US Patent 7326380 - Polymerization by dip pen nanolithography

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7326380.html

This patent teaches a method for polymerization of the nanoscale using the dip pen nanolithography system developed by Nanoink. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of direct-write nanolithography comprising: a) patterning at least one first nanostructure of a polymerizable compound on a substrate; wherein the patterning is carried out with use of a tip to transport the polymerizable compound to the substrate; and wherein the patterning is a patterning of a plurality of nanostructures which are separated from each other by an average edge-to-edge distance of about a micron or less; b) adding polymerization catalyst to the nanostructure of polymerizable compound to form a second nanostructure which can initiate the polymerization reaction; and c) polymerizing monomer on the second nanostructure to form a third polymeric nanostructure; wherein the first nanostructure, the second nanostructure, and the third nanostructure have a lateral feature which is about 100 nm or less.