NIRT: Nanoscale Manufacturing - Nonlinear Nanocomposites for Magnetostrictive Actuators and Photonic Devices

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this project is to develop manufacturing techniques for nanocomposite and nano-heterogeneous materials and devices that combine the functional advantages obtained from the "size-tunable" properties of nanocomposite materials with the fabrication and direct-write advantages available from nanoparticles (NPs) manufactured and delivered in aerosol form. It will focus on developing manufacturing techniques utilizing NPs generated by Laser Ablation of Microparticles (LAM) from an aerosol source, and on two important application areas that benefit from compositional variations on the nanoscale: a) nanostructured giant magnetostrictive films with high magnetization that can be driven at low fields due to a spin reorientation transition, and b) nonlinear photonic materials and structures that have increased optical conversion efficiency due to both the enhancement of the nonlinear effects by nano-heterogeneity and the ability to phase match the interacting optical waves by coherently mixing active and inactive regions in a nano-composite optical media. Both applications require three-dimensional nanocomposite structures consisting of an active phase embedded in an inactive phase. These nanocomposite structures are difficult or impossible to produce in size scales that are practical for many devices using existing manufacturing technologies. The broader benefits of this research will be felt in many applications that require manufacturing methods for fabricating millimeter-scale devices made from nanocomposites. Effort will be focused in the areas of magnetostrictive micro-valves and transducers and in effective, low-cost nonlinear optical photonic devices. Magnetostrictive devices that provide large actuation strains at low driving fields can be used to control aerodynamic bodies (aircraft, etc.) and will result in improved directional ultrasonic transducer arrays for medical applications and for non-destructive testing. Low-cost nonlinear optical photonic devices will add wavelength agility not now available in current photonic systems for telecommunication. Such improvements will increase overall network capacity that will enable the low-cost extension of wide-band optical communications to nearly every home. The proposed research will be performed by a team composed of undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty from Physics, Electrical Engineering, and Materials Science that have a proven track record in conducting multidisciplinary research and education. A strong collaboration on magnetostrictive devices exists with a research team at Ecole Centrale de Lille, France. In addition, a new effort will be undertaken aimed at training and recruiting highly qualified summer internship students from a university (Prairie View A&M) historically attended by minorities and at initiating a research collaboration with their Center for Materials, Microdesign, and Microfabrication.