Georgia Tech Tests New Nanolithography Technique
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed and demonstrated a new technique called thermochemical nanolithography, or TCNL, which could make commercial production of nanopatterned structures a reality.
Georgia Tech’s innovation is generating a lot of interest because of its many potential applications in the fields of electronics, microfluidics, targeted drug delivery and biosensing technologies.
Unlike previous nanolithography methods, this one doesn’t require a time-consuming transfer of chemicals or the presence of strong electrical fields. It is also much faster, easier to scale, and can be used in a wider variety of environments.
The team credits part of their success to the use of superheated atomic force microscope tips developed by IBM (NYSE: IBM). The new AFM tips, which were designed by William King‘s group at the University of Illinois, can be rapidly heated to reach temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees Celsius, cooled, and reheated many times per second. This allows scientists to precisely control chemical changes to the polymer materials being used.
Members of the research group are enthusiastic about TCNL’s versatility and its future applications in the nanotechnology industry. As one scientist explained,
“The scope is limited only by one’s imagination to develop new chemistries and applications.”
Professor Seth Marder
School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Georgia Tech
and Director, Center for Organic Photonics & Electronics
Results of the research can be found in the journal Nano Letters.
Source: Georgia Tech Research News
Related Links: Georgia Tech Research Institute; ChemSocRev; Technology Review
Related Podcast – BioMEMS & Nanomedicine: Myths & Benefits from Bourne Report
Tags: Elisa Riedo; nanocircuits; Center for Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research; U.S. Department of Energy; National Science Foundation; chemotherapy; nanomedicine
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