning probe with elastomeric (PDMS) tip for scanning probe microcontact printing (SP-CP)

This paper reports a newly developed scanning probe microcontact printing (SP-/spl mu/CP) method to generate submicron patterns. It uses a scanning probe with an elastomeric tip to transfer chemical or biological materials onto a substrate. SP-/spl mu/CP combines the advantages of microcontact printing and scanning probe microscopy technologists. The design and fabrication of the scanning probe is described in this work. The functioning of the probe is demonstrated by generation of sub-500 nm ODT lines on a gold surface using SP-/spl mu/CP method.