Novel Nanometric Superstructures for Radiation and Magnetic Sensing

摘要

The desired extreme uniformity and dense packing of quantum electric elements over a large area combined with the nanoscale features of the structures (2D or 3D superlattices) have made their fabrications a great challenge for the conventional e-beam lithography based approaches. In the case of applications that require yet larger area than semiconductor wafers and/or conformation to curved surfaces, as often required in radiation sensing, it is even beyond the reach of conventional nanofabrication approaches. The difficulty in fabrication has impeded the development of the sensing devices and slowed down the progress in understanding the underlying physics and potential of nanostructures. To address these needs and challenges, we have pursued successfully the development of alternative nanofabrication approaches, based on non-lithographical patterning. These new nano-fabrication approaches have then been applied to the development of a new class of nanomaterials--lateral nanodot, nanopost, and nanoantidot superlattices with unprecedented uniformity, scalability, and versability. The suite of novel nanofabrication technologies and the new class of nanomaterials, resulting from this project, have enabled a number of advances in sensing applications and are expected to lead to new applications in remote sensing and other DoD interests.