US Patent 7887885 - Molecular resist removal with DPN

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7887885.html

This patent teaches a variation of Dip Pen Lithography® in which the scanning probe tip removes a portion of molecular resist during coating. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of nano lithography comprising:

providing a substrate;

coating at least a portion of the substrate with a resist;

providing a tip with a drop of patterning compound on the tip;

applying the tip to a portion of the substrate coated with the resist wherein a high normal force is formed between the tip and the substrate by the surface tension of the drop of patterning compound on the tip that forms a thin film of the patterning compound on the substrate in an area proximate the tip; and,

moving the tip to remove resist from the substrate, whereupon the patterning compound attaches to the substrate from which the resist has been removed by the tip to form a pattern of the patterning compound on the substrate.