CN1966399A - Micro nano structure direct-writing device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a micro-nano structure direct writing device, which relates to a polymer material direct writing device with a submicron line width. Provides a technology based on "near-field electrospinning" to realize fast direct writing of polymer materials or materials with certain viscosity. The minimum diameter/line width can be lower than 300nm/20μm, breaking through the line width limit of jet printing technology. Application A wider range of micro-nano structure direct writing devices. Equipped with micro-probe control platform, integrated high-voltage electrostatic power supply, flow controller, X-Y platform, probe and CCD microscope; integrated high-voltage electrostatic power supply is used to provide voltage for the probe, and the positive electrode of the integrated DC high-voltage power supply is connected to the probe. The negative electrode is grounded; the flow controller is fixed on the microprobe control platform, and the flow controller is connected to the probe by the pipeline; the probe is used as a spinneret for direct writing of the material, and the probe is installed on the microprobe control platform; the microscope is used for observation The electrospinning process and the effect of writing patterns on materials, the microscope is set on the microprobe control platform.

Description

Micro-nano structure direct writing device

technical field

The invention relates to a device for direct writing of micro- and nanoscale materials or patterns based on electrospinning technology, in particular to a direct-writing device for polymer materials with submicron line width.

Background technique

In the research and development of micro-nano devices, the integration of nanowires, nanotubes, nanofibers and microstructures (such as microelectrodes) with controllable position, direction and quantity is the key to manufacturing nanodevices such as The key to nanosensors and actuators. The research on nanomaterials has achieved remarkable results and has shown broad commercialization prospects, and has achieved good economic benefits. In view of its special excellent physical and chemical properties, low-dimensional nanomaterials are the basic materials for constructing nanodevices and nanostructures. R&D and development of functional devices. Western countries predict that the industrialization of nano-devices with the most market prospects may be realized in seven years, which will be another new breakthrough in the industrialization of nanotechnology. However, how to manipulate (or grow) nanowires, nanotubes, and nanofibers with controllable positions, directions, and quantities to realize their integration with microstructures (such as microelectrodes) has become the key to the current research on nanodevices and is the key to future realization. The basic key technology that must be solved for the industrialization of nano-devices.

Nano-manipulation and micro-nano structure integration technology has become a hotspot in international nano-device technology research in recent years, but it is still in its infancy. Related research mainly focuses on three aspects: (1) Serial manipulation. Based on the nanoscale motion control platform to realize the mechanical manipulation of single nanowires and nanotubes (T.Fukuda, F.Arai, and L.X.Dong, Assembly of Nanodevices with Carbon Nanotubes through Nanorobotic Manipulations, Proceedings of the IEEE, 2003, 91, (11) : 1803-1818). The system is complicated, low in efficiency and high in cost. (2) Parallel operation. The nanowires and nanotubes dispersed in the solution realize large-area parallel alignment by means of external fields (such as electromagnetic fields, flow fields, light, etc.), LB films, and chemical self-assembly (S.G.Rao, S.Huang, Large-scale assembly of carbon nanotubes. Nature, 2003, 425: 36). (3) Control growth. Place the catalyst-deposited microelectrode in a chamber that controls parameters such as gas composition, pressure, flow rate, and temperature, and grow nanowires and nanotubes oriented under the guidance of an electromagnetic field, and connect them to the opposite microelectrode (Ongi Englander, Dane Christensen, JongBaeg Kim, Liwei Lin and Stephen Morris, Electric-Field Assisted Growth and Self-Assembly of IntrinsicSilicon Nanowires, Nano Letters, 2005, 5(4):705-708). The above (2) and (3) belong to the parallelization method, which can realize large-scale integration and is of great engineering significance, but it is difficult to control the position and quantity, and the consistency of the devices cannot be guaranteed.

The generation of micro-nanostructures or patterns is the most critical step in the fabrication of microelectronics and micro-nano-electromechanical systems (M/NEMS). At present, the relatively mature and widely used micro-nano structure and pattern generation technologies mainly include electron beam, ion beam and X-Ray, etc., as well as soft etching technologies such as micro-contact printing, dipping pen and nanoimprint. Its process is complicated, expensive (hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars), and high development cost, so it is not suitable for the development or manufacturing of large-area and flexible devices; it is also not suitable for micro-nano devices, especially simple structure devices such as Research and development of principle prototypes such as sensors. As a supplement or substitute for the above-mentioned technologies, the direct writing technology of micro-nano structures has broad market prospects in the field of research, development and production of micro-nano devices.

