Modeling and Synthesis of 3D Self-Assembly Processes

Principal Investigator
Karl F. Bohringer, Eric Klavins

Sponsor(s)
National Science Foundation (NSF)

Award Period
07/01/2005 - 06/30/2008

Abstract
This proposal investigates the scientific and engineering foundations of self-assembly processes, and applies them towards the formation of systems at the sub-millimeter scale. It is motivated by several key observations:

1. The assembly of components with sizes from 100's of nm to 100's of um is becoming increasingly important, but currently no good assembly methods exist for this "meso-scale". 2. Integrated circuits address this size scale well, but the manufacturing processes are strictly limited to materials and functionalities compatible with silicon processing. 3. No good models exist to describe "meso-scale" self- assembly processes, even though industry is starting to adopt these processes.

This proposal attacks these issues with the following activities, which constitute its intellectual merit.

· Creation of a “model system” for meso-scale self- assembly that is simple yet general enough to study the fundamental aspects of self-assembly. In this model system, all self-assembly components consist of cubical elements of the same size; self-assembly of cubes is governed by the surface interactions between cube surfaces. Thus, control of the surface properties (whether off-line during manufacture, or on-line during self- assembly) will be of key importance.

· Development of a comprehensive physical model of the self-assembly process. This model will provide the capability to predict assembly performance parameters from first principles.

A three-dimensional self-assembled structure consisting of a heterogeneous collection of multiple cubes will present a proof-of-concept demonstration. We will modify design parameters such as cube surface properties and energy input for random agitation, and test the theoretically predicted results with experimental observations.

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