MRI: Acquisition of a Nanoimprintor for Nanotechnology, Energy and Bioengineering Research, Education and Training

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The objective of this research is to develop innovative methods to assemble and manufacture nanoscale materials and devices for applications in photonics, phononics, electronics, and chemical and biological sensing. The approach is to use the advanced lithographic methods of the proposed nanoimprintor to define and probe structures with desired complexity and with nanometer scale features that will transform our fundamental understanding of physical phenomena and biological processes and open doors to new devices for a wide-range of applications.The intellectual merit of the research, utilizing the proposed nanoimprintor, is to pattern molecular, carbon-based, and inorganic nanocrystalline materials into functional architectures, to explore fundamental phenomena, and to exploit these materials in optical, electrical, energy, mechanical, and sensing devices. Mechanical systems show unique properties at the nanometer scale that can be probed in fabricated structures and harnessed in ultrafast, low-power nanoelectromechanical devices. Surfaces patterned at nanometer and micron scales mimic the extraordinary chemical and mechanical properties of biological systems and are being engineered to influence cell function and tissue regeneration and enabling model organs to be constructed.The broader impact of the proposed tool is to the research and training of a diverse body of students, teachers, and researchers. The tool will be open to current and future users at Penn and regional academic and industrial institutions. It will be used by undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs from a wide-range of academic disciplines in new course curricula and research, as well being used in demonstrations to K-12 students and teachers.