Direct Drawing of Suspended Filamentary Micro- and Nanostructures from Liquid Polymers

Abstract

Using various nanomanipulating instruments, solvated polymers are simultaneously formed into fibers, adhered to solid supports, and interconnected in real-time to create suspended fiber bridges and networks of specified geometries. Fibers from 50 nm to 20 μm diameter have been drawn individually and in parallel using single tips and tip arrays. The speed and ease of producing suspended three-dimensional structures recommends the method for application to custom fabrication of prototype microfluidic and microoptical devices.