Fundamental Insights into Direct Optical Lithography of Functional Inorganic Nanomaterials (DOLFIN)

芝加哥大学的Dmitri Talapin教授正在进行研究，开发新的化学反应，以制备能够简单精确地制造发光器件（led）和显示器的材料。目标是消除单个组件的开发与实际应用程序中的集成之间的瓶颈。显示器和其他光学/电子设备代表着数十亿美元的市场，为这些行业提供新的通用制造平台的能力可能会产生重大的社会影响。该项目有助于培养学生在纳米科学，无机化学和材料工程的跨学科界面。此外，Talapin教授与领导力联盟合作，招收少数民族和代表性不足的本科生。该项目还为芝加哥南区未被充分代表的非洲裔美国人和西班牙裔K-12人口提供纳米制造相关主题的互动式夏季讲习班。Talapin教授在美国国家科学基金会化学部的大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目的支持下，扩展了一种用于功能无机纳米材料（DOLFIN）直接光学光刻的新方法。该方法使用具有新型光化学活性表面配体的无机纳米晶体。DOLFIN工艺结合了光刻的多种优点，适合于无机纳米材料的高效图像化，而不会被有机光刻胶和其他副产品稀释或污染。DOLFIN旨在弥补溶液加工电子材料的高质量增材图像化的有效方法的缺乏。可以使用这种技术制作图案的材料范围包括金属、半导体、氧化物、磁性或稀土成分。该项目的目标包括为纳米晶体开发新的DOLFIN配体，以扩大光子能量范围并实现多色光刻。该团队研究了纳米晶体配体组合中的光学触发反应途径和激发态动力学，以揭示DOLFIN的分辨率和灵敏度的过程。以纳米级分辨率直接绘制功能全无机层的能力为薄膜器件制造提供了另一种途径。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Professor Dmitri Talapin of the University of Chicago conducts research to develop new chemical reactions to prepare materials that enable simple and precise fabrication of light emitting devices (LEDs) and displays. The goal is to remove the bottleneck between the development of the individual components and the integration in real-world applications. Displays and other optical/electronic devices represent multibillion-dollar markets, and the ability to provide a new universal manufacturing platform for these industries may have significant societal impact. This project helps train students at the interdisciplinary interface of nanoscience, inorganic chemistry, and materials engineering. Furthermore, Professor Talapin partners with the Leadership Alliance to recruit minority and underrepresented undergraduate students. This project also supports interactive summer workshops on nanomanufacturing-related topics for local underrepresented African-American and Hispanic K-12 populations on Chicago's South Side. Professor Talapin is supported by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry Program of the NSF Division of Chemistry to expand upon a new method for direct optical lithography of functional inorganic nanomaterials (DOLFIN). This method uses inorganic nanocrystals with novel photochemically-active surface ligands. The DOLFIN process combines multiple benefits of photolithography and is tailored toward efficient patterning of inorganic nanomaterials without diluting or contaminating them with organic photoresists and other byproducts. DOLFIN is meant to remedy the lack of efficient methods for high-quality additive patterning of solution-processed electronic materials. The range of materials that can be patterned using this technique includes metals, semiconductors, oxides, and magnetic or rare earth compositions. The project goals include the development of new DOLFIN ligands for nanocrystals to expand the range of photon energies and enable multicolor lithography. The team investigates optically triggered reaction pathways and excited-state dynamics in nanocrystal-ligand combinations to reveal the processes responsible for DOLFIN's resolution and sensitivity. The ability to directly pattern functional all-inorganic layers with nanoscale resolution provides an alternate route for thin-film device manufacturing.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.