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Nano 'Writing' Process Wins Hastings a DARPA Award
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 4, 2009) − University of Kentucky electrical and
computer engineering researcher J. Todd Hastings has won a two-year, $300,000
Young Faculty Award from the national Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA).
Hastings, an associate professor in the UK College of Engineering, received the
grant for a project that has found a new way to rapidly-prototype nanometer scale
devices and materials. This technique could greatly reduce the time and expense of
making nanoscale products with applications ranging from computing to medical
diagnostics.
The process uses electrons beamed through a liquid to deposit various materials,
gold and platinum have already been demonstrated, onto a supporting object. The
electron beam can be focused to a one nanometer spot, about 50,000 times smaller
than a human hair, and the beam can "write" a nanoscale pattern in much the same
way that one would write with ink on paper.
Hastings notes that other researchers have previously used electron beams to
directly write nanoscale structures, but these approaches delivered the materials, the
“ink,” in gases. These processes are limited with regard to the types of materials that
can be written, the materials’ purity, and the writing speed. In contrast, writing in liquids
promises rapid patterning of a wide range of high purity materials.
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The approach also reduces the equipment and time required to make nanoscale
devices, thereby accelerating the pace and increasing the economic feasibility of
nanotechnology development, he said.
In addition to funding his research, the DARPA grant will allow Hastings to
participate in visits and exercises at several Department of Defense facilities.
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