Simple and affordable new nanofabrication method created

The production of electronic and medical devices that are smaller than a fraction of a human hair could be made easier following the creation of a new method of lithography.

Developed by nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego, the technique involves the use of nanorobots, which swim over the surface of light-sensitive material to create complex surface patterns to form sensors and electronics components on nanoscale devices.

Current state-of-the-art nanofabrication methods, such as electron beam writing, are far more expensive and complex, whereas these new nanoscale robots are chemically-powered, self-propelled and magnetically controlled, making them relatively simple to manipulate.

Though this technique cannot currently replicate the high-end resolution offered by e-beam writers, the technology could provide a framework for autonomous writing of nanopatterns at a fraction of the cost and difficulty of more complex systems.

Jinxing Li, a doctoral student at the Jacobs School of Engineering, said: "All we need is these self-propelled nanorobots and ultraviolet light. They work together like minions, moving and writing and are easily controlled by a simple magnet."