Microcontact printing technology as a method of fabrication of patterned self-assembled monolayers for application in nanometrology

This paper is focused on manufacture technology of molecular self-assembled monolayers (SAM) using microcontact printing (μCP) techniqe. This technique, due to its low-cost and simplicity, is a very attractive one for further development of molecular electronics and nanotechnology. The SAM can be produced on gold or silicon oxide using thiol and silane based chemistry respectively[1]. The μCP techniques allow the imposition of molecular structures in specific areas. The chemical properties of the fabricated layers depend on the functional groups of tail molecules. Such structures can be used as chemical receptors or as interface between the substrate and the biosensor receptors [2]. Architecture of the tail molecule determines the chemical reactivity and hydrophilic or hydrophobic properties. In addition it modifies the tribological properties [4] and electrical structure parameters, such as contact potential diference (CPD) [5]. The height of the SAM structure containing carbon chain is highly dependent on the length and type of binding molecules to the substrate, which enables application of the μCP SAM structures in height metrology. The results of these studies will be presented in the work.