LAMAND – Large Area Molecularly Assembled Nanopatterns for Devices

The concept of this proposal is to provide a manufacturable and verifiable process whereby functionalised macromolecular systems can act as a molecular factory for the placement of functional nanomaterials of precise dimension and structure over large substrate areas for the delivery of beyond state-of-the-art applications in the ICT sector. Recent work on the microphase separation of block copolymers thin films suggests that very high structural regularity (in combination with techniques to direct the structure) can be achieved producing precisely defined, aligned and orientated nanopatterns. One of the most important methods of guiding the structure to achieve the high structural regularity required by industry is graphoepitax where precisely defined surface topography is used to confine the self-assembled structure (or nanopattern) within the topography. The scale of the patterns extends current photolithographic limits and an important advantage of the methodology is the ability to tune feature size by control of macromolecule chain length. These nanopatterns can be transferred to a substrate surface to create a regular nanopattern of active components towards generating new functional electronic and photonic materials. www.nanoict.org

• Phononic and Photonic Nanostructures Group

• European Comission