The Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry program of the NSF Division of Chemistry and the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program of the Division of Materials Research supports the research project of Prof. Alexander Wei of Purdue University. Prof. Wei and his students will fabricate annular magnetic nanostructures on metal surfaces and focus primarily on the synthesis of cobalt nanometric rings. The group will investigate fundamental aspects of nucleation and growth in nanostructure synthesis and optimize the reaction conditions to realize templated anisotropic growth of the cobalt nanostructures. Cobalt nanostructures exhibit superb magnetic properties and controlling their dimensions at the nanometer scale will potentially led to the development of improved magnetic nanodevices. The project will also lead to the development of new concepts for non-voltaic memory and data processing, with potential for high density in 3D. The project will provide excellent training opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students in a highly interdisciplinary area at the forefront of science and nanotechnology.
