Thermal scanning probe lithography on a glassy supramolecular film creates a combination of topogrpahy and fluroescent nanostructures

Here, we report the nanoscale thermal modification of a new type of fluorescent stimuli-responsive supramolecular polymer assembled from a building block (OPV(UPy)2-RG), which features an excimer-forming fluorescent oligo(phenylene vinylene) (OPV) chromophore as its core and hydrogen-bonding ureido-4-pyrimidinone (UPy) end groups. By means of a heated AFM probe we modify the material at high heating and cooling rates which allows to kinetically trap the high temperature state of the material, causing a fluorescence contrast between patterned and unpatterned areas. We demonstrate that this concept can be used to create complex features which have potential applications in anti-counterfeiting.