Patterned Thin Films of Polyamidoamine Dendrimers Formed Using Microcontact Printing

Microcontact printing (μCP) is a soft lithographic technique used to transfer patterned thin organic films to surfaces with submicrometer resolution. Here, various concentrations of fourth-generation NH 2 -terminated polyamidoamine dendrimers are used as the “ink” in μCP. A patterned monolayer is formed from dilute solution (1 μmol); however, this structure is not stable under ambient conditions. Increasing the dendrimer concentration (up to 1 mmol) results in stable multilayer structures up to roughly 60 nm in height, as characterized by atomic force microscopy. The relationship between dendrimer concentration and layer thickness is explored.