NER: Fabricating Heterogeneous Nanorods by Physical Vapor Deposition

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The objective of this project is to develop a simple and generic method to fabricate three-dimensional heterogeneous nanorod (10 - 100 nm in diameter) structures by multilayer glancing angle deposition. This method is a low temperature multilayer physical vapor deposition process, and can form heterogeneous nanorods from a large variety of materials, including metals, semiconductors, insulators, composites, and ceramics. In this project, two different kinds of structures will be demonstrated: metal A/metal B and superconductor/insulator nanorod structures. The growth mechanism of nanorod formation, and how different growth conditions affect the size, shape, and the uniformity of nanorods, will be investigated. The quality of the nanorod array will also be controlled by two dimensional regular template arrays using either colloid monolayer or electron beam lithographic methods. The proposed method, if successful, will open a door for the researchers to access and design different novel multilayered nanostructures by simply changing the evaporation materials, and will catalyze rapid and innovative advances not only in fabricating novel nanoelectronics devices, but also in designing novel functionalized materials. Those novel devices could be used to make faster computers, higher density storage medium, more reliable and higher sensitivity chemical biological sensors, etc. The novel functionalized multilayer materials can be used for targeted drug delivery and tumor therapy, energy conservation coating, etc. These applications will help to restore a strong economy, improve public healthcare, and fight terrorists with better weapons, which are current concerns of every American.