Pulsed Thermal Excitation of Self-Assembled Nanotemplates for Manufacturing Dimensionally Controlled Nanostructured Films

物质的物理、化学和生物性质在1-50纳米范围内的临界长度尺度上经历转变，导致新功能的多样性。对全新现象的研究与基于纳米结构材料的器件开发的商业兴趣相结合。 本研究计画将探讨一种控制合成单分散奈米材料的新技术。 纳米尺度上的材料的化学和物理处理将被结合用于具有均匀尺寸和分布的柱状纳米晶体晶粒的涂层的生长，其将在纳米尺度上被调整。 通过化学自组装形成有序的、单分散的、尺寸受控的纳米模板之后，将通过与脉冲双激光烧蚀生长过程同步的纳米模板的选择性脉冲激光加热。 这种技术将扩展到商业上可行的大面积沉积，取代脉冲，空心阴极等离子体沉积工艺代替双激光烧蚀工艺。 我们先前在脉冲激光烧蚀和等离子体沉积方面的发现将为生长过程提供基础。 Au和TiO 2纳米颗粒将用作模板材料，而硬涂层将使用TiN和SiC制成，作为代表性示例。纳米结构材料的形态，结构和机械性能将被调查为不同的纳米晶粒尺寸和分离。 纳米晶粒涂层的机械功能将通过研究膜的性质，如硬度，延展性和耐磨性，产生基本的洞察与纳米晶粒尺寸的弹性性能的相关性进行评估。 由于颗粒尺寸的多分散性，过去不可能进行这样的研究。 该项目将涉及纳米制造这一令人兴奋的领域的研究生和本科生的实践培训，这是国家的重要性，并导致在研究生和本科生水平的课程增强。 通过为高中教师举办年度夏季讲习班和为高中学生，特别是妇女和少数民族提供研究机会，大学预科推广将允许尽早引入这一新兴领域的适当方面，以促进未来的纳米制造职业。如果成功，该研究项目的影响将是开发一种新的混合制造工艺，将纳米尺度上的化学和物理加工与纳米-微米-中尺度集成相结合。潜在的应用不仅包括在纳米尺度上的新物理现象的调查，但也与功能的变化，导致在硬涂层的机械性能的改善制造过程。

The physical, chemical and biological properties of matter undergo transitions over critical length scales in the range of 1-50 nanometers, leading to a diversity of new functionality. The investigation of fundamentally new phenomena is coupled with commercial interest in the development of devices based on nanostructured materials. This research project will investigate a novel technique for the controlled synthesis of mono-disperse, nanograined materials. Chemical and physical processing of materials on the nanoscale will be combined for the growth of coatings with columnar nanocrystalline grains of uniform size and distribution, which will be tuned on the nanometer scale. The formation of ordered, mono-disperse, dimensionally-controlled nanotemplates by chemical self-assembly will be followed by selective pulsed laser heating of the nanotemplates in synchronization with a pulsed dual-laser ablation growth process. This technique will be extended to commercially viable large-area deposition by substituting a pulsed, hollow-cathode plasma deposition process in lieu of the dual-laser ablation process. Our prior discoveries in pulsed laser ablation and plasma deposition will provide the basis for the growth processes. Au and TiO2 nanoparticles will be used as the template material while the hard coatings will be made using TiN and SiC, as representative examples. Morphological, structural and mechanical properties of the nanostructured material will be investigated for varying nanograin size and separation. The mechanical functionality of the nanograined coatings will be assessed by studying film properties such as hardness, ductility and wear resistance, yielding fundamental insight into the correlation of elastic properties with the nanocrystalline grain dimensions. Such studies have not been possible in the past because of poly-dispersity in grain sizes. The project will involve the hands-on training of graduate and undergraduate students in the exciting area of nanomanufacturing that is of national importance, and lead to curricular enhancements at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Pre-college outreach through annual summer workshops for high school teachers and research opportunities for high school students, particularly women and minorities, will permit the early introduction of suitable aspects of this emerging area to promote future careers in nanomanufacturing. If successful, the impact of the research project will be the development of a new hybrid manufacturing process combining chemical and physical processing on the nanoscale with nano-micro-meso scale integration. Potential applications include not only the investigation of new physical phenomena at the nanometer scale but also a manufacturing process with changes in functionality leading to improvements in mechanical properties of hard coatings.