Nanolithography: Small 8/2010

The cover picture shows an aromatic self-assembling peptide, N-Boc-protected triphenylalanine (Boc-FFF), inspired by a structural motif for the β-amyloid associated with Alzheimer's disease, spontaneously assembled into a highly crystalline and thermally stable hexagonal bionanosphere array during solvent evaporation. Taking advantage of the highly stable monolayer bionanosphere array masks, hexagonal metal nanoparticle arrays or embossed Si nanoposts are readily created by selective deposition or selective etching. This novel approach of “bionanosphere lithography” demonstrates a straightforward biomaterial-based nanolithography compatible with conventional device fabrication processes. For more information, please read the Full Paper “Bionanosphere Lithography via Hierarchical Peptide Self-Assembly of Aromatic Triphenylalanine” by H. S. Lee, S. O. Kim, et al., beginning on page 945.