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Nanotechnology /Nanofabrication / manufacturing

Self-assembly

News and Updates

Illustration of light ricocheting from a cantilever that's probing a petide sample in water

The Shape in Water

Tinkering with a method they helped develop over the last few years, scientists have for the first time used it to measure at the nanometer scale the
Illustration of protein RecA wrapped around double-stranded DNA

Even Better than DNA Origami

DNA is the stuff of life, but it is also the stuff of nanotechnology. Because molecules of DNA with complementary chemical structures recognize and bind to one

Projects and Programs

SEM measurement of PS-PMMA lamellae on a neutral substrate

Directed Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers (Archived)

Completed
Diblock copolymers are long molecular chain polymers with two (di) regions, or blocks, of dissimilar monomers. They are constructed by covalently linking two different polymer chains at their ends. The two regions can be chosen so that they repel each other. Normally mixtures of different polymers

Templated Assembly of Block Copolymer Films

Completed
Viable nanomanufacturing of templated block copolymers will require a capability to control orientation and line edge roughness of trillions of structures to within a single nanometer, however there are no existing platforms that meet this need. We are developing small angle x-ray and neutron

Modeling and Simulation of Nanofabrication (Archived)

Completed
While self-assembly is still in its relative infancy with respect to practical use, with much additional research required to reach maturity, the more widely utilized top-down methods will continue to require advances and modifications to improve current nanomanufacturing techniques. This modeling

Publications

Defining Chi for Block Copolymer Lithography

Author(s)
Whitney Loo, Hongbo Feng, Thomas Ferron, Ricardo Ruiz, Daniel Sunday, Paul Nealey
Block copolymer lithography, such as directed self-assembly, requires the design of nanostructured block copolymers with precise values of segregation strength

DNA Origami Design: A How-To Tutorial

Author(s)
Jacob Majikes, James Alexander Liddle
While the design and assembly of DNA origami are straightforward, its relative novelty as a nanofabrication technique means that the tools and methods for