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An opto-thermomechanical (OTM) nanoprinting method is demonstrated to not only additively print nanostructures with sub-100 nm accuracy but also to correct printing errors for nanorepairing under ambient conditions. 

A new printing method based on opto-thermomechanical (OTM) transfer of nanoparticles with a continuous-wave laser is introduced. The OTM method allows for not only additive nanoprinting but also nanorepairing. 

Additive manufacturing at the macroscale has been used by engineers for rapid prototyping. In this paper, I introduced a new nanoparticle-desorption process that can be used for additive manufacturing at the nanoscales. 

Optical imaging with nanoscale resolution and a large field of view is highly desirable in many research areas. Unfortunately, it is challenging to achieve these two features simultaneously while using a conventional microscope. An objective lens with a low numerical aperture (NA) has a large field of view but poor resolution. In contrast, a high NA objective lens will have a higher resolution but reduced field of view. In an effort to close the gap between these trade-offs, we introduce an acoustofluidic scanning nanoscope (AS-nanoscope) that can simultaneously achieve high resolution with a large field of view. The AS-nanoscope relies on acoustofluidic-assisted scanning of multiple microsized particles. A scanned 2D image is then compiled by processing the microparticle images using an automated big-data image algorithm. The AS-nanoscope has the potential to be integrated into a conventional microscope or could serve as a stand-alone instrument for a wide range of applications where both high resolution and large field of view are required. 

We demonstrate an opto-thermomechanical (OTM) nanoprinting method that allows us not only to additively print nanostructures with sub-100 nm accuracy but also to correct printing errors for nanorepairing under ambient conditions. Different from other existing nanoprinting methods, this method works when a nanoparticle on the surface of a soft substrate is illuminated by a continuous-wave (cw) laser beam in a gaseous environment. The laser heats the nanoparticle and induces a rapid thermal expansion of the soft substrate. This thermal expansion can either release a nanoparticle from the soft surface for nanorepairing or transfer it additively to another surface in the presence of optical forces for nanoprinting with sub-100 nm accuracy. Details of the printing mechanism and parameters that affect the printing accuracy are investigated. This additive OTM nanoprinting technique paves the way for rapid and affordable additive manufacturing or 3D printing at the nanoscale under ambient conditions. 

Guiding analytes to the sensing area is an indispensable step in a sensing system. Most of the sensing systems apply a passive sensing method, which waits for the analytes to diffuse towards the sensor. However, passive sensing methods limit the detection of analytes to a picomolar range on micro/nanosensors for a practical time scale. Therefore, active sensing methods need to be used to improve the detection limit in which the analytes are forced to concentrate on the sensors. In this article, we have demonstrated the manufacturing of nanogap-rich structures for active chemical sensing. Nanogap-rich structures are manufactured from metallic nanoparticles through an optothermally generated microbubble (OGMB) which is a laser-induced micron-sized bubble. The OGMB induces a strong convective flow that helps to deposit metallic nanoparticles to form nanogap-rich structures on a solid surface. In addition, the OGMB is used to guide and concentrate analytes towards the nanogap-rich structures for the active sensing of analytes. An active sensing method can improve the detection limit of chemical substances by an order of magnitude compared to a passive sensing method. The microbubble assisted manufacturing of nanogap-rich structures together with an active analyte sensing method paves a new way for advanced chemical and bio-sensing applications. 

Additive manufacturing at the macroscale has become a hot topic of research in recent years. It has been used by engineers for rapid prototyping and low-volume production. The development of such technologies at the nanoscale, or additive nanomanufacturing, will provide a future path for new nanotechnology applications. In this review article, we introduce several available toolboxes that can be potentially used for additive nanomanufacturing. We especially focus on laser-based additive nanomanufacturing under ambient conditions. 

A laser-induced microbubble refers to a bubble that is generated in a liquid solution by CW laser illumination to light absorptive materials. In this study, we use the gold nanoparticles solutions and gold nanoparticle film as the materials to absorb the heat under illumination. Heat transfer from the gold nanoparticles to surroundings induces a sharp increase in temperature, which results the generation of the microbubbles in the solutions. Therefore, the size and position of the surface bubble can be dynamically adjusted by changing the power and position of the laser spots. Convection currents around microbubble can make the gold nanoparticles pinned to the substrate surface, which can generate the Roman ring-shape structure. And then shine the CW laser of different power on the structure, the characteristics of the structure can be changed. These effects can be used for a wide variety of applications including micro/nano-particle manipulation, active microfluidic control, as well as cell stretching and sorting. 

We report an optical manipulation method based on an optothermal surface bubble. Nanogap-rich structures that are fabricated with this method are used to detect chemical substance down to femtomolar concentrations.