CAREER: Corrugated Graphene Superlattice Structures by Strain-induced Shrink Nanomanufacturing

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant will study a novel shrink nanomanufacturing process for nano-scale patterning of two-dimensional nanomaterials such as graphene. Shrink nanomanufacturing refers to the process of creating miniaturized patterns and topographies of various shapes and dimensions by a thermally-induced shrinking process.

This approach, which is analogous to everyday shrink-wrapping and heat-shrink tubing, has the potential to generate patterns or corrugated structures for next generation electronics without the need for costly fabrication, such as nanolithography. To date, shrink nanomanufacturing has been limited to non-semiconducting materials for non-electronic applications.

This award will support fundamental research to provide the knowledge base for the development of shrink nanomanufacturing for functional two-dimensional nanomaterials. The new process will enable precise control of patterns, topographies and properties which are attractive for applications such as wearable electronics, internet-of-things, healthcare and biomedical devices.

The results of this research will broadly benefit U.S. manufacturing competiveness, the overall economy and public welfare. The involvement of student veterans in developing our multi-disciplinary approach to shrink nanomanufacturing will broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in research and engineering education across multiple disciplines including manufacturing, electronics, and materials science.

Atomically-thin two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials such as graphene, MoS2 and TMDs, can be elastically wrinkled or buckled under large compressive deformation stresses whilst preserving their novel electrical properties. This unique behavior of 2D nanomaterials opens up novel opportunities to use elastic strain and topography control to engineer electrical and optical properties.

However, lack of manufacturable approaches and a current knowledge gap of fabricating corrugated structures have precluded the use of strain and topography for shaping the 2D nanomaterials. This research will investigate the fundamentals of shrink nanomanufacturing of corrugated 2D material superlattice structures to fill this knowledge gap. The process of shrink nanomanufacturing utilizes elastic buckling of 2D atomic layer materials when a large compressive strain is applied by shrinking a thermoplastic substrate.

Using graphene as the model 2D nanomaterial, the research team will investigate the size-scaling of corrugated superlattice structures, study how the strain and topography of corrugated structures impact the electrical and optical properties, develop a roll-to-roll process of shrink nanomanufacturing for precisely engineered patterns and topographies, and explore applications in strain sensors and tunable optical absorption materials.