Patterns on a roll: a method of continuous feed nanoprinting

Exploiting elastic instability in thin films has proven to be a robust method for creating complex patterns and structures across a wide range of lengthscales. Even the simplest of systems, an elastic membrane with a lattice of pores, under mechanical strain, generates complex patterns featuring long-range orientational order. When we promote this system to a curved surface, in particular, a cylindrical membrane, a novel set of features, patterns and broken symmetries appears. The newfound periodicity of the cylinder allows for a novel continuous method for nanoprinting. We explore a new class of patterns generated by mechanically compressing perforated cylindrical membranes and use them as a basis for a novel continuous feed method of nanoprinting.