MRI: Acquisition of a Nanoimprintor for Nanotechnology, Energy and Bioengineering Research, Education and Training

这项研究的目的是开发创新的方法来组装和制造纳米级材料和器件，用于光子学，声子学，电子学，化学和生物传感。该方法是使用所提出的纳米打印机的先进光刻方法来定义和探测具有所需复杂性和纳米尺度特征的结构，这将改变我们对物理现象和生物过程的基本理解，并为广泛应用的新设备打开大门。利用所提出的纳米压印机，该研究的智力价值在于将分子、碳基和无机纳米晶体材料塑造成功能结构，探索基本现象，并将这些材料用于光学、电学、能源、机械和传感设备。机械系统在纳米尺度上表现出独特的性能，可以在制造结构中进行探测，并在超快、低功耗的纳米机电设备中加以利用。纳米和微米尺度的表面图案模拟了生物系统非凡的化学和机械特性，并被设计用于影响细胞功能和组织再生，并使模型器官得以构建。所提议的工具的更广泛的影响是对学生、教师和研究人员的不同群体的研究和培训。该工具将向宾夕法尼亚大学以及地区学术和工业机构的当前和未来用户开放。它将被广泛学科的本科生、研究生和博士后在新课程和研究中使用，也将被用于向K-12学生和教师演示。

The objective of this research is to develop innovative methods to assemble and manufacture nanoscale materials and devices for applications in photonics, phononics, electronics, and chemical and biological sensing. The approach is to use the advanced lithographic methods of the proposed nanoimprintor to define and probe structures with desired complexity and with nanometer scale features that will transform our fundamental understanding of physical phenomena and biological processes and open doors to new devices for a wide-range of applications.The intellectual merit of the research, utilizing the proposed nanoimprintor, is to pattern molecular, carbon-based, and inorganic nanocrystalline materials into functional architectures, to explore fundamental phenomena, and to exploit these materials in optical, electrical, energy, mechanical, and sensing devices. Mechanical systems show unique properties at the nanometer scale that can be probed in fabricated structures and harnessed in ultrafast, low-power nanoelectromechanical devices. Surfaces patterned at nanometer and micron scales mimic the extraordinary chemical and mechanical properties of biological systems and are being engineered to influence cell function and tissue regeneration and enabling model organs to be constructed.The broader impact of the proposed tool is to the research and training of a diverse body of students, teachers, and researchers. The tool will be open to current and future users at Penn and regional academic and industrial institutions. It will be used by undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs from a wide-range of academic disciplines in new course curricula and research, as well being used in demonstrations to K-12 students and teachers.