We report a novel technique to print micro, nanoparticle assembly with tunable resolution (from several micron to hundreds micron) by using porous silicon membrane-based printing head. Creating regular, repetitive and well-defined three-dimensional patterns of particle assembly in targeted area is a major bottleneck in various applications such as the fabrication of three-dimensional photonic crystals, printed electronics on flexible substrates, colloidal quantum-dot based devices for display, plasmonics and etc. In this presented work, micro, nanoparticles are printed via porous silicon membrane of a newly designed printing head. The printing head is fabricated by applying conventional micro-fabrication technology to SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) substrates. It is anticipated this technique will be applied to large-scale manufacturing of pre-patterned substrates for SERS (Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy), nanoparticle-based conductometric bio-chem sensors and the circuitry of printed electronics.
Project end date: 08/16/12