IBM develops nano-scale printing technique

IBM and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, have developed a method of printing patterns with molecules.

The technique involves precisely arranging particles as small as 60 nanometers on a soft, rubbery template. (To give an idea of the scale, a human hair is 60,000 nanometers wide.)

The soft, rubbery substrate contains microscopic pits, which help adjust the position of the molecules through physical forces such as capillary action.

A glass or silicon plate is laid on top of the template and the particles then transfer to the plate.

The gold particles act as a catalyst to make nanowires which could one day be used in transistors. The technology could also help make computer chips or money harder to counterfeit.

While current offset printing techniques operate at 1,500 dpi (dots per inch), the nano-scale printing method would deliver 100,000 dpi. However, several more years of development will be needed before the technology is commercially available.

The new printing technology uses ‘directed self-assembly’. Self-assembly occurs in nature when particles arrange themselves in response to physical and chemical forces. In the new printing technique, the scientist has a hand in directing the process.

The ultimate goal for nanotechnologists is self-assembly without any human assistance.

The new technique will be described in the September issue of Nature Nanotechnology, in a paper entitled “Nanoparticle printing with single-particle resolution”.