Reprogrammable Parallel Nanomanufacturing

该项目评估了磁记录作为一种技术，用于将纳米结构并行组装成具有10 nm分辨率的更大设备，确定了这种方法用于纳米制造的基本限制，并调查了其作为纳米技术的社会和历史背景。在这种方法中，一个纳米定位系统扫描一个磁记录头，它将比特记录到包含磁性纳米结构的微流体细胞下面的介质上。这些介质/细胞结构的阵列允许并行地并且以不同的模式进行细胞记录。自下而上的组装将通过使用这些记录的图案发射的杂散场来暂时固定纳米结构，然后通过固化细胞液来永久固定。所得纳米结构组件的空间可重复性将与仪器稳定性、纳米级定位、组装过程和记录过程的基本限制的差异有关。作为技术组成部分的社会必然结果，纳米社区对磁记录中当前实现的空间容差的认识将被调查。同时，对磁记录社区的历史研究将产生一个纳米技术子社区（筒仓）的相互作用和孤立的模型，以确定当前和未来的纳米技术无法连接的地方，以及对纳米制造创新的影响。 如果磁记录能够实现纳米级的精确度，那么潜在的应用范围将从构建有源纳米光学结构，组装下一代太阳能电池用于替代能源生产，形成生物和化学传感器技术，到构建用于疾病诊断和治疗的植入式医疗设备。由于其规模，这项技术可以被纳入一个设备的大小磁盘驱动器，允许现场定制的最终用户。通过利用用于错误率控制、机械定位和商业磁盘驱动器中已有的其他属性的电子设备，这项技术可以以经过验证的可靠性出现，增加消费者接受的机会。了解信息存储的需求，技术的可扩展性，快速移动磁记录到纳米级，将有助于增加工程师和科学家之间的沟通，以及工业和学术界。该项目将扩展南加州大学的南卡罗来纳州公民的纳米技术学校，增加一个教室组件有关技术制造的一般公众，以及为学生在不同的学科。

This project assesses magnetic recording as a technology for parallel assembly ofnanostructures into larger devices with 10 nm resolution, determines the fundamentallimitations of this approach for nanomanufacturing, and investigates its societal andhistorical context as a nanotechnology. In this approach, a nanopositioning system scansa magnetic recording head, which records bits onto media underlying a microfluidic cellcontaining magnetic nanostructures. An array of these media/cell structures allows cellrecording in parallel, and with different patterns. Bottom-up assembly will bedemonstrated by using the stray fields emitted by these recorded patterns to temporarilyimmobilize the nanostructures, followed by permanent fixing through curing the cellfluid. The spatial repeatability of resulting nanostructure assemblies will be related tovariances in instrument stability, nanoscale positioning, assembly process, and thefundamental limits of the recording process. As a societal corollary to the technicalcomponents, the nano-community's awareness of the spatial tolerances currentlyachieved in magnetic recording will be investigated. In conjunction, a historical study ofthe magnetic recording community will produce a model of the interactions and isolationsof nanotechnology sub-communities (silos), to identify where current and futurenanotechnologies fail to connect, and the impacts on nanomanufacturing innovation. If magnetic recording enables nanometer precision in aligning nanostructures overmicrometer dimensions, potential applications range from building active nano-opticalstructures, assembling next-generation solar cells for alternative energy production,forming biological and chemical sensor technologies, to building implantable medicaldevices for disease diagnosis and treatment. Because of its scale, this technology could beincorporated into a device the size of a disk drive, allowing on-site customization by theend user. By leveraging the electronics for error rate control, mechanical positioning, andother attributes already available in commercial disk drives, this technology could emergewith proven reliability, increasing its chance of acceptance by consumers. Understandinghow the demand for information storage, enabled by technology scalability, rapidlymoved magnetic recording to the nanoscale, will help increase communication amongengineers and scientists, as well as industry and academia. This project will extendUSC's South Carolina Citizen's School of Nanotechnology by adding a classroomcomponent about technology manufacturing for the general public, as well as for studentsacross different disciplines.