3D Nanofabrication, nanoGLAD & combinatorial materials discovery

We have advanced physical fabrication methods, such that they can be used for the rapid growth of hundreds of billions of nano-structures. Unlike any other growth method, it can combine multiple functional materials in one and the same complex 3D nanostructure. Our current research focus is on combinatorial methods for materials discovery & sensing.

We use a known highly parallel and fast patterning method (Block Co-polymer Micellar Nanolithography) to deposit nanoparticles from solution at the wafer scale. These are then used as seed points for a physical vapor shadow (glancing angle) deposition. Under computer control and cooling the substrate can be manipulated, angled and rotated, such that discrete nano-structures grow in a highly parallel fashion on an entire wafer. We can easily program shapes and the resultant structures are uniform. We use aour fabrication setups to grow designer nanostructures for a range of projects, e.g.:

  • Nanopropellers
  • Photonic nanoantennas
  • Chiral plasmonics
  • Protected nanocolloids
  • Nanocolloids
  • Chemically active nanomotors
  • Magnetic nanostructures
  • Thin films and coatings

"Plasmonic nanostructure engineering with shadow growth", H. Jang-Hwan, D. Kim, J. Kim, G. Kim, P. Fischer, H.-H. Jeong, Adv. Mat. 2107917, (2022).

"Combinatorial growth of multinary nanostructured thin functional films", H. Barad, N. Alarcon-Correa, G. Salinas, E. Oren, F. Peter, A. Kuhn, P. Fischer, Materials Today 50, 89-99, (2021).

“Dispersion and shape engineered plasmonic nanosensors”, H.-H. Jeong, A.G. Mark, M. Alarcon-Correa, I. Kim, P. Oswald, T.-C. Lee, P. Fischer, Nature Comm. 7, 11331, doi:10.1038/ncomms11331 (2016).

"Nanohelices by shadow growth", John Gibbs,   Andrew G Mark,   Tung-Chun Lee,   Sahand Eslami,   Debora Schamel and    Peer Fischer, Nanoscale 6, 9457-9466, (2014).

“Hybrid nanocolloids with programmed 3D-shape and material composition”, A.G. Mark, J.G. Gibbs, T.-C. Lee, P.Fischer, Nature Materials 12, 802 (2013).