Scalable lithography from Natural DNA Patterns via polyacrylamide gel

Abstract

A facile strategy for fabricating scalable stamps has been developed using cross-linked polyacrylamide gel (PAMG) that controllably and precisely shrinks and swells with water content. Aligned patterns of natural DNA molecules were prepared by evaporative self-assembly on a PMMA substrate, and were transferred to unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) to form a negative replica. The negative was used to pattern the linear structures onto the surface of water-swollen PAMG, and the pattern sizes on the PAMG stamp were customized by adjusting the water content of the PAMG. As a result, consistent reproduction of DNA patterns could be achieved with feature sizes that can be controlled over the range of 40%–200% of the original pattern dimensions. This methodology is novel and may pave a new avenue for manufacturing stamp-based functional nanostructures in a simple and cost-effective manner on a large scale.

Increasing the stability of DNA nanostructure templates by atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 and its application in imprinting lithography

“…Although e-beam lithography is capable of reaching resolutions below 10 nm [ 41 ], it is difficult to produce the master templates in larger numbers because of its high cost [ 42 – 44 ]. In 2015, the aligned patterns of natural salmon milt DNA bundles were first transferred to negative replicas on unsaturated polyester resins, which were further used to pattern positive replicas on water-swollen polyacrylamide gels [ 45 ]. However, the shape of the DNA bundles is limited to 1D patterns, and their dimensions are relatively large compared to the resolution of the state-of-the-art lithographic techniques.…”

DNA Nanostructures-Mediated Molecular Imprinting Lithography

“…90 nm and an average width of ca . 879 nm was employed as a master template for the fabrication of a negative replica on an unsaturated polyester resin, which was further used to pattern a polyacrylamide gel . However, the lateral dimension of the DNA bundle is relatively large ( ca .…”