MRI: Acquisition of a 3-D Nanolithography System

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Three-dimensional (3D) printing has created a revolution in rapid-prototyping and on-demand creation of parts. This technology can enable on-demand manufacturing of complex structures that could not be built using conventional methods. Current 3D printing systems range from hobbyist desktop systems to industrial prototyping and manufacturing systems. Most instruments are limited to minimum feature sizes of about 100 microns due to limitations in materials, nozzles, or accuracy in positioning hardware. This project will acquire an advanced 3D nanolithography system that utilizes two-photon polymerization lithography from a near-infrared pulsed laser. With this system, it is possible to extend 3D printing to the nanoscale, allowing for sub-micron 3D feature size across cubic-centimeter volumes. The availability of on-demand nano-manufacturing capability will broaden the participation of research groups to other disciplines not familiar with this type of technology. For example, the proposed instrument will support efforts in rock physics for energy extraction, prevention of bio-fouling in the food industry, brain-machine interfaces, miniaturized medical devices, and embedded physiological sensors. In addition, this project will create coursework modules at both University of Utah and Salt Lake Community College to utilize the proposed instrument. As part of this project, an "expert user corps" of Ph.D. students will be trained on the system, an experience that goes well-beyond that of a typical program. A meeting is planned during the second year of the project for users to share lessons learned, best practices, and new techniques in this growing user community. The 3D nanolithography system will support a number of on-going and proposed cross-disciplinary collaborative research directions. For example, the system will play a fundamental role in the understanding of solid/fluid interfacial properties across multiple application areas, including digital rock physics for energy storage/extraction, optimizing ultrafiltration membranes used in the food industry, study of micro-organism locomotion, and study of microvascular structures. These are complex problems, all of which involve the integration of state-of-the-art microscopic imaging of natural samples, physics-based modeling, and creation of hierarchical synthetic nanostructured materials of various levels of physical and chemical heterogeneities to validate multiscale models that are then used in application development. The 3D nanolithography system is the ideal tool to create these synthetic material models with which detailed experimental characterization can be performed. In the neural interfaces area, the 3D nanolithography tool will facilitate the creation of new optical and electrical interfaces to the brain and peripheral nerves, taking full advantage of highly-flexible 3D patterning capabilities to customize these interfaces to the implant locations and for acute or chronic applications. The tool will enable the development of a number of other embedded biomedical devices, including micro-scaffolds for self-regulated pacemakers, and miniaturized sensors for continuous physiological monitoring based upon development of new photo-responsive polymer materials. Additional impact areas include nanofluidic devices for bioanalytical systems, laser-based 3D printing of metals, nanoscale near-field electrospinning, nanoscale composite materials, and novel two-dimensional (2D) materials for active terahertz-frequency devices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.