This project assesses magnetic recording as a technology for parallel assembly of nanostructures into larger devices with < 10 nm resolution, determines the fundamental limitations of this approach for nanomanufacturing, and investigates its societal and historical context as a nanotechnology. In this approach, a nanopositioning system scans a magnetic recording head, which records bits onto media underlying a microfluidic cell containing magnetic nanostructures. An array of these media/cell structures allows cell recording in parallel, and with different patterns. Bottom-up assembly will be demonstrated by using the stray fields emitted by these recorded patterns to temporarily immobilize the nanostructures, followed by permanent fixing through curing the cell fluid. The spatial repeatability of resulting nanostructure assemblies will be related to variances in instrument stability, nanoscale positioning, assembly process, and the fundamental limits of the recording process. As a societal corollary to the technical components, the nano-community's awareness of the spatial tolerances currently achieved in magnetic recording will be investigated. In conjunction, a historical study of the magnetic recording community will produce a model of the interactions and isolations of nanotechnology sub-communities (silos), to identify where current and future nanotechnologies fail to connect, and the impacts on nanomanufacturing innovation. If magnetic recording enables nanometer precision in aligning nanostructures over micrometer dimensions, potential applications range from building active nano-optical structures, assembling next-generation solar cells for alternative energy production, forming biological and chemical sensor technologies, to building implantable medical devices for disease diagnosis and treatment. Because of its scale, this technology could be incorporated into a device the size of a disk drive, allowing on-site customization by the end user. By leveraging the electronics for error rate control, mechanical positioning, and other attributes already available in commercial disk drives, this technology could emerge with proven reliability, increasing its chance of acceptance by consumers. Understanding how the demand for information storage, enabled by technology scalability, rapidly moved magnetic recording to the nanoscale, will help increase communication among engineers and scientists, as well as industry and academia. This project will extend USC's South Carolina Citizen's School of Nanotechnology by adding a classroom component about technology manufacturing for the general public, as well as for students across different disciplines.
