Dip Pen Nanolithography

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Dip Pen Nanolithography® (DPN®) is a Scanning Probe Lithography technique invented in Dr. Chad Mirkin's laboratory at Northwestern University, in which a microscopic pen (e.g. the tip of an Atomic Force Microscope cantilever) is coated with an "ink" (a chemical compound or mixture) and put in contact with a substrate (the paper).

As a patented process of NanoInk, DPN uniquely enables flexible direct deposition of nanoscale materials onto a substrate. The vehicle for deposition can include pyramidal scanning probe microscope tips, hollow tips, and even tips on thermally actuated cantilevers. Applications of this technology currently range through chemistry, materials science, and the life sciences, and include such work as ultra high density biological nanoarrays, additive photomask repair, and brand protection for pharmaceuticals.

DPN is the nanotechnology analog of (and named after) the dip pen (also named quill pen).

DPN and Dip Pen Nanolithography are trademarks or registered trademarks of NanoInk, Inc.