New Nanomanufacturing Techniques for the Fabrication of Plasmonic Surfaces for Photovoltaic, Catalytic and Sensing Applications

光与纳米尺度的金属颗粒之间的强烈相互作用为变革性的传感、催化和光伏技术提供了基础。尽管许多这样的设备已经成功地从这些所谓的等离子体纳米材料原型化，但目前使用的制造技术虽然非常适合研究密集型环境，但与制造环境不兼容。该奖项支持旨在定义一个平台的研究工作，该平台将取代当前的最佳实践技术，以满足纳米制造的可扩展性，吞吐量，产量和成本效益要求。如果纳米制造平台得到验证，它可以作为合成基础支撑：（i）能够检测各种癌症的传感器技术，E。大肠杆菌、爆炸物、药物和重金属污染物，（ii）适合于环境修复或由阳光提供动力的“绿色”化学合成的催化表面，和（iii）依赖于等离子体材料的一类新的光致发光材料。正在通过一些项目将研究活动与教育举措结合起来，这些项目培训本科生和研究生设计能够合成技术相关纳米材料的仪器，并对制造过程进行实时监测。正在开展的研究将确定制造光敏表面所需的纳米制造平台，光敏表面由复杂三维纳米结构的周期性阵列组成，这些纳米结构表达了实现光伏、催化和传感应用所需的强烈等离子体共振。它将利用现有的合成框架，其中：（i）光刻定义纳米结构的前体在特定位置，（ii）定向组装将其转化为具有高结晶度和原始表面的纳米结构模板，以及（iii）基于溶液的合成将这些模板雕刻成复杂的纳米结构。这些研究旨在：（i）验证该合成框架作为廉价的纳米制造平台，其能够制造由具有原始表面和前所未有的复杂性的亚50 nm纳米结构的周期性阵列组成的功能性光活性表面，（ii）克服与最大可实现阵列密度和潜在的吞吐量瓶颈相关的现有知识障碍，如果不协调，则挑战纳米制造平台的可行性，（iii）展示一套新的仪器，其响应于纳米制造设置的可扩展性和吞吐量需求，以及（iv）建立原位光学诊断，其可以实时提供将纳米结构组装过程引导到编程终点所需的反馈。

The intense interactions between light and metal particles with nanoscale dimensions provide the foundation for transformative sensing, catalytic and photovoltaic technologies. Even though many such devices have been successfully prototyped from these so-called plasmonic nanomaterials, the fabrication techniques currently utilized, while well-suited to a research intensive environment, are incompatible with a manufacturing setting. This award supports a research effort aimed at defining a platform that replaces current best-practice techniques with those responsive to the scalability, throughput, yield and cost-effectiveness requirements of nanomanufacturing. If the nanomanufacturing platform is validated it could act as the synthetic foundation underpinning for: (i) sensor technologies able to detect various cancers, E. coli, explosives, drugs and heavy metal contaminents, (ii) catalytic surfaces geared towards environmental remediation or "green" chemical syntheses powered by sunlight and (iii) a new class of photovoltaics reliant on plasmonic materials. Research activities are being integrated with education initiatives through projects which train both undergraduate and graduate students in the design of instrumentation able to synthesize technologically relevant nanomaterials and provide real-time monitoring of manufacturing processes. Outreach initiatives are being directed toward the matriculation of women into the Engineering profession.The research being carried out will define the nanomanufacturing platform needed to fabricate photoactive surfaces comprised of periodic arrays of complex three-dimensional nanostructures which express the intense plasmonic resonances needed to enable photovoltaic, catalytic and sensing applications. It will utilize an existing synthetic framework whereby: (i) lithography defines nanostructured precursors at site-specific locations, (ii) directed assembly transforms them into nanostructured templates with high crystallinity and pristine surfaces and (iii) solution-based syntheses sculpt these templates into complex nanostructures. The studies aim to: (i) validate this synthetic framework as an inexpensive nanomanufacturing platform able to fabricate functional photoactive surfaces consisting of periodic arrays of sub-50 nm nanostructures with pristine surfaces and unprecedented complexity, (ii) overcome existing knowledge barriers related to the maximum realizable array density and potential throughput bottlenecks which, if left unreconciled, challenge the viability of the nanomanufacturing platform, (iii) demonstrate a new set of instrumentation which is responsive to the scalability and throughput needs of a nanomanufacturing setting and (iv) establish an in situ optical diagnostic which can in real-time provide the feedback required to direct nanostructure assembly processes to programmed endpoints.