This exploratory effort will investigate the use of incorporating C60 fullerene thin films within micro and nano systems.
Intellectual Merit:
The C60 electrical insulating property, combined with its high internal mechanical loss and low-acoustic impedance, would enable coupled resonator arrays where coupling and isolation needs to be spatially modulated with large ratios, without using free-space between resonators. Additionally, C60 has ultralow surface energy and friction, which can be utilized for stiction prevention, and precursors for on-chip carbon nanotube fabrication. Fullerene structures made at the nanoscale, where the number (and size) of molecules can vary, might provide a new set of nonlinear and controllable material properties useful for realizing memory, analog signal processing, and RF signal modulation techniques within micro and nano electromechanical systems.
Broader Impact:
This effort on fullerenes as a structural material in microsystems will yield new knowledge on material properties and processing technologies of fullerene thin films. This knowledge will have broad application in the device community in addition to scientists who wish to use the methods developed to study material properties of other materials that can be mechanically and electrically linked to free-standing fullerene structures. The knowledge of fullerenes as an engineering material will further catalyze the introduction of educational material related to van der Waals-forces at the micro and nano scale into the engineering and science curriculum.
