Controlled formation of nanostructures with desired geometries : robust dynamic paths to robust desired structures

An essential requirement for the fabrication of future electronic, magnetic, optical and biologically-based devices, composed of constituents at the nanometer length scale, is the precise positioning of the components in the system's physical domain. We introduce the design principles, problems and methods associated with the controlled formation of nanostructures with desired geometries through a hybrid top-down and bottom-up approach: top-down formation of physical domains with externally- imposed controls and bottom-up generation of the desired structure through the self-assembly of the nanoscale constituents, driven by interparticle interactions (short- and long-range) and interactions with the external controls (e.g., electrical, magnetic, chemical). The desired nanoscale structure must be locally stable and robust to a desired level of robustness, and it should be reachable from any initial particle distribution. These two requirements frame the two elements of the design problem: (a) Static Problem: Systematic placement of externally imposed controls and determination of their intensities in order to ensure that the final desired structure is stable with a desired degree of robustness; (b) Dynamic Problem: Time-varying controls in order to ensure that the desired final structure can be reached from any initial particle distribution. The concept of external controls is realized through point conditions, which introduce attractive or repulsive interaction terms in the system potential energy. The locations of the point conditions are found through the solution of a minimum tiling problem.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Solis, Earl Osman P. (Earl Osman Pauco)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• George Stephanopoulos and Paul I. Barton.

• Chemical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51624

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/51624