Nanoink, Inc.

Sandeep Disawal

Robert Elghanian

Hua Zhang

Sylvain Cruchon-Dupeyrat

Linette Demers

Nabil A Amro

John Edward Bussan

Percy Van Crocker

A new, low temperature method for directly writing conductive metal traces with micron and sub-micron sized features. In this method, a flat beam is used, such as an AFM cantilever, with or without a tip, to draw traces of metal precursor ink onto a substrate. The dimensions of the metal traces can be directly controlled by the geometry of the cantilever, so that one can controllably deposit traces from 1 micron to over 100 microns wide with microfabricated cantilevers. Cantilevers with sharp tips can be used to further shrink the minimum features sizes to sub-micron scale. The height of the features can be increased by building layers of similar or different material.

Micrometric direct-write methods for patterning conductive material and applications to flat panel display repair

Photomask repair and fabrication with use of direct-write nanolithography, including use of scanning probe microscopic tips (e.g., atomic force microscope tips, etc.) for deposition of ink materials including sol-gel inks. Additive methods can be combined with subtractive methods. Holes can be filled with nanostructures. Heights of the nanostructures filling the holes can be controlled without losing control of the lateral dimensions of the nanostructures. Phase shifters on phase shifting masks (PSMs) are additively repaired with selectively deposited sol-gel material that is converted to solid oxide, which has optical transparency and index of refraction adapted for the phase shifters repaired.

Methods for additive repair of phase shift masks by selectively depositing nanometer-scale engineered structures on defective phase shifters

A novel method of transporting ink to a substrate with dip-pen nanolithographic (DPN) stamp tips coated with polymer (e.g., polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), etc.). This kind of tip adsorbs chemicals ('inks') easily and is used to generate DPN nanopatterns that are imaged with the same tip after a DPN process. This method builds a bridge between micro-contact printing (&#x3bc;CP) and DPN, making it possible for one to easily generate smaller structures of any molecules that have been patterned by the &#x3bc;CP technique. The easy tip-coating and writing process enriches the state-of-the-art DPN technique. The sub-100 nm DPN resolution obtained by using this kind of novel tip is comparable to that with a conventional SiNprobe tip. Importantly, the unique stamp tip was able to transfer solvent (e.g., liquid 'ink') onto a substrate, resulting in fabrication of hollow nanostructures with only one DPN holding/writing step. Inks comprising metals and sol-gel materials are noted, as well as applications in photomask repair, enhancement, and fabrication.

Direct-write nanolithography method of transporting ink with an elastomeric polymer coated nanoscopic tip to form a structure having internal hollows on a substrate

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Chicago, IL, United States of America

Sandeep Disawal