This Scalable NanoManufacturing (SNM) grant provides funding to establish a methodology for the massively parallel and high throughput manufacture of nanoscale electronic circuit elements. First, rationally designed molecular building blocks will be synthesized and assemble them in predetermined arrangements on DNA-like templates, forming organic semiconductor nanowires. Commercially validated techniques, such as nanoimprint lithography, will be used to prepare molecular bread boards. Subsequently, the templating and self-assembly properties of DNA to form arrays of nanowires at these bread boards will be leveraged. As part of this effort, industrial and academic collaborators will partner to establish a nanoscale manufacturing summer school for training students and researchers in the techniques that we develop.
The semiconductor industry produces electronic devices that drive not only most modern technologies but also the global economy. Due to the limitations of traditional lithographic manufacturing techniques, this industry has identified a crucial need for the scalable nanomanufacturing of futuristic nanoscale electronics. Although researchers have demonstrated remarkable examples of isolated molecular electronic devices, the scalable production of such devices remains at a standstill because their active components cannot be assembled with arbitrary precision or in high yield. Through an interdisciplinary combination of organic chemistry, biological self-assembly, and top-down nanofabrication, organic nanowires will be prepared with rationally designed electrical properties and assemble arrays of such constructs at solid substrates. This approach will enable the fabrication of the next generation of nanoscale integrated circuit elements in reproducible fashion and at low cost.
The semiconductor industry produces electronic devices that drive not only most modern technologies but also the global economy. Due to the limitations of traditional lithographic manufacturing techniques, this industry has identified a crucial need for the scalable nanomanufacturing of futuristic nanoscale electronics. Although researchers have demonstrated remarkable examples of isolated molecular electronic devices, the scalable production of such devices remains at a standstill because their active components cannot be assembled with arbitrary precision or in high yield. Through an interdisciplinary combination of organic chemistry, biological self-assembly, and top-down nanofabrication, we prepared organic nanowires with rationally designed electrical properties and assembled arrays of such constructs at solid substrates. Our approach enables the fabrication of the next generation of nanoscale integrated circuit elements in reproducible fashion and at low cost. This grant provided funding to establish a methodology for the massively parallel and high throughput manufacture of nanoscale electronic circuit elements. We first synthesized rationally designed molecular building blocks and assembled them in predetermined arrangements on DNA-like templates, forming organic semiconductor nanowires. We then prepared molecular bread boards with nanogap electrodes and leveraged the self-assembly properties of DNA to form arrays of nanowires at these bread boards. Electrical characterization of these nanowires showed them to exhibit good conductivity in agreement with comparable organic nanowires fabricated by more involved methods. As part of this effort, we partnered with industrial and academic collaborators to establish a nanoscale manufacturing summer school for training students and researchers in the techniques that we have developed. This involved 5 academic and industrial partners and the training of 6 undergraduates (4 women, 2 minorities) and 1 high school student. This work has led to 1 accepted publication, 1 submitted publication, 2 in preparation publications, 13 conference presentations (MRS, ACS, and APS), and 5 invited talks. Furthermore, this program has supported the training of 4 graduate students and 4 undergraduate students and the production of one dissertation.
