Laser-induced implantation of organic molecules into sub-micrometer regions of polymer surfaces

Organic molecules adhered to the point of a micropipette were transferred onto the surface of a polymer film by pulsed laser light guided through a quartz optical fiber which was inserted into the micropipette. Controlled by a high-resolution piezoelectric driver designed for scanning probe microscopy, the distance between the micropipette point and the polymer surface was kept to a few tens of nm. After laser irradiation, the deposited molecules on the polymer surface were examined with optical transmission, fluorescence, atomic force, and scanning near-field optical microscopy. It was demonstrated that various kinds of organic molecules can be implanted into sub-micrometer regions at the surfaces of polymer films without their decomposition. The hypothetical mechanism of the molecular transfer is discussed in relation to the morphology of crystalline molecules adhered at the micropipette apertures.