US Patent 7997123 - Microfabricated DPN®

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7997123.html

This patent from Northwestern University teaches a manufacturing method for Dip-Pen Nanolithography® allowing for a high density 2D array of fluid dispensing microtips to be integrated on a microfluidic chip. Claim 1 reads:

1. A device, comprising a tip having a pointed tip body and an annular shell comprising an etched thin film spaced about the tip body to define an annular empty space about the tip body wherein a semiconductor chip substrate or another thin film defines the tip body.