NER: Nanowire and Nanopattern Fabrication by the Sintering of Self-Assembled Nanoparticle Arrays

这个探索性研究项目的目的是对一种新的纳米制造方法的潜在有用性进行基本评估;即，配体稳定的金属纳米颗粒的自组装阵列的故意烧结，以形成纳米线和复杂的2-D纳米颗粒。到目前为止，最成功的方法，材料的操纵和图案化的纳米级已基于电子束光刻和扫描探针显微镜技术。不幸的是，这些方法相对昂贵，本质上是连续的，并且不容易应用于纳米片和纳米线的大规模生产。因此，通过简单和廉价的化学方法在更大规模上可重复地制造这种纳米结构的能力具有很大的实际重要性，特别是如果纳米技术所承诺的潜在好处被工业所采用并在下一代消费电子产品中被利用的话。该计划中正在研究的新纳米纤维技术有可能满足这些标准，前提是可以控制和理解自组装阵列中单个纳米颗粒之间发生的烧结过程。本研究计划的目的是建立一个基本的理解如何（i）颗粒大小，（ii）颗粒阵列配置，（iii）颗粒组成，（iv）基板的身份，和（v）配体不稳定的方法影响的性质的纳米线或纳米图案形成。动态纳米粒子烧结过程中的透射电子显微镜原位观察，沿着与关键的比较，发生在微米级颗粒之间的众所周知的烧结现象，将形成我们的分析方法，这个问题的基石。该项目的更广泛的影响包括与利物浦大学的国际合作，以及将这项工作纳入通过利哈伊大学最先进的互动教室教授的课程。该设施可以连接到其他宾夕法尼亚大学，以及未来扩展到几个少数民族服务机构。

The objective of this exploratory research project is to carry out a basic assessment of the potential usefulness of a new nanomanufacturing method; namely, the deliberate sintering of self-assembled arrays of ligand stabilized metal nanoparticles to form nanowires and complex 2-D nanopatterns. To date, the most successful approaches to materials manipulation and patterning on the nanoscale have been based on electron beam lithography and scanning probe microscopy techniques. Unfortunately these methods are relatively expensive, serial in nature, and are not readily applicable to mass production of nanopatterns and nanowires. The ability to reproducibly manufacture such nanostructures on a larger scale by simple and inexpensive chemical methods is therefore of great practical importance, especially if the promised potential benefits of nanotechnology are to be taken up by industry and exploited in the next generation of consumer electronics. The new nanofabrication technique under investigation in this program has the potential to fulfill these latter criteria provided that the sintering processes occurring between individual nanoparticles in the self-assembled arrays can be controlled and understood. The aim of this research program is to establish a basic understanding of how (i) particle size, (ii) particle array configuration, (iii) particle composition, (iv) substrate identity, and (v) ligand destabilization method affect the nature of the nanowire or nanopattern formed. In-situ observations of dynamic nanoparticle sintering processes in a transmission electron microscope, along with critical comparisons to the well-known sintering phenomena that occur between micron-scale particles, will form the cornerstones of our analytical approach to this problem. Broader impacts of this project include international collaboration with the University of Liverpool and integration of this work into course taught through the state-of-the-art interactive classroom at Lehigh University. This facility enables connection to other Pennsylvania universities, as well as future expansion to several minority-serving institutions.