Fabrication Processes for Mesoscopic Systems

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

This research project, carried out in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, works to develop an understanding of the growth and phase evolution of metallic and intermetallic microstructures. Professor Ralph Nuzzo and his colleagues are probing the roles played by nucleation, surface chemistry, and dynamics in controlling the morphology of CVD grown thin films. With the support of the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, pattern formation in these materials over various length scales are being examined, with a focus on patterning by soft lithography and self-assembly. Complex assemblies of functional materials, useful as chemically active force transducers are being developed. An understanding of the growth and development of material microstructures is essential to the controlled design of functional materials. This research project, with the support of the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, addresses questions of the mechanism of thin film growth and resulting morphology. Complex mesoscale structures are synthesized and characterized, with an eye toward application in chemically active force transduction.