Nanotechnologies and Nanophotonics

Transcription

1 Nanotechnologies and Nanophotonics From the tiniest of building blocks, nanotechnologies and nanophotonics will claim a lion s share of Purdue s cross-disciplinary research efforts. Little things are becoming big things at Purdue University. By making Nanotechnologies and Nanophotonics (NANO) one of its eight signature areas for research and technology development, Purdue is essentially making a big deal out of almost nothing. It s a big deal to E. Dan Hirleman, too. Machines, from agricultural machines to air conditioners to cars and airplanes to heart pumps, have improved the quality of life for essentially all humanity, says Hirleman, the William E. and Florence E. Perry Head of Mechanical Engineering and co-chair of the search committee charged with identifying and attracting talented nanoresearchers to Purdue. Nanotechnology, or the growing ability to precisely manipulate matter and energy at molecular scales, will enable better computers to design better machines and also allow us to build better machines through better materials and more functionality, Hirleman continues. Some of the machines will be nanomachines or nanobots, others will be large machines scaled up from nanoscale devices and components. The university s NANO initiative emphasizes interdisciplinary research among scientists and engineers with a goal of developing transferable technology. In pursuing this vision, Purdue is making an unprecedented investment approximately $100 million in personnel, facilities, equipment, and programs. Eight Signature Areas Infinite Possibilities 7

2 The crown jewel among the facilities is the Birck Nanotechnology Center (BNC), but it has plenty of company (see sidebar): Finding Food Pathogens: Rafael Gomez, a Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering advised by Professor Rashid Bashir, detects dangerous microorganisms in food with a microchip. The Institute for Nanoelectronics and Computing (INAC), which will be housed in the BNC, has a 10-year mission to develop molecular computing devices en route to trillion-device integrated computer systems with intelligence, adaptability, and fault tolerance for use by NASA in future space projects. The Network for Computational Nanotechnology, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and centered at Purdue, will address key challenges to building integrated nanosystems by linking theory, modeling, simulation, and computation with experimental work. New computational tools will be shared with the research community through a unique web-based computing system. The Center for Sensing Science and Technology, supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, focuses on research and development in the detection of chemical and biological agents and explosives, as well as homeland and military installation security. Precise and fast manipulation of matter and energy at the molecular scale requires tools and facilities that are very continued on page 11 8 Purdue s Engineering Edge

3 Birck Nanotechnology Center Purdue s nanotechnology initiative involves making large investments of people and resources to develop small-scale technology. A number of nano-related initiatives are already operating, and others are on the drawing board. The shining star of Purdue s nano thrust, however, is the Birck Nanotechnology Center (BNC). Scheduled to open in 2005, the $54 million BNC will integrate Purdue s research and technology transfer efforts in nanoscale science and engineering. Nanotechnology requires the cooperation of researchers from a wide range of disciplines, says Richard Schwartz, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and co-director of the center. The Birck Center will provide a place where they can interact and cooperatively use the rather expensive equipment needed for this work. The center will not lack for space it will occupy about 187,000 square feet in Purdue s Discovery Park, a $100 million, 40-acre complex where three other major centers will stress interdisciplinary approaches to research and development. According to Schwartz, researchers in the BNC will bring specialized knowledge from their individual areas to a group effort to solve problems that lie at the intersection of a number of fields. continued on page 10 Richard Schwartz Nanotech Home: Scheduled to open in 2005, the $54 million Birck Nanotechnology Center will integrate Purdue s research and technology transfer efforts in nanoscale science and engineering. Eight Signature Areas Infinite Possibilities 9

4 Birck Nanotechnology Center continued For example, researchers from mechanical engineering and electrical and computer engineering will collaborate with researchers from biology and chemistry to develop electronic sensors that can detect specific bacteria and viruses. This technology would have applications in medical diagnostics and bioterrorism detection and prevention. Among the features of the center: Three levels of clean rooms (Class 10, Class 100, and Class 1000) for research that demands freedom from airborne particles; Biology and chemistry labs to prepare, handle, and process chemicals, molecules, and biological agents for use by nanoscale researchers; Epitaxial growth labs for the development of semiconductor crystals using techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy and chemical vapor deposition; Measurement and characterization labs (including low-vibration rooms) for precise measurements of nanoscale materials; and Office space for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students from various disciplines across campus. Moreover, the center will serve as a nanotechnology incubator a base for technology transfer outreach. One of the purposes of Discovery Park and hence of the Birck Center is to speed the commercialization and application of the discoveries from our academic research laboratories, Schwartz says. Industrial partners are interested because of the access Discovery Park provides to a wide range of experts and the ideas generated in their research. They can support us by providing financial support for the research, by providing insight as to where there may be commercial applications of our discoveries and ideas, and by carrying the developments to commercial viability. The interdisciplinary scope of the center is extensive bringing together aeronautical, agricultural, biomedical, chemical, electrical, industrial, materials, and mechanical engineers with scientists from biology, chemistry, physics, and computer science as well as researchers from agriculture, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine. Altogether, nearly 100 Purdue faculty from 25 different departments will join efforts. The time has come for us to break through departmental and discipline barriers to attack problems that will yield only to multidisciplinary efforts, Schwartz says. The Birck Center will be a place for this to occur. 10 Purdue s Engineering Edge