The research on electrospinning technology based on electrohydraulic dynamics can be traced back to 1934 (Formhals, A. Process and apparatus for preparing artificial threads US Patent 1, 975, 504 (1934)). The polymer-containing droplets are fully charged under the action of a high-voltage electric field and deform the droplets to form Taylor cones, and then eject continuous nanofibers and nanotubes with a diameter of approximately 100 nm, which is expected to become a powerful tool for nano-device manufacturing. However, the traditional electrospinning technology is difficult to process or write out the nanofibers with nanometer-scale diameter due to its dependence on fast and chaotic motion, and the uncertainty of its position, direction and quantity. Graphics required.

Some well-known international research institutions and enterprises have invested in the development of this technology, such as Dimatix, XAAR, HP, Fuji and so on. Dimatix has developed the first electronic inkjet printing equipment and put it on the market this year, priced at about US$80,000. XAAR has also developed a commercial printhead, priced at $4,000. There are no reports of relevant research in China. The current material jet printing head is still based on the traditional inkjet printing head technology, the smallest droplet is about 10pl, and the smallest line width is 50μm. It is very difficult to further reduce the line width, which greatly limits the application range of this technology.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a technology based on "Near-Field ElectroSpinning (Near-Field ElectroSpinning)" for the inherent defect of traditional electrospinning technology - disorder, to realize the rapid spinning of polymer materials or materials with certain viscosity. Direct writing, the minimum diameter/line width can be lower than 300nm/20μm, which breaks through the line width limit of jet printing technology, and has a wider application range of micro-nano structure direct writing devices.

The invention is provided with a microprobe control platform, an integrated high-voltage electrostatic power supply (1kV), a precision flow controller, a high-speed precision X-Y platform (1.1m/s), a probe and a CCD microscope. The micro-probe control platform is used to adjust the distance between the probe and the writing substrate; the integrated high-voltage electrostatic power supply is used to provide the appropriate voltage to the probe, thereby forming a high-voltage electric field, so that the material is ejected from the probe head into sub-micron Lines, the positive electrode of the integrated DC high-voltage power supply is connected to the probe, and the negative electrode is grounded; the precision flow controller is fixed on the micro-probe control platform, and the precision flow controller is used for feeding the material, thereby controlling the size of the material droplet on the probe head , the precision flow controller is connected to the probe by the pipeline, and the material is transported from the pipeline to the probe through the precision flow controller; the high-speed precision X-Y platform is used to accurately locate the position where the material is written in the two-dimensional space, so as to realize the two-dimensional space Graphic writing; the probe is used as a spinneret for direct writing of materials, and the probe is installed on the micro-probe control platform; the microscope is used to observe the electrospinning process and the effect of material writing graphics, and the microscope is set on the micro-probe control on the platform.

The X-Y platform can adopt a high-speed precision X-Y platform with a moving speed of 1.1m/s, a displacement resolution of 500nm, an acceleration of 5g, and a stroke of 150mm.

The position adjustment range of the microprobe control platform in the Z direction is 500μm-3mm. The flow rate of the precision flow controller is controlled at 4-10pl/s. The high-voltage electrostatic power supply is controlled within 1kV and embedded in the micro-probe control platform.

The basic working principle of the material direct writing device with sub-micron line width is that the material provided to the probe by the precision flow controller is ejected into a single line with sub-micron line width under the action of a high-voltage electrostatic field. Due to the small distance between the spinning head and the substrate, the extruded lines are deposited on the substrate at the designated positions before the disordered movement occurs. Due to the certainty of the position, driven by the X-Y precision motion platform, the required graphics or patterns can be written directly.

Potential applications of the invention also include:

(1) Nanowire and nanotube manipulation. Although some one-dimensional nanomaterials have excellent performance, they lack effective manipulation techniques to form the required structural patterns and cannot be applied in practical devices. The nanowires/tubes are uniformly dispersed in the polymer solution, and ordered, end-to-end nanowires/tubes will be obtained in the electrospun nanofibers.

(2) Forming and manufacturing of biological tissues. Biological tissues have complex micro-nano structural systems, requiring biological scaffolds to have multi-scale structures from nano-scale to macro-scale. Direct writing of materials and structures at room temperature and pressure can be directly applied to biological scaffolds and tissue molding with controllable micro-nano structures.

(3) Fiber-reinforced composite materials and their molding. The micro-nano structure and material direct writing technology will greatly reduce the development cost and shorten the development cycle; the use of material addition method will greatly improve the utilization rate of materials.

