Dip-pen nanolithography is a new kind of scanning probe lithography (SPL) technique based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) , and now has made a great progress. The process of dip pen lithography involves the adsorption of ink molecules on AFM tip,the formation of water meniscus,the transport of ink molecules,and diffusion of ink molecules on the substrate.More factors such as temperature,humidity,tip,scanning speed and so on will influence the process of dip pen lithography. The paper detailed analyzed the mechanism of this technique, integrated introduced the latest development, including electrochemical DPN, more-mode DPN,multiple DPN, multi-probe array DPN and so on. Finally, the paper described the characteristics and its application.