Bringing Electrochemical Three-Dimensional Printing to the Nanoscale
Julian Hengsteler, Barnik Mandal, Cathelijn van Nisselroy, Genevieve P. S. Lau, Tilman Schlotter, Tomaso Zambelli, Dmitry Momotenko
Abstract
Nanoscale 3D printing is attracting attention as an alternative manufacturing technique for a variety of applications from electronics and nanooptics to sensing, nanorobotics, and energy storage. The constantly shrinking critical dimension in state-of-the-art technologies requires fabrication of complex conductive structures with nanometer resolution. Electrochemical techniques are capable of producing impurity-free metallic conductors with superb electrical and mechanical properties, however, true nanoscale resolution (<100 nm) remained unattainable. Here, we set new a benchmark in electrochemical 3D printing. By employing nozzles with dimensions as small as 1 nm, we demonstrate layer-by-layer manufacturing of 25 nm diameter voxels. Full control of the printing process allows adjustment of the feature size on-the-fly, printing tilted, and overhanging structures. On the basis of experimental evidence, we estimate the limits of electrochemical 3D printing and discuss the origins of this new resolution frontier.