The research objective of this project is to investigate new nanofabrication techniques. The increasing demands for nanoscale structures in photonics, lighting, solar cells and bio-industries have stimulated many emerging technologies for nanoscale patterning. However most of the techniques cannot offer sufficient throughput and present high cost for these large area applications. This project is to investigate new nanofabrication techniques for directly creating continuous micro- to nano- patterns in a variety of metal or polymer materials with feature size down to sub-50 nm. The first one is termed dynamic nano-inscribing performed at high speed at ambient environment or with a very brief heating time on the order of tens microseconds, which can minimize potential damage to thermo-sensitive materials. The second technique is based on a recent finding of generation of periodic structures from nano- to microscale on a thin metal film coated polymer layer when inscribed by a flat cleaved edge. The research will develop theoretical understanding of the effects and explore applications of these techniques in the area of optoelectronics and nanophotonics.
These techniques will aim at an unprecedented speed for nanopatterning. This research will be enhanced by the integration of the education and outreach component which includes the creation of a multidisciplinary (materials science, mechanical engineering, optical science, electrical engineering) scientific learning environment for students at a variety of levels and from several underrepresented groups (women, African-Americans, etc); and incorporation of research results into a course on nanofabrication. Of particular importance is the potential for the proposed technology to have commercial impact in the future.
The increasing demands for nanoscale structures in photonics, lighting, solar cells and bio-industries have stimulated many emerging technologies for nanoscale patterning. However most of the techniques cannot offer sufficient throughput and still present high cost for these large area applications. This program investigated several nanofabrication techniques based on mechanical patterning, which offers high throughput and scalable to roll to roll processing. Intellectual Merit The dynamic nano-inscribing process (DNI) and Nanochannel-guided Lithography (NCL) realize seamless nanograting fabrication with a much reduced area of molds by dynamically sweeping only a cleaved edge of a mold over the substrate. Eliminating the need for prefabrication of master patterns, Localized Dynamic Wrinkling makes use of spontaneous buckling driven by a sweeping sharp edge; and finally Vibrational Indentation Patterning uses vertical vibration of a flat sharp edge for the template-free nanograting fabrications. These high-throughput continuous nanopatterning technologies based on mechanical deformation may open a way to the practical and scalable nanomanufacturing of various sub-wavelength patterns that could find a myriad of applications in optoelectronics, sensing, and energy conversion devices. Broader Impact This research is enhanced by the integration of the education and outreach component which includes the creation of a multidisciplinary (materials science, mechanical engineering, optical science, electrical engineering) scientific learning environment for students at a variety of levels (from K12 to graduate); and incorporation of research results into a course on nanofabrication. Of particular importance is the potential for the proposed technology to have commercial impact in the future as a couple of companies (domestic and international) had expressed interest in licensing the technology developed in this program.
