Novel fabrication schemes are required to deposit nanoscale materials that contain molecules oriented in the plane of the surface. The breakage of in-plane symmetry allows devices to be fabricated in this plane, enabling molecular electronics to follow this successful paradigm of semiconductor devices. The authors discuss here the fabrication of a unique split-tip optical nanoprobe that can be used to both orient molecules on a surface with a strong, localized electric field and deposit them with nanoscale resolution. Ultraviolet light injected through the probe into the region of aligned molecules causes the deposition. The production of the split-tip probe is significantly different than that of the related near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) probe, since the stresses in the metal layer must be held by the metal film-silica interface rather than within the film as it encircles the silica of a NSOM probe. Mounting of the probe to ensure reliable electrical contacts is also described. (C) 2010 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3437473]