A method for fixing patterned nanoparticles onto a substrate was developed
by combining photopolymerization with a laser manipulation technique. Nanop
articles were dispersed in ethylene glycol containing monomer, crosslinker,
and photoinitiator, and gathered at the focal point of a trapping laser be
am (1064 nm) just on a glass substrate. Local photopolymerization within an
d around the nanoparticles assembly was induced by additional irradiation o
f a pulsed-laser beam (355 nm), resulting in generation of polyacrylamide c
ontaining nanoparticles. The polymerized assembly was evaluated by atomic f
orce microscope observation. By scanning both trapping and excitation laser
beams, patterned nanoparticles could also be fixed on a glass substrate. (
C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.