Development of Micro/Nano Instruments

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The ability to create functional items relies on the availability of adequate materials and the access to appropriate tools. The knowledge to exploit fundamental properties of new materials as well as the experience in manipulating tools will allow building of devices that are relevant to our existence or comfort - from simple mechanical structures to highly sophisticated electronics. Therefore, as new materials or novel technologies emerge, new knowledge has to be generated so that the materials or technologies can be utilized for the benefits of the society. Properties and phenomena enabled by the availability of the new materials need to be thoroughly understood and investigated in order to engineer them into functional devices. To this end, there is a strong emergence of nanoengineering due to the increased understanding of micro/nanofabrication and material properties, and an ability to exploit the unique mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of nanomaterials. Equipped with this fundamental understanding of micromachining and nanotechnology, the proposed research program will focus on the development of micro/nanodevices for real-world applications. In this broad translational research, fundamental findings of the properties of nanomaterials such as nanotubes, and graphene from chemistry or materials and chemical engineering labs will be engineered and exploited to create superior prototype devices such as x-ray and ultrasound devices.