Patent ID: 7338613

Claim:
An automated process, comprising the steps of: a. providing a substrate and a stamp; b. automatically aligning the substrate and stamp so that the stamp is aligned to impart a pattern to the substrate at a desired location and with a desired orientation on the substrate, the alignment step including the substeps of controlling six degrees of freedom defining movement of at least one of the stamp and the substrate in three-dimensional space; c. applying an ink to the stamp, the ink including a molecular species adapted to form a self-assembling monolayer (SAM) on the substrate; d. contacting the stamp and the substrate for a predetermined period of time to form a contact surface, the contacting step including the substep of using a force sensor to generate feedback data for automatically controlling the movement of an actuator, the movement of the actuator providing an applied force that, based on the feedback data, permits localized pressure differences on the contact surface to accommodate local differences in geometry; e. separating the stamp from the substrate after the expiration of the pre-determined period of time; and f. performing a post-processing step after the stamping process.