Nanolithography Techniques for Nanoscale Fabrication

Nanolithography encompasses a suite of methods for creating patterns and structures with feature sizes below 100 nm. Broadly divided into top-down and bottom-up approaches, these techniques enable the direct writing, moulding or self‐assembly of nanoscale elements for electronics, photonics, sensing and biotechnology. Top-down methods such as electron-beam lithography and ion-beam lithography offer high resolution but often require complex vacuum systems and incur low throughput. Nanoimprint lithography provides a high-throughput alternative by mechanically replicating patterns from a stamp, yet relies on precision mould fabrication and alignment. Scanning probe lithographies—including thermal and dip-pen variants—use a nanoscale tip to induce local chemical, thermal or material deposition, yielding flexible direct-write capabilities without masks. Soft lithography exploits elastomeric stamps to pattern polymers or biomolecules on diverse substrates, facilitating applications in biointerfaces and microfluidics. Recent developments have harnessed FluidFM-coupled atomic force microscopy for additive nanoscale 3D printing of reactive polymers, while cantilever-free probe arrays extend lithographic patterning and imaging over large areas. Innovative hybrid strategies combine probe writing with plasma or wet etch amplification to translate high-resolution patterns into functional dielectrics or semiconductors. Collectively, advances in resist chemistry, tip control, stamp materials and pattern transfer have broadened the scope of nanolithography beyond silicon, enabling nanoscale fabrication on metals, oxides, two-dimensional materials and soft matter. These breakthroughs underpin emerging device concepts in quantum technologies, flexible electronics, metamaterials and biosensing, highlighting the global impact and industrial promise of precision nanoscale manufacturing.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Studies have demonstrated a nanoscale 3D printing platform in which a microfluidic-coupled atomic force microscope deposits crosslinkable polymer precursors, achieving features as small as 450 nm laterally and 2 nm vertically. This method allows layer-by-layer construction akin to fused filament fabrication, but at submicrometre resolution, and holds promise for optical and electronic device prototyping. In another advance, a massively parallel array of cantilever-free probes has been developed for lithographic patterning and concurrent imaging over centimetre-scale areas. Probes embedded in a compliant film transduce vertical displacements into optical signals, enabling sub-10 nm precision across more than a thousand simultaneous writing sites. Foundational work in dip-pen nanolithography has also been revisited, with tailored phospholipid membranes written onto graphene surfaces to achieve multiplexed functionalisation for biosensing applications, illustrating the versatility of molecular ink delivery by scanning probes.

Nanolithography Techniques for Nanoscale Fabrication publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in nanolithography techniques for nanoscale fabrication across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Electron-beam lithography: A maskless, top-down technique using a focused electron beam to expose resist for sub-10 nm patterning.

Nanoimprint lithography: A replication method that transfers nanoscale features by mechanically pressing a mould into a resist layer.

Scanning probe lithography: A collection of direct-write approaches using a nanoscale tip to induce local material removal, conversion or addition.

Dip-pen nanolithography: A tip-based deposition technique in which molecular “inks” are transported via a water meniscus to a substrate.

Thermal scanning probe lithography: A variant of scanning probe lithography where a heated tip induces polymer decomposition or crosslinking for direct patterning.

FluidFM: A hybrid platform combining microfluidics with atomic force microscopy for precise delivery of liquid inks and 3D nanoscale printing.

References

1. Syneresis‐Driven Self‐Refilling Printing of Geometry/Component‐Controlled Nano/Microstructures. Advanced Science (2024).
2. Combining thermal scanning probe lithography and dry etching for grayscale nanopattern amplification. Microsystems & Nanoengineering (2024).
3. Multiplexed biomimetic lipid membranes on graphene by dip-pen nanolithography. Nature Communications (2013).
4. Massively parallel cantilever-free atomic force microscopy. Nature Communications (2021).