Bubble wall confinement–driven molecular assembly toward sub–12 nm and beyond precision patterning | Science Advances

Patterning is attractive for nanofabrication, electron devices, and bioengineering. However, achieving the molecular-scale patterns to meet the demands of these fields is challenging. Here, we propose a bubble-template molecular printing concept by introducing the ultrathin liquid film of bubble walls to confine the self-assembly of molecules and achieve ultrahigh-precision assembly up to 12 nanometers corresponding to the critical point toward the Newton black film limit. The disjoining pressure describing the intermolecular interaction could predict the highest precision effectively. The symmetric molecules exhibit better reconfiguration capacity and smaller preaggregates than the asymmetric ones, which are helpful in stabilizing the drainage of foam films and construct high-precision patterns. Our results confirm the robustness of the bubble template to prepare molecular-scale patterns, verify the criticality of molecular symmetry to obtain the ultimate precision, and predict the application potential of high-precision organic patterns in hierarchical self-assembly and high-sensitivity sensors.