The outstanding advantages of the present invention are mainly manifested in: 1) Compared with the jet printing technology, the micro-nano structure directly written by the electrospinning technology can be controlled below 20 μm to 100 nm, and the material is uniform. 2) Compared with traditional electrospinning, the direct writing structure position, direction and quantity of near-field electrospinning can be controlled, and the spinning voltage is greatly reduced (about 1KV), which is far lower than the traditional electrospinning voltage (greater than 10KV). 3) The line width of the direct writing structure can be controlled by adjusting the distance between the substrate to be written and the nozzle.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Referring to Fig. 1, the microprobe control platform of the present invention is provided with Y-direction linear guide rail 1, Y-direction limit slide bar 2, Y-direction slider 3, fixed support 4, Z-direction linear guide rail controller 5, Z-direction linear guide Guide rail 6, X-direction slider 7, X-direction limit slider 8, direct writing area 9, precision flow control and high-voltage electrostatic power supply 10, probe 11, CCD microscope 12, high-speed precision X-Y platform 13, X-direction linear guide rail control Device 14, X-direction linear guide rail 15, Y-direction linear guide rail controller 16 and control computer 17.

Among them, the X-direction linear guide rail 15 and the Y-direction linear guide rail 1 are driven by the X-direction linear guide rail controller 14 and the Y-direction linear guide rail controller 16 respectively, and control the probe 11 according to the positioning information given by the control computer 17. Precise position in the direct writing area 9 on the high-speed precision X-Y stage 13. The X-direction limit slide bar 8 and the Y-direction limit slide bar 2 are used to limit the directions of the X-direction slider 7 and the Y-direction slider 3 respectively, and serve as guide rails. The fixed support 4 plays the role of fixing the linear guide rail 15 in the X direction and the limit slide bar 8 in the X direction, and is connected with the high-speed precision X-Y platform 13 at the same time. Precise flow control and high-voltage electrostatic power supply 10 and probe 11 are connected to Z-direction linear guide controller 5 through Z-direction linear guide rail 6, and under the driving action of Z-direction linear guide rail controller 5, probe 11 and direct writing area are realized 9 distance adjustments. The CCD microscope 12 is used to observe the direct writing process of the material and evaluate the pattern result.

The high-speed precision X-Y stage has a displacement resolution of 500nm, a moving speed of 1.1m/s, an acceleration of 5g, and a stroke of 150mm. Parameters such as motion acceleration, speed, and position can be controlled by computer. The initial distance between the probe and the direct writing area in the Z direction is 3 mm. The position adjustment range in Z direction is 500μm-3mm.

The flow rate of the precision flow controller is controlled between 4pl/s-10pl/s. The high-voltage electrostatic power supply is controlled within 1kV. The line width of the micron-scale liquid material is less than 20 μm; the diameter of the nano-scale solid fiber is less than 300 nm; the direct writing positioning error is less than 20 μm.

Claims (7)

1. The micro-nano structure direct writing device is characterized in that it is equipped with a micro-probe control platform, an integrated high-voltage electrostatic power supply, a flow controller, an X-Y platform, a probe, and a CCD microscope. The micro-probe control platform is used to adjust the probe and write The distance between the inlet and the substrate; the integrated high-voltage electrostatic power supply is used to provide voltage for the probe, the positive pole of the integrated DC high-voltage power supply is connected to the probe, and the negative pole is grounded; the flow controller is fixed on the micro-probe control platform, and the flow controller is used for the material. The feed and flow controllers are connected to the probe by the pipeline; the X-Y platform is used to accurately locate the position where the material is written in two-dimensional space, so as to realize the writing of two-dimensional space graphics; the probe is used as a spinneret for direct writing of materials , the probe is installed on the microprobe control platform; the microscope is used to observe the electrospinning process and the effect of the material writing pattern, and the microscope is set on the microprobe control platform. 2. The micro-nanostructure direct writing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the integrated high-voltage electrostatic power supply is 1kV. 3. The micro-nanostructure direct writing device according to claim 1, wherein the X-Y platform is an X-Y platform with a moving speed of 1.1m/s, a displacement resolution of 500nm, an acceleration of 5g, and a stroke of 150mm. 4. The micro-nanostructure direct writing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the position adjustment range of the micro-probe control platform in the Z direction is 500 μm-3 mm. 5. The micro-nano structure direct writing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the flow rate of the precision flow controller is controlled at 4-10 pl/s. 6. The micro-nanostructure direct writing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the high-voltage electrostatic power supply is controlled within 1kV. 7. The micro-nanostructure direct writing device according to claim 1 or 6, characterized in that the high-voltage electrostatic power supply is embedded in the micro-probe control platform.