Claims
- 1. A method for fabricating a nanoscale object, comprising:constructing a current nanolayer on a first surface, said nanolayer representing a first slice of the nanoscale object; depositing a sacrificial layer to cover the first surface but not at least part of the nanolayer, such that said nanolayer and said sacrificial layer provide a second surface; using said second surface as a new first surface to deposit a next nanolayer; repeating said constructing, said depositing, and said using if the next nanolayer does not represent a last nanolayer; and removing sacrificial layers.
- 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:defining a sequence of slices that represent the nanoscale object and include at least said first slice and said next slice.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein each slice of said sequence of slices is constructed as the current nanolayer.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said constructing said current nanolayer includes:depositing a plurality of nanoparticles; and manipulating the nanoparticles.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein said manipulating said nanoparticles includes moving substantially similar colloidal nanoparticles to shape said nanoparticles into an appropriate shape for the current nanolayer.
- 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said moving said nanoparticles includes pushing and pulling the nanoparticles with a scanning probe microscope tip.
- 7. The method of claim 4, wherein diameters of said plurality of nanoparticles are less than 30 nm.
- 8. The method of claim 4, wherein said nanoparticles include gold spherical particles.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said gold particles are cross-linked and stabilized by treating them with di-thiols.
- 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said first surface is a surface of a substrate.
- 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said substrate includes hydroxylated material such as oxidized silicon or mica.
- 12. The method of claim 10, wherein said substrate includes gold, silver, copper, platinum, silver oxide, or aluminum oxide.
- 13. The method of claim 1, wherein said sacrificial layer includes a plurality of substantially ordered molecules.
- 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said plurality of substantially ordered molecules includes self-assembled monolayers.
- 15. The method of claim 14, wherein said self-assembled monolayers include monolayers of silane or alkylsiloxane.
- 16. The method of claim 1, wherein heights of said sacrificial layer and said current nanolayer are substantially similar.
- 17. The method of claim 1, wherein said depositing said sacrificial layer includes electrostatically depositing strands of polymers.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein said electrostatically depositing said strands of polymers includes:charging the first surface; and successively treating the charged surface with solutions of oppositely charged polymers, such that thicknesses of the charged polymers and the current nanolayer are substantially similar.
- 19. The method of claim 18, wherein each layer of said charged polymers is between 1 and 10 nm thick.
- 20. The method of claim 1, wherein said sacrificial layer includes thiols, alcohols, amines, or carboxylic acids.
- 21. The method of claim 1, wherein said removing includes oxidizing said sacrificial layer using ozone.
- 22. The method of claim 21, wherein said oxidizing is performed under ultraviolet radiation.
- 23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:fusing said nanolayers together to bolster the nanoscale object.
- 24. The method of claim 23, wherein said nanolayers are fused by applying di-thiol solution.
- 25. The method of claim 23, wherein said nanolayers are fused by applying a chemical or electrochemical process.
- 26. The method of claim 23, wherein said nanolayers are fused by applying a thermal process.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims benefit of the priority of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/181,122, filed Feb. 8, 2000, and entitled Layered-Nano Fabrication (NFL).
US Referenced Citations (8)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 10th ed., 1981, p. 919. |
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60/181122 |
Feb 2000 |
US |