The objective of this research is to develop and investigate a highly versatile, low cost assembly and integration approach for incorporating various nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and nanowires on to flexible parylene-C thin films and CMOS substrates. The approach to achieve the above goal is to use low voltage field assisted assembly technology. The resulting nanomaterials based sensors on flexible substrates will be connected with peripheral electronic silicon circuitry to enable integrated sensing applications.
The intellectual merits of the proposed research lies in the heterogeneous integration of novel nanomaterials on to flexible substrates and their integration with electronic readout circuits. This includes engineering the metallization chemistry on the foundry fabricated electronic circuitry to facilitate integration of different nanomaterials with low contact resistances, fabrication and full characterization of such assemblies.
The broader impacts of the proposed research are advances in sensing and monitoring applications that require high sensitivity, low power and arrays of sensors. The direct applications include detection of hazardous gases and pollutants for environmental monitoring and healthcare applications. In addition to training graduate students, the PIs will involve undergraduate students in their research efforts, especially students from women and under-represented groups. The results from this collaborative research will be disseminated through the NSF Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing, and various professional meetings and conferences.
