High Throughput Process Screening and in-situ Characterization for Graphene Synthesis

该研究项目将开发一种新的工具，该工具将允许快速处理化学气相沉积生长的纳米材料。提出的技术将使用一组可以独立控制的微热板，同时产生广泛的加工环境，将加工时间缩短近10万倍。该工具将应用于石墨烯的合成，石墨烯正在考虑用于透明柔性电子产品，但也可用于广泛的纳米材料。微型热板还可以监测合成过程中的生长速度。另外的方法将用于表征生长后的电学、光学和结构特性。该工具的成功将允许快速优化纳米材料生长的加工环境，这将有助于加速将新的纳米材料引入设备。目前，这种用于纳米材料合成的快速筛选工具尚不存在。此外，该平台将有助于了解温度变化如何影响纳米材料的结构和生长，这对于大规模生产系统是必要的。这项工作的结果将用于开发新的纳米技术教程，并在国家会议上发表。此外，研究结果将用于帮助开发纳米材料加工和表征的新课程。最后，关注本科生和代表性不足的学生的参与将是这一努力的主要目标，以便使服务不足的群体接触到更广泛的工程和科学领域。

This research program will develop a new tool which will allow the rapid processing of nanomaterials grown by chemical vapor deposition. The proposed technique will use an array of micro-hotplates which can be independently controlled to simultaneously produce a wide range of processing environments, lowering the time for processing by nearly 100,000 times. The tool will be applied to the synthesis of graphene which is under consideration for use in transparent flexible electronics, but can also be used for a wide range of nanomaterials. The micro-hotplates will also allow for monitoring of the rate of growth during synthesis. Additional methods will be used to characterize the electrical, optical, and structural properties after growth.The success of this tool will allow for the rapid optimization of processing environments for nanomaterial growth which will help speed the introduction of new nanomaterials into devices. At present, such rapid screening tools do not exist for nanomaterial synthesis. Furthermore, this platform will enable an understanding of how temperature variations affect the structure and growth of nanomaterials which is necessary for the scale-up to mass production systems. Results from this work will be used in the development of new nanotechnology tutorials presented at national conferences. In addition, results will be used to help develop new courses focused on nanomaterial processing and characterization. Finally, a focus on undergraduate and underrepresented student participation will be a primary goal of this effort in order to expose underserved groups to a broader area of engineering and science.