Harvard College

Tingbing Cao

George M Whitesides

Qiaobing Xu

Adam Winkleman

Methods and apparatuses for generating electrically-conductive and/or semi-conductive films, and more specifically, methods and apparatuses for generating conductive and/or semi-conductive films having nanoscale features are provided. In one embodiment, an electrically-conductive or semi-conductive film (e.g., a gold layer of less than 50 nanometer thickness) is provided on a substrate (e.g., a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) stamp). The substrate may optionally include patterns or features having raised and recessed portions. A first portion of the film may be removed from the substrate, e.g., by methods such as physically contacting the first portion of the film with a surface to which the first portion preferentially adheres. This process can leave a second portion of the film remaining on the substrate. In some embodiments, the second portion includes at least one region having a dimension substantially parallel to a portion of the substrate i.e., of less than 50 nanometers. The second portion of the film may be used to establish electrical communication with an electrical contact. Advantageously, electrically-conductive and/or semi-conductive films having nanoscale features can be fabricated over large areas (e.g., areas greater than 1 cm) in a single step.

Growing community of inventors

Beijing, China

Tingbing Cao