Conference Agenda

Coffee and refreshments

Nanophase Materials. A Persistent Enabler

Nanophase materials are as ubiquitous in the synthetic world as they are in nature. They have enabled functional property control in the biology and geology of the world since the beginning and only now are we gaining an appreciation and the tools to exploit this known. For the last century, nanophase materials have been credited with enabling functional property control for both natural and synthetic structures. Only in the last few decades have we finally acknowledged and begun to pursue productive nanosystems due to the advent of nanoscopy tools. Most recently, the fundamental realization that the nano dimension introduces environments ruled by both classical and quantum chemistry has presented a unique and rich opportunity for enabling materials science. This talk will focus on recent examples of functional nanosystems related to polymer synthesis and applications in photonics, energy conversion, and renewable materials.

Single-Atom Manipulation and the Chemistry of Mechanosynthesis

Central to advanced molecular manufacturing is the expectation of single-atom control for the fabrication of nanostructures and, eventually, productive nanosystems. Quantum chemical studies of candidate single-atom assembly structures are an important design tool, providing both a means to design optimization, and the ability to predict failure rates and defect structures associated with potentially reactive molecular species.

Biological and Nanoscale Systems

Biological systems display a functional diversity, density and efficiency that make them a paradigm for synthetic systems. For biological systems, it is becoming clear that function at the microscopic and macroscopic scales emerges from the interaction and organization of macromolecules at the nanoscale. The ability to catalog complete inventories of molecular components and the availability of numerous model organism systems are accelerating an understanding of biological systems. In contrast, the delivery of functional nanoscale systems of synthetic origin is yet to be realized. Advances in nanoscience research are revealing new materials and material properties that emerge at the nanoscale. However, the effective use of nanomaterials will require their incorporation into systems of increasing complexity. This shared need to understand and engineer systems on similar scales presents a mutually beneficial merging of bio- and nano-sciences. An effective convergence of these disciplines can result in an unprecedented understanding of biological function and numerous opportunities to apply biology's engineering principles. An example of this scientific leveraging will be presented, highlighting how the physical characteristics of the cell can be mimicked with nanomaterials to create novel analytical devices and to reveal details of natural cell function.

Atomic-Scale Device Fabrication in Silicon

The main driving force behind the microelectronics industry is the ability to pack ever more features onto a silicon chip, by continually miniaturising the individual components. However, after 2015 there is no known technological route to reduce device sizes below 10nm. In this talk we demonstrate a complete fabrication strategy towards atomic-scale device fabrication in silicon using phosphorus as a dopant in combination with scanning probe lithography and high purity crystal growth.

Using this process we have fabricated conducting nanoscale wires with widths down to ~8nm, tunnel junctions, single electron transistors and arrays of quantum dots in silicon. We will present an overview of the devices that have been made with this technology and highlight some of the challenges to achieving atomically precise devices. Along the way we hope to provoke discussion about how these technologies could be used to address the hurdles faced by industry as it seeks to miniaturise devices over the nearer term.

Break

Nanotechnology in Singapore: Towards Atomic-Scale Manufacturing

The Agency for Science,Technology and Research (A*STAR) of Singapore has identified several strategic areas that include nanomagnetics & spintronics, nano/micro fabrication, nanophotonics, nanobiomimetics with applications in engineering sciences and human health. Examples include research on nano-sensors and probe based magnetic recording, nanofabrication of magnetic media, nanoimprinting and polymer nanocomposites. At the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, activities in Atomic Scale Technology focuses mainly on atomic scale manipulation and miniature scanning probe type devices, and our areas of research can be broadly classified into the following: Surface Science, Manipulation of Single Adsorbates, Fabrication of Planar Nanoscale Interconnects, Single Molecule Junction Conductance studies and ALE for nanostructures.

Information Technology: Toward the Atomic Scale

Since the birth of information technology over a century ago, progress has been driven by continuous miniaturization and repeated reinvention of the devices that store, process and communicate information. Transistors are still shrinking at historic rates, but increases in processor clock speed are currently stalled by economic limits on acceptable power dissipation - particularly static power dissipation - and by the subtle penalties paid for tolerances that have not scaled with device dimensions. Nevertheless, transistor technology will be extended for at least another 10 years, and major semiconductor manufacturers are beginning to fund university research exploring the possibility of devices beyond the transistor. Such developments suggest a continuing economic incentive to build ever- smaller devices. But how will we manufacture at the nanoscale? Current manufacturing processes cannot build much structure into an object at a length scale less than the minimum lithographic dimension, currently 45 nm. However, there is no physical reason we cannot learn to build objects with complex structure defined down to the atomic scale. Current projection lithography techniques won't get us there, but new lithographic processes, combined with increasingly sophisticated processes of natural pattern formation (templated and directed self-assembly) certainly will. The goal is to put a cap on the amount of expensive (low-error-rate) lithographic information that is required to build a complex system. The tricks to making this work include judicious choice of building blocks, clever dynamical steering of the self-assembly process, and design of structures that are tolerant of some defects. Success in this endeavor will insure continued exponential improvements in the price and performance of information technology for decades to come. Although this is a long-term vision, sophisticated self-assembly processes are already beginning to enter high-volume semiconductor manufacturing.

