This technique uses atomic force microscope (AFM) tips like old-fashioned quill pens, depositing an ink on a surface, the ink usually being something that forms self-assembled monolayers. A variation uses hollow AFM tips that have a well to hold the ink.
Lines just a few nanometers across have been created and, in theory, a wide variety of different inks can be used. The approach clearly offers great flexibility but not the sort of throughput that would be required for mass production. Throughput can be increased significantly by having arrays of tips, and companies working on the technology talk of potentially hundreds of thousands.
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