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Press Release 05-150
A New Technique for High-Precision Nanomanufacturing
August 25, 2005
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have demonstrated a new technique for nano-manufacturing that could make it significantly easier to create high-precision components for nanoscale electronics, sensing devices and the like.
Known as microdisplacement printing, the new technique is based on a widely used patterning method known as microcontact printing--a simple way of fabricating chemical patterns that does not require clean rooms and other kinds of special and expensive environments.
Both methods involve "inking" a patterned rubber-like stamp with a solution of molecules, then applying the inked stamp to a surface. "But the new microdisplacement technique gives us more control over the precision with which the patterns are placed and retained, and also allows us to use a wider range of molecules," says principal investigator Paul Weiss.
Weiss and his colleagues were funded in part by the National Science Foundation, and will describe their new technique in the 14 September issue of the journal Nano Letters.
For more information, see the Penn State news release.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Barbara Kennedy, Pennsylvania State University (814) 863-4682 science@psu.edu
M. Mitchell Waldrop, NSF (703) 292-7752 mwaldrop@nsf.gov
Principal Investigators
Paul Weiss, Pennsylvania State University (814) 865-3693 stm@psu.edu
Related Websites
The Weiss laboratory: http://stm1.chem.psu.edu/
The Penn State news release: http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/Weiss8-2005.htm
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2009, its budget is $9.5 billion, which includes $3.0 billion provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,900 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 44,400 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
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