TERA-Fab® M series
The world’s first commercial polymer pen lithography tool for high-throughput contact printing at nanoscale resolution.
 

Key Features

 

Arrays and Substrates for Any Experiment

Whether you need to print nanoparticles on glassy carbon for catalytic applications or proteins on microscope slides for bioapplications, M series has you covered.

TERA-print offers a wide variety of standard substrates and polymer pen arrays. We also work with our users to develop custom options to best fit their applications.

A Faster, Hands Off Alignment Procedure

TERA-Fab® M series eliminates the tedious and error-prone alignment process from your experiment.

With an accurate and precise automatic alignment routine, M series lets you set up and begin printing faster than ever before.



Uncompromised Nanoprecision

Utilizing a piezoelectric positioning stage, M series allows users to print inks onto surfaces with exceptional consistency and reliability.

M series controls motion in <100nm step sizes across a 100µm range in three dimensions, giving you the ability to create features at any location over centimeter scale areas with supreme precision.

Ultimate Control Over Your Experiment

Monitor and adjust experimental parameters that matter in real-time, from temperature and humidity to applied force and contact time between tips and substrates.

M series adjusts to a wide range of materials, allowing nano-scale experimentation in a new range of applications.

Nanofabricate Like a Pro

Simple and intuitive design of the hardware and software allows users of any experience level to begin nanofabricating in no time.

TERA-Fab OSm neatly packages all control parameters exactly where you need them.



Do More in One Experiment with Nanocombinatorics

Our 2D arrays of elastomeric pens uniquely enable users to create libraries with millions of positionally-encoded nanoscale features varying in size and composition by design.

This opens the possibility of high-throughput combinatorial experimentation and accelerated discovery in materials science and biology.

 
 
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Applications

Discover New MaterialsCombine massive libraries of materials in parallel, rapidly exploring the new material combinations nanoscale

Discover New Materials

Combine massive libraries of materials in parallel, rapidly exploring the new material combinations nanoscale

Bioengineering at NanoscaleRapidly generate cell adhesion, thousands at a time. Perform high-throughput single-cell assays, reprogram cells via microenvironmental cue rearrangement.

Bioengineering at Nanoscale

Rapidly generate cell adhesion, thousands at a time. Perform high-throughput single-cell assays, reprogram cells via microenvironmental cue rearrangement.

Synthesize New MaterialsCreate millions of attoliter-scale nanoreactors, each one generating a nanoparticle upon thermal processing.

Synthesize New Materials

Create millions of attoliter-scale nanoreactors, each one generating a nanoparticle upon thermal processing.

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 Technical Specifications

 
Stage Optics Features Software
X-Y scan range (closed loop) 100μm x 100μm typ., 95μm minimum
Z travel range (closed loop) 100μm typ., 95μm minimum
X-Y-Z tolerance (closed-loop) 1nm typ.
Repeatability <10nm typ.
Manual X-Y positioning stage 12.7mm x 12.7mm travel range
Motorized Z axis 12mm travel range, bi-directional repeatability, 0.75μm bidirectional repeatability, 2mm/s maximum speed
ΘX and ΘY 2-axis angular positioning ±3.5° angular range, 4x10-5° angular resolution
Motorized X-Y motion 50mm x 50mm travel range, bi-directional repeatibility: 1μm
Motorized Z motion 50mm travel range, bi-directional repeatibility: <50μm, maximum speed: 3.0mm/s
5x Objective M Plan APO 34mm working distance, 2μm resolving power, additional objective lenses available (10x, 20x, 50x)
Field of View 1.28mm x 0.96mm
CMOS camera FLIR 12 MP (4000 x 3000) CCD, 0.74cm x 0.55cm sensor size, 1.85μm x 1.85μm pixel size
  • Easy to access noise isolation enclosure
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  • Integrated damping and vibration isolation
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  • Environmental control system (RH(%) and Temperature (°C))
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  • Magnetic sample holder capable of accommodating up to 15mm x 15mm samples
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    X-Y-Z piezo scanning stage
    • Set movement speed of the long travel Z motor in a 0 to 2mm/s range
    • Move each axis individually or all axes to an absolute position or relative to current position within 100μm range
    Z positioning of sample stage
    • Set movement speed of the long travel Z motor in a 0 to 2mm/s range
    • Move sample stage to an absolute position or relative to current position within 25mm range
    • Tilt pen array in ΘX and ΘY directions by a specified angle with a minimum increment of 4x10-5°

    Stage leveling
    • Automated pen array engagement with a substrate
    • Real-time 4 corner contact monitor for manual alignment of pen array to the substrate plane
    • Automated alignment of pen array to the substrate plane with our patented feedback-controlled algorithm

    Patterning
    • Creation of orthogonal dot patterns
    • User specified dot spacing, dwell time, light exposure time, light patterns, and patterning speed
    • Ability to save, load, and merge generated orthogonal patterns
    • Pattern preview window
    • Capability to define a custom pattern by loading an image; automatically generated sequence of patterns; user specified dot spacing, light exposure time, and patterning speed
    Optics
    • Integrated digital zoom control
    • Integrated light intensity control
    • Ability to control the illumination area by specifying the number of active DMD mirrors