CAREER: Simultaneous and Independent Control of Nanostructured Objects Through the Use of Coupled External Electric Fields

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This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) project will support research that will enable the large-scale manipulation of nano-sized objects by using a shared external electric field, and, as such, it will have strong potential to impact important applications in the development of new materials, drug-delivery and medical devices, and electronics. Nanomanipulation enables the flexible maneuvering and precise positioning of nanostructures in both prototyping and assembling nanoscale devices. However, current nanomanipulation techniques are not well-suited for independently manipulating large numbers of nanoscale objects precisely and reliably. Overcoming existing barriers will allow the efficient manufacture of inexpensive functional nanodevices. This award will generate the fundamental knowledge, methodologies, and tools for large-volume manipulation of a broad class of micro- and nano-scale objects, by focusing on using coupled external electric fields to perform nanomanipulation in three-dimensional microfluidic environments. Additionally, this research will lead to efficient and inexpensive neuromorphic nanowire networks that mimic the behaviors exhibited by biological neurons. These advances could revolutionize neuromorphic computing as applied to next-generation artificial intelligence hardware, making the nation more competitive in the field of artificial intelligence. The research will be integrated with education at the K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and lifelong learning levels. The outreach activities will prime the STEM pipeline and inspire women and underrepresented minorities towards STEM careers.The ability to move and control large numbers of micro- and nano-scale objects has important industrial and biomedical applications. However, automation has been mostly restricted to moving a limited number of objects in small workspace volumes. This research aims to discover motion-control frameworks that serve to simultaneously, but independently, manipulate many nano-sized objects under coupled external electric fields. The research objectives are to (1) design an adaptive robust ensemble control for great quantities of agents in a complex three-dimensional microfluidic environment under common electric fields; (2) analyze the controllability and manipulability of the system to identify the most effective electrode pattern and plan efficient trajectories of individual objects; and (3) investigate control schemes that enable functional nanodevice assembly with applications to next-generation neuromorphic computing. In the long term, this research will support engineering tools for automated microscale and nanoscale bio-factories through the manipulation of large volumes of objects, which will have significant impacts on target-oriented drug delivery and precision medicine engineering.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.