Feynman Prize Winner: Theory

• Erik Winfree and Paul Rothemund, California Institute of Technology
• Christian Joachim, Center Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, France
• David Baker, University of Washington and Brian Kuhlman, University of North Carolina
• Don Brenner, North Carolina State University
• Mark Ratner, Northwestern University
• Uzi Landman, Georgia Tech
• Ralph Merkle, Zyvex and Stephen Walch, ELORET NASA Ames

Feynman Prize Winner: Experimental

• Christian Schafmeister, University of Pittsburgh
• Homme Hellinga, Duke University
• Carlo Montemagno, University of California at Los Angeles
• Chad Mirkin, Northwestern University
• Charles Lieber, Harvard University
• Stan Williams and Philip Kuekes, HP Labs and James Heath, University of California at Los Angeles
• Phaedon Avouris, IBM
• Reza Ghadiri, Scripps Research Institute

Luncheon

Low Cost, Atomically-Precise Manufacturing of Defense Systems: Progress and Applications

The vast majority of nanomaterials research designated as 'nanotechnological' in nature is actually nanoscience—focused on the novel physical, chemical, electronic, and optical properties that emerge when a particle is reduced to nanometer dimensions, or when a structural feature of the material becomes nanoscale. While these scientific studies are important, and lead to the enhanced performance of materials and small devices, they do not address the manufacturing technology challenge of fabricating large objects to atomic precision at low cost.

Radical advances in manufacturing technology are required in order to achieve the multiple-order-of-magnitude reductions in manufacturing cost necessary to construct large warcraft and defense systems with fine-grained, atomically-precise structures and devices. Productive nanosystems based on molecular machines is the only known technological approach that can satisfy the manufacturing objective of making large objects to atomic precision at low cost, and the development of nanorobots is arguably the most imminent next step toward this end. Productive nanosystems will enable order-of-magnitude improvements in performance, precision, and reliability of defense systems, and also provide substantial new capabilities. Near-term applications, such as nanotube membranes, already exhibit remarkable properties. In the future, we will extend this to make structural materials that approach their theoretical strength limits—about 100 times stronger than today's metals and plastics-enabling the DoD to substantially reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution.

Molecular Design of Solid State Lighting for Energy Efficiency

Artificial lighting accounts for almost a tenth of the annual energy consumption in the U.S. and much of the installed base still uses inefficient or toxic, antiquated technology. It is therefore a prime candidate for an energy efficiency overhaul. Indeed, solid state lighting based on inorganic III-nitride light emitting diodes is already achieving market penetration in niche segments. Organic light emitting devices, on the other hand, are currently commercialized only in small displays but can already operate at an efficiency which is competitive for general lighting applications. The design versatility of van der Waals bonded organic solids creates the potential to use molecular building blocks to construct yet higher efficiency lighting systems from the bottom up. The ultimate efficiency of either system depends on the efficient coupling of electronic and optical energy which is determined by structure at the molecular scale. Examples from semiconductor technology and biology will be used to illustrate the importance of molecular scale precision for high efficiency solid state lighting. The challenges, progress and remaining roadblocks to a viable organic solid state lighting technology will be discussed in the context of the grand challenges put forward by the recent report "Basic Research Needs in Solid State Lighting" published by the Department of Energy.

A Comparison of Nanotechnology-Enabled Photovoltaic Materials and Devices with Near-Term Commercialization Potential

Several photovoltaic technologies that are viable for near-term commercialization, that is, within approximately five years, will be compared and contrasted. Not all of these are nanotechnology-enabled technologies. The prospects of such technologies being deployed in wide-scale photovoltaic applications in the near term will be examined. Several of these technologies are being developed through the Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC), a program funded by the Ohio Third Frontier Program.

Break

Panel Discussion: Applications

Work toward productive nanosystems results in new commercial applications at virtually every step. The increasing ability to control matter to atomic precision enables major leaps in power generation and storage, computation density and efficiency, high performance sensors, and materials for aerospace that outperform past achievements by surprising factors. This panel will explore the possibilities from near-term and practical to longer-term and visionary.

Panelists:

	Malcolm R. O'Neill, former CTO, Lockheed Martin; and Chairman, Board on Army S&T, The National Academies
	J. Storrs Hall, Research Fellow, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing
	Papu Maniar, Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology Manager, Motorola
	Thomas Theis, Director, Physical Sciences, IBM Research

Closing Remarks