Nanoimprinting with Amorphous Metals

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Nanoimprinting promises low cost fabrication of micro- and nano-devices in various fields of application including data processing and storage, photonics, and biomedicine. The success and proliferation of nanoimprinting critically rely on the manufacturing of robust and durable templates. Previous research has been focused on the use of Silicon templates. Due to their brittle nature and limited longevity, this research focuses on amorphous metals with superior mechanical properties over currently used materials in nanoimprinting and the absence of an intrinsic size limitation. Within this proposal the smallest features that can be imprinted into amorphous metals will be evaluated by utilizing the thermoplastic formability of some amorphous metals. Furthermore the unique softening behaviour of amorphous metals, which is utilized for thermoplastic processing will be exploited to develop a versatile toolbox for nanoimprinting. This includes the use of amorphous metals as a mold material and as an imprint material. In addition, the replication of a master mold into amorphous metal daughter and granddaughter molds through thermoplastic forming will be evaluated. This research will develop an enabling and fundamental nanomanufacturing process for a wide range of applications including data storage, biotechnology, semiconductor ICs, solar cells, and catalysts. Furthermore, characterizing of the fundamental deformation behavior of metallic glasses will generate new cutting-edge knowledge in nanopatterning. Thus, the success of the proposed research will aid U.S.'s competitiveness in nanotechnology, benefit U.S industry, and will potentially have significant economic impact. The research will expose and train graduate and undergraduate students to amorphous metals and their usage in the new technology area of nanomanufacturing.