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Title: Apparatus for dispensing material

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1019571

An apparatus capable of dispensing drops of material with volumes on the order of zeptoliters is described. In some embodiments of the inventive pipette the size of the droplets so dispensed is determined by the size of a hole, or channel, through a carbon shell encapsulating a reservoir that contains material to be dispensed. The channel may be formed by irradiation with an electron beam or other high-energy beam capable of focusing to a spot size less than about 5 nanometers. In some embodiments, the dispensed droplet remains attached to the pipette by a small thread of material, an atomic scale meniscus, forming a virtually free-standing droplet. In some embodiments the droplet may wet the pipette tip and take on attributes of supported drops. Methods for fabricating and using the pipette are also described.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-98CH10886
Assignee:
Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC (Upton, NY)
Patent Number(s):
7,972,560
Application Number:
US Patent Application 12/102,370
OSTI ID:
1019571
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (10)

Opening and thinning of multiwall carbon nanotubes in supercritical water journal September 2002
Irradiation effects in carbon nanostructures journal July 1999
Production of carbon nanotubes journal July 1998
Near-field Optical ZeptoLiter pH Sensing At & Above Surfaces journal August 2007
Carbon nanotubes under electron irradiation: Stability of the tubes and their action as pipes for atom transport journal June 2005
Nanodispenser for attoliter volume deposition using atomic force microscopy probes modified by focused-ion-beam milling journal December 2004
Mass-Limited Growth in Zeptoliter Beakers:  A General Approach for the Synthesis of Nanocrystals journal August 2004
Carbon Nanotubes as High-Pressure Cylinders and Nanoextruders journal May 2006
Electron beam machining of nanometer-sized tips from multiwalled boron nitride nanotubes journal July 2007
Dispensing and surface-induced crystallization of zeptolitre liquid metal-alloy drops journal April 2007

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