Lloyd Whitman Wins NRL Edison Award for Nanotechnology Patent

Lloyd Whitman, the Deputy Director of the CNST, has won a Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Edison Award for U.S. Patent 7,541,062, "Thermal Control of Deposition in Dip Pen Nanolithography." The invention is for an apparatus for nanolithography and a process for thermally controlling the deposition of a solid "ink" from the tip of an atomic force microscope to a substrate. The invention may be used to turn deposition of the ink on or off by either raising or lowering its temperature above or below its melting temperature. In his prior position leading the Surface Nanoscience and Technology Section at NRL, Lloyd co-invented the technology along with Paul Sheehan and William King. The patent award, one of three given from 50 NRL patents considered for 2009, recognizes significant contributions to science and engineering that are perceived to have the greatest potential benefit to the country.