Multiscale Light-written Assembly of Nanoscale Materials

The proposal seeks to develop a new approach for creation of complex materials with multiscale organization using Light-written Assembly of nanoscale components. The proposed experimental approach utilizes arrays of switchable nanoscale optical resonators that trap liquid-dispersed nanoscale building blocks capable of programmable self-assembly. The array of massively parallel, tightly packed, optical traps presents a novel dynamic optofluidic fabrication platform, which offers a large-scale assembly and error-correction capabilities due to the integration of switchable optical fields and programmability of nanoscale interactions. The material growth processes are controlled over macroscale areas, dynamically and with a nanoscale precision using this approach. The parameters controlling trapping and assembly of nanoscale objects will be investigated, and the methods for fabrication of targeted structures will be established. The proposal aims: i creating arrays that trap individual nanoscale blocks into large scale structures, and provide capabilities to transform and erase formed structures using optical fields, ii developing methods for controlling macroscale nanomaterial growth through a combination of light-driven and programmable self-assembly methods. The proposed approach bridges a top-down fabrication using a local field control and a bottom up self-assembly for establishing a broadly applicable material fabrication platform. The application of the fabrication method for creating optically active thin films with prescribed properties will be studied.