A Combined Chemical and Microscopic Approach to Nanometer Scale Materials

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This Research Planning Grant project is in the broad area of materials chemistry and in the subfield of nanostructures. During the tenure of this eighteen-month standard grant, Professor Liu and her students at Wayne State University will conduct preliminary experiments designed to establish the feasibility of a research program in the fabrication and characterization of nanoscale materials. Their strategic approach involves the preparation of a variety of nanoparticle structures and patterns including dots, line, and two-dimensional islands with various shapes, followed by the characterization of these structures using force microscopy, particularly scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Nanostructure synthesis will be based on both traditional self-assembly and Langmuir-Blodgett techniques to prepare templates as well as the direct electrosynthesis of nanostructures using the probe tips of the force microscopes. The ability to prepare nanometer-sized materials and to control the size and structures of these particles is of immense fundamental and technological importance. This Research Planning Grant project will lead to a research program in the fabrication and characterization of nanoscale materials with `size tunable` properties of importance to quantum physics and chemistry, new sub- micron electronic devices, and novel optoelectronic materials.