MRI: Acquisition of a Nanoscale 3D printer for Fundamental and Applied Research at Wayne State University and Southeast Michigan

Rapid prototyping of devices by 3D printing has become an indispensable tool in science and engineering research; however, conventional instruments are unable to create custom micro- and nanoscale structures with short turnaround times. This project seeks to accelerate research for a diverse team of investigators in southeast Michigan by acquiring a Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2, a state-of-the-art nanoscale 3D printing and maskless lithography system that will be the first of its kind in Michigan’s lower peninsula.

The instrument will be used by eighteen faculty investigators across seven departments at Wayne State University (WSU) and six other regional universities. The GT2 will be housed at the WSU Nanofabrication Facility (nFab), a 5,000 sqft clean room that provides class 100 air filtration to reduce defects, filtered lighting, and access to other instruments for pre- and post-print processes.

The management plan seeks to maximize the user base by maintaining modest fees and a remote service model. The GT2 will accelerate the micro- and nanofabrication capabilities at WSU while strengthening its role in the regional network of device manufacturing hubs in southeast Michigan. Over its 15-year lifespan, we anticipate the instrument will be used in research by >400 graduate students, 400 undergraduates, and 80 postdocs, including women and underrepresented students and junior scholars.

It will help train >1,000 additional students by incorporating rapid nanoscale prototyping into graduate and undergraduate courses on microfabrication and design. Hands-on exposure to 3D CAD and microfabrication is critical to workforce training in Michigan, where manufacturing makes up 20% of the total economy. Three of six partner universities are primarily undergraduate institutions, serving >7,500 engineering students.

Lastly, the GT2 will facilitate community outreach through the WSU STEM Innovation Learning Center, Detroit-area science fair projects, and the annual STEM day for K-12 students. The GT2 will complement WSU’s other NSF-funded optical, electron, and atomic force microscopes to provide an in-depth, hands-on understanding of micro design workflow to the Detroit community.

The Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 uses 2-photon polymerization (2PP) to print 3D structures with a resolution of 200 nm in a variety of materials. Three key instrument capabilities will overcome challenges faced by researchers. The GT2: (1) enables fabrication of 3D structures with unconstrained geometries at 1000X smaller length scales than conventional 3D printers, enabling systematic studies and exploitation of physics at 200 nm-100 µm length scales; (2) is compatible with a variety of custom resins to support a diversity of projects, including nanoparticle embedded or biodegradable materials; and (3) enables rapid iteration on experimental device designs, which is key to accelerating both hypothesis-driven and applied research.

The GT2 will enable synergistic advances in 3 scientific thrusts. 1) Colloidal assembly will address unanswered questions of how 3D structures control the assembly of biomembranes, nanocolloids, and droplets at length scales from 200 nm to 100 µm. 2) Deterministic porosity will seek to understand how geometrically controlled, sub-µm to µm mesostructures change bulk polymer properties, addressing contemporary issues such as the volume expansion in solid-state battery electrodes, and the role of porosity gradients in molecular filtration. 3) 3D MEMS will engineer 3D structures to extend or improve the performance of microsensors and actuators, contributing novel approaches for planetary seismometers, in-vivo microrobots, image-activated cell sorters, and optical signal processors. Outcomes within three thrusts will advance knowledge in diverse applications including energy storage, lab on a chip, tissue engineering, neural interfaces, colloidal manufacturing, drug delivery, robotics, sensors, and metamaterials.

Projects will also enhance the field of 2PP fabrication, including machine-learning optimization of CAD designs, and characterization of 2PP optical components by interferometry. Success will be evaluated by publications and the number and diversity of 3D CAD designs disseminated to the research community.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.