2011 Volume E94.C Issue 2 Pages 146-150
We report a new approach to creating a ‘solid ink’ and direct patterning of InAs nanowires on a Si substrate using dip-pen nanolithography (DPN). The normal method to prepare an ‘ink’ is a solution-based process using sonication to liquidize nanoparticles, which we call ‘liquid ink’ in this paper. As ink-solution-based DPN patterning has been prevalent in most studies, herein we propose a new method, ‘solid inking’, by which the inking process is solution-free. In our work, InAs nanowires were transferred to an AFM tip by directly scanning the tip over an InAs nanowire wafer at humidity over 80%. By this method, the preparation of ink and the ‘inking’ process is combined into one step, and a large amount of nanowires can be collected onto the tip to ensure the formation of a continuous ink flow for the direct patterning.