I-Corps: Translation Potential of a Low-Cost, High-Throughput Nanomanufacturing Platform

This I-Corps project focuses on bringing a new nanomanufacturing technology to market that can create tiny patterns and structures on materials. This nanopatterning can leading to a rapid and low-cost alternative to the nanomanufacturing systems used today. Currently, nanopatterned technologies exist almost entirely within the semiconductor market and must meet the standards of Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility, necessitate clean room infrastructure, and can require upwards of $10 million - $100 million of capital investment. This new nanomanufacturing technology platform uses a process called self-assembly, where the tiny building blocks automatically arrange themselves into organized patterns without much external help. This approach significantly reduces production costs and increases manufacturing efficiency. This approach may help pioneer new markets for nanotechnology, unlocking the potential of previously demonstrated nanotechnologies that were unprofitable due to the high capital requirements, while also helping to ensure that the U.S. remains a global leader in nanotechnology. This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with a first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of a low-cost, large-area, and highly scalable nanomanufacturing platform. This solution leverages the self-assembly of colloids to create and define nanopatterns across a variety of substrate materials and substrate curvatures, with various colloidal materials, and without the need for a clean room environment. This self-assembly based nanopatterning system varies considerably from current existing technologies, such as photolithography and nanoimprint lithography, where strict clean room infrastructure is required, flat wafers are needed as substrates, and Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor CMOS-compatible processes must be used. This manufacturing technique could enable new fields of nanotechnology enhanced products, such as bactericidal medical implants, anti-reflection and light trapping nanostructured photovoltaics, and high efficiency thermal management devices for data centers. 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.