Collaborative Research: Pattern Transfer Nanomanufacturing with Magnetically-Recorded Nanotemplates

这个合作研究项目的最终目标是测试磁记录可以用来指导纳米材料组装成复杂的二维和三维结构的假设，并为快速和低成本的纳米制造提供了一条有希望的途径。该方法是使用磁性记录介质（即现代硬盘驱动器中的盘片）来指导磁性纳米颗粒的组装。然后在表面涂上一层薄薄的聚合物膜，沉积的颗粒被剥离，同时保持这种书写的图案。这种革命性的纳米制造方法利用磁性记录模式的纳米级力，将载体流体中的纳米颗粒组装成磁盘驱动器盘片表面的设计纳米结构。然后用聚合物自旋涂覆纳米粒子组件，并从磁盘表面剥离基质，将纳米级图案转移到柔性透明薄膜上。虽然这一概念已经得到证明，但将其商业化的关键挑战仍然存在。这一概念的控制将通过理解组装如何依赖于原始纳米材料来扩展：纳米颗粒形状、大小、磁矩和表面功能化，以及流体组装过程的动力学、纳米级定位的差异和记录过程的基本限制。该合作项目的结构允许在工艺和原材料之间进行持续反馈，以建立商业发布所需的稳定性。此外，将探索新的扩展功能，包括在单层内组装不同的纳米颗粒物种，以及将多层和薄膜组合成更复杂的纳米结构材料。为了实现这些目标，项目被分为三个主要任务组：1。2.纳米粒子合成与组装相互作用控制；2 . 100纳米以下尺寸的装配和计量；复杂系统的定向组装，加上一个额外的小组专注于协作教育和推广。这些组件侧重于克服技术可扩展性的关键障碍，开发用于处理和过程计量的工具，以及创建新颖的复杂系统以增加商业相关性。该项目将建立对这种尚未开发的技术的理解，以评估和克服在制造环境中实施的主要障碍。通过优化自下而上的纳米结构组装的商业磁记录，一种创新的廉价技术将被更广泛的纳米技术社区用于制造新设备，包括光电子元件、新型生物材料和未来能源技术的材料。考虑到目前制造磁性记录元件的规模和成本，成功地将这种方法扩展到商业纳米制造的杠杆是巨大的。将当前技术应用于未来制造业的机会，结合对抑制纳米商业化的社区结构的理解，为项目研究人员提供了独特而广泛的教育经验。南加州大学和克莱姆森大学（南卡罗来纳州的主要研究型大学）的学生将参加最近的一门试点课程，该课程将从技术和历史的角度来看待制造技术，以促进创新和创造新技术。

The ultimate goal of this collaborative research project is to test the hypothesis that magnetic recording can be used to direct the assembly of nanomaterials into complex 2D and 3D structures, and offers a promising route towards rapid and low-cost nanomanufacturing. The approach is to use magnetic recording media (i.e. platters found in modern hard drives) to direct the assembly of magnetic nanoparticles. A thin polymeric film is then coated onto the surface, and the deposited particles are lifted off while maintaining this written pattern. This transformative approach to nanomanufacturing employs nanoscale forces from magnetically-recorded patterns to assemble nanoparticles from a carrier fluid into de-signed nanostructures on the surface of a disk drive platter. The nanoparticle assembly is then spin-coated with a polymer and the matrix is peeled from the disk surface, transferring the nanoscale patterns to a flexible, transparent film. While this concept has been demonstrated, key challenges to commercializing it remain. Control of this concept will be extended by understanding how the assembly depends on the raw nanomaterials: nanoparticle shape, size, magnetic moment, and surface functionalization, in addition to the kinetics of the fluidic assembly process, variances in nanoscale positioning, and the fundamental limits of the recording process. This collaborative project is structured to allow continuous feedback between process and raw materials to build stability needed for commercial launch. In addition, novel extensions will be explored that add functionality, including assembly of different nanoparticle species within a single layer, and combining multiple layers and films into more complex, nanostructured materials. To accomplish these goals the project is divided into three main task groups: 1. Nanoparticle synthesis and assembly interaction control, 2. Assembly and metrology below 100 nm size scales, and 3. Directed assembly of complex systems, plus an additional group focused on collaborative education and outreach. These components focus on overcoming key roadblocks to the technology's scalability, developing the tools for processing and process metrology, and creating novel, complex systems to increase commercial relevance.This project will build understanding of this undeveloped technology to assess and overcome the major hurdles to implementation in a manufacturing environment. By optimizing commercial magnetic recording for bottom-up nanostructure assembly, an innovative class of inexpensive techniques will be available to the wider nanotechnology community for manufacturing new devices, including optoelectronic components, novel biomaterials, and materials for future energy technologies. Given the scale and cost at which magnetic recording components are presently manufactured, the leverage to succeed in scaling this approach to commercial nanomanufacturing is tremendous. The opportunity to apply current technology to enable future manufacturing, combined with understanding the community structures which inhibit nano-commercialization, offers a unique and broad educational experience for the project researchers. Students at both USC and Clemson, the primary research universities in South Carolina, will participate through a recently piloted course that develops a technical and historical perspective on manufactured technologies, to foster innovation and create new ones.