This grant provides support to develop a soft lithography and printing facility for research and education in electronically-active organic materials at the University of Texas at Austin. The facility represents the first cleanroom designated for organic materials research and organic electronics development on campus. It will be fully complementary to the state-of-the-art nanoscale fabrication and characterization tools currently available. Recent advances in organic electronic devices and plastic circuits have rekindled research organic semiconducting and conducting materials. Efforts in this area at the University of Texas at Austin have largely focused on the fundamental aspects of materials design as well as device fabrication and processing development.
The facility will be open to researchers and students in the University community and will greatly enhance the education and training of students in materials research. It will also strengthen ties with other UT campuses and foster scientific interactions with current and new industrial partners. The facility will be open to guest researchers, including lecturers from undergraduate institutions. As part of the University's effort to increase awareness in nanotechnology among undergraduates, the facility will also support team research projects in two laboratory-based courses.
