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Recent developments of tip-based nanofabrication (TBN) are reviewed. In TBN, a functionalized cantilevered-tip is the common basic apparatus for performing the tasks of nanofabrication. The nanofabrication applications of three major techniques under the TBN family: atomic force microscopy (AFM), dip-pen nanolithography (DPN), and scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), are studied with the focus on their manipulability over the size, orientation, and position of the nanostructures fabricated. The nanostructures made by these techniques are selectively presented in order to illustrate the versatility and advancement of these tip-based techniques. The information reviewed and illustrated is extrapolated to form the basis for the assessment of the needs and challenges facing the TBN community in the future. A preliminary roadmap over the next seven years is then developed. The prospective approaches and focusing areas for future research and development are also discussed.

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A separator comprising polypropylene (PP)coated with MoO3 nanobelts, prepared through facile grinding of commercial MoO3 powder, exhibit excellent electrochemical performance at high C-rate for Li–S battery.

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Photoluminescence (PL) behaviour in InN nanocolumns reveal decreasing, increasing and near invariant peak energies (E(PL)) as a function of temperature. Samples, having E(PL)~0.730 eV at 20 K, showed temperature invariance of E(PL). Samples possessing E(PL) on the lower and higher energy side of 0.730 eV demonstrate a normal redshift and anomalous blueshift, respectively, with increasing temperature. This temperature evolution can be effectively explained on the basis of a competition between a conventional red shift from lattice dilation, dominant for low carrier density sample, on one hand, and a blue shift of the electron and hole quasi Fermi-level separation, dominant for high carrier density samples, on the other.

In vivo nanomechanical imaging of blood-vessel tissues directly in living mammals using atomic force microscopy Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 013704 (2009); Experiments using atomic force microscopy ͑AFM͒ as a machining tool for scratching patterns on nickel thin films have been conducted with an emphasis on establishing the material scratchability or more general, the nanoscale machinability. The effects of the scratch parameters, including the applied tip force and scratch direction, on the size of the scratched geometry were investigated. The primary factors that measure the scratchability were then assessed. The scratchability of Ni as compared to that of Si was specifically evaluated and discussed. A stress-hardness analysis was also performed to further validate the experimental and correlation results. All results indicate that the Ni thin film possesses excellent scratchability and one order of magnitude higher than that of Si. Based on the correlation formula developed, Ni should be able to be precisely scratched by AFM tip with the required dimension and nanoscale accuracy and precision.

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