Additive Opto-Thermomechanical Nanoprinting and Nanorepairing under Ambient Conditions

Abstract

We demonstrate an opto-thermomechanical (OTM) nanoprinting method that allows us not only to additively print nanostructures with sub-100 nm accuracy but also to correct printing errors for nanorepairing under ambient conditions. Different from other existing nanoprinting methods, this method works when a nanoparticle on the surface of a soft substrate is illuminated by a continuous-wave (cw) laser beam in a gaseous environment. The laser heats the nanoparticle and induces a rapid thermal expansion of the soft substrate. This thermal expansion can either release a nanoparticle from the soft surface for nanorepairing or transfer it additively to another surface in the presence of optical forces for nanoprinting with sub-100 nm accuracy. Details of the printing mechanism and parameters that affect the printing accuracy are investigated. This additive OTM nanoprinting technique paves the way for rapid and affordable additive manufacturing or 3D printing at the nanoscale under ambient conditions.

Additive Nanomanufacturing of Multifunctional Materials and Patterned Structures: A Novel Laser‐Based Dry Printing Process

“…This has led to the emergence of laser‐based additive nanomanufacturing (ANM) as a promising approach that could enable the synthesis and patterning of a variety of materials with micro/nanoscale resolutions. [ 47–55 ]…”

“…This has led to the emergence of laser-based additive nanomanufacturing (ANM) as a promising approach that could enable the synthesis and patterning of a variety of materials with micro/nanoscale resolutions. [47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55] Here, for the first time, we successfully introduced a single step ANM approach that enables the dry printing of a variety of multifunctional materials such as TiO 2 , BTO, and ITO on different substrates using a laser source. Our novel printing method is based on the in situ and on-demand generation of metastable nanoparticles via the nonequilibrium pulsed laser ablation process that can be laser sintered/crystallized in real-time to form desired patterns and devices.…”

Optical manipulation and assembly of micro/nanoscale objects on solid substrates

“…Alam et al. reported opto-thermomechanical nanoprinting of nanoparticles with nanoscale accuracy operated between two solid substrates ( Alam et al., 2020 ; Alam and Zhao, 2018 ). The target nanoparticles were placed on a donor substrate with a large thermal expansion coefficient, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).…”

“…Scale bars: 1 μm. Figures reproduced from: (A-C) ( Alam et al., 2020 ) Copyright 2020, American Chemical Society. …”

Laser‐Based Printing: From Liquids to Microstructures

“…The products tend to suffer from high porosity, excluding cases where single‐NP transfer is performed. [ 27–29 ] Handling of gaseous precursors employed in laser‐induced chemical vapor‐phase deposition (LCVD) requires complex and expensive systems. [ 25,30 ] Liquid‐based techniques are desirable, as liquids are relatively easy to handle, involve simple setups, provide excellent resolution, and can be recycled with minimal waste of material.…”