5 different from those we needed in the past, says Hirleman. For example, an invisible 50-nanometer diameter dust particle is a mere annoyance in manufacturing an airplane, but it becomes a cold-blooded killer in a nanomanufacturing process. It is relatively easy to make quality control dimensional measurements on car doors, but nanometrology is a different game altogether. So nanotechnology research and education require vastly different laboratories and equipment. On the people side, Purdue is looking for experts in nanomaterials; nanoscale metrology and sensors; nanodevices for biological, electrical, mechanical, photonic, and hybrid systems, including low-dimensional quantum and molecular-scale devices; nanophotonics; and design, manufacture, and integration of nanoscale devices and systems. Essentially every university in the world is trying to work in the nanotechnology area, Hirleman says. We need to carefully define our niche and build on our success. We need people, faculty, and students who see the big picture across all length scales at once. They also need to understand that their niche is just one of many that has to be integrated into a whole with all the give and take of the design process. Purdue will distinguish itself in the crowded nanotech field by: Focusing on nanosystems integration and the conversion of nanoscience into nanotechnology; Emphasizing products and applications at the interface among biology, biomedical engineering, and nanotechnology; High-speed Delivery: Shuiqing Hu, a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student, works with Professor Arvind Raman on developing novel techniques for the high-speed measurement of nanoscale mechanical properties of materials such as thin films, and biological membranes and cells. Researchers rely on atomic force microscopy, a high precision electromechanical tool for nanoscale characterization of micron and submicron structures. Eight Signature Areas Infinite Possibilities 11

6 Building the most integrated interdisciplinary teams; Incorporating technology transfer, assessment, and marketing; Creating tight links between theory, modeling, simulation, and computation on one hand and experimental work on the other; and Developing the finest facilities to support research and technology transfer. Purdue is hardly a newcomer to this new field, however. A number of faculty researchers from all along the spectrum of engineering disciplines are already at work on nanoscale research. Supriyo Datta and Mark Lundstrom, both from electrical and computer engineering, are teaming with colleagues in the Department of Computer Sciences to study electrical flow through molecules in hopes of developing more efficient computer chips. Two mechanical engineering professors, Suresh Garimella and Tim Fisher, are developing a technique that utilizes nanoscale emitters and microscale pumping structures to cool computer chips that generate very high heat fluxes and ensure their reliable performance. Making Nanotubes: Tim Fisher (right), a mechanical engineering professor, along with Matt Maschmann, a Ph.D. student, is developing techniques to grow and utilize carbon-based nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes, to cool computer chips that generate very high heat fluxes, ensuring their reliable performance. On the health front, while working with researchers in the School of Agriculture, agricultural and biological engineering s Michael Ladisch and Rashid Bashir, from electrical and computer engineering, have combined silicon and proteins to make a biochip that can identify deadly bacteria in food. Gil Lee, from chemical engineering, has used his measurements of the forces inside and among molecules to help design complex drugs with healthcare applications. Srinivasan Chandrasekar and Dale Compton, both professors from industrial engineering, have developed a way to make nanocrystalline metals and alloys using waste material formed in conventional machining operations. Even such a small sampling of current projects demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of nanotechnology research. 12 Purdue s Engineering Edge

7 Major innovations and revolutionary advances almost always draw on knowledge or insight from a remote discipline applied to a current problem, says Hirleman. Nanotechnology and technology advances resulting from it share that characteristic. According to Hirleman, differences between mechanical, electrical, biological, and chemical processes that are clear at the macroscale become artificial at the scale of atoms and molecules. Teams that design and manufacture complex engineered systems such as airplanes, hearing aids, or artificial hearts have always been interdisciplinary in their efforts to balance a cluster of factors such as structure, weight, user-friendliness, controls, aesthetics, biocompatibility, and acoustics. In the past it has been easier, though not necessarily advisable, to segregate the components into mechanical, electrical, etcetera, and not worry about the interactions until near the end of the design process, Hirleman says. But nanotechnology-enabled building block components will themselves be inherently interdisciplinary. Hence, teams that design and manufacture systems will increasingly involve physicists, chemists, and biologists, along with engineers from the very beginning. As with its other signature areas, Purdue has high hopes and expectations for its leadership role in nanotechnology. Material Findings: Deepak Dinesh, a Ph.D. student in industrial engineering advised by Professor Srinivasan Chandrasekar, studies material characteristics of different manufacturing processes. Purdue s goal is to focus on a few things and be the best in the world at those to really make a difference, says Hirleman. Picking those signature areas is hard because there are so many candidates. We ve had to consider the expertise of the faculty we have, the possibility of adding new faculty, the needs and capabilities of Indiana industry, alumni interest, and the probability of finding large amounts of funding outside Indiana. In nanotechnology all of those factors lined up. Eight Signature Areas Infinite Possibilities 13