2008-08-25

Mulitplexing in Dip-Pen Nanolithography

Dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) allows for the direct printing of biomaterials onto a surface with sub-50 nm resolution; this facilitates the generation of large-scale nanoarrays for a wide range of applications. Recent developments have dramatically increased DPN throughput, and the next step in is the ability to generate structures consisting of two or more different mate-rials; this is known as multiplexing. Thus far, such development has been limited due to the difficulties inherent in using each pen of an array for different molecules, but in their commu-nication in Small, C. A. Mirkin et al. describe their novel approach to this problem, developing an independent pen addressing technique using an inkjet printer, and introducing a new surface-modification strategy to direct the droplets of ink effectively.

C. A. Mirkin et al., Small, DOI:10.1002/smll.200800770