My research focuses on the development of new tools to direct the assembly of nanomaterials onto predefined locations on a substrate. The assembly strategy is based on patterned surfaces and uses electrostatic forces as the driving mechanism. This work has led to several gas phase nanoparticle integration processes. We expect these processes to work with any material that can be charged. The processes offer self-aligned integration and could be applied to any nanomaterial device requiring site specific assembly. The Coulomb force process directs the assembly of nanoparticles onto charged surface areas with sub-100 nm resolution. The charging is accomplished using flexible nanostructured stamps. Gas phase assembly systems are used to direct and monitor the assembly of nanoparticles onto the charge patterns with a lateral resolution of 50 nm. The fringing field process focuses the assembly of nanoparticles into pre-fabricated openings on a substrate. The fringing fields can be confined to sub 50 nm sized areas and exceed 1 MV/m, acting as nanolenses. Gas phase assembly systems have been used to deposit silicon, germanium, metallic, and organic nanoparticles. The contact electrification process promotes the transfer of charge between conformal material interfaces. Acid-base reactions at the interface are controlled and enhanced to facilitate site specific charge patterning. The contact charged substrates are used to direct the assembly of nanoparticles and to transfer objects from one substrate to another. The ultimate goal is to use these printing tools to fabricate and integrate functional devices that use nanoparticles or nanowires as building blocks.
Publications:
1. C. R. Barry, J. J. Cole, and H. O. Jacobs, “Focused Ion Induced Nanoparticle Integration and Nanorod Growth,” (manuscript in preparation).
2. C. R. Barry, X. Wang, R. Knuesel, and H. O. Jacobs, “Contact Electrification: Impacting the Electrostatic Force of Adhesion, Transfer, and Nanoxerography,” Nature Materials (submitted).
3. C. R. Barry and H. O. Jacobs, “Fringing Field Directed Assembly of Nanomaterials,” Nano Letters, 6(12), 2790-2796, (2006).
4. C. R. Barry, J. Gu, and H. O. Jacobs, “Charging Process and Coulomb-Force-Directed Printing of Nanoparticles with Sub-100nm Lateral Resolution,” Nano Letters, 5, 2078, (2005).
5. C. R. Barry, N. Z. Lwin, W. Zheng, and H. O. Jacobs, “Printing Nanoparticle Building Blocks From the Gas-Phase Using Nanoxerography,” Applied Physics Letters, 83, 5527, (2003). (cover)
6. C. R. Barry, M. G. Steward, N. Z. Lwin, and Heiko O. Jacobs, “Printing Nanoparticles From the Liquid and Gas-Phase Using Nanoxerography,” Nanotechnology, 14, 1057, (2003).
7. C. R. Barry, U. Kortshagen, and H. O. Jacobs, “Gas-Phase Nanoparticle Integration,” Proceedings of the 2007 Materials Research Society Spring Meeting, San Francisco, California, April 9-13, (2007).
8. C. R. Barry, A. M. Welle, J. Gu, S. A. Campbell, and H. O. Jacobs, “Printing of Nanoparticles with Sub-100nm Resolution,” Proceedings of the 2005 NSF Design, Service and Manufacturing Grantees and Research Conference, Scottsdale, Arizona, January 3-6, (2005).
9. C. R. Barry, C. J. Hoon, and H. O. Jacobs, “Approaching Programmable Self-Assembly from Nanoparticle-Based Devices to Integrated Circuits,” Proceedings of the Foundations of Nanoscience: Self-Assembled Architectures and Devices (FNANO), Snowbird, Utah, April 21-23, (2004).
10. J. Gu, C. R. Barry, and H. O. Jacobs, “Approaching Programmable Reconfigurable Electric Nanocontact Lithography,” Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Nanostructured Materials, Wiesbaden, Germany, June 20-24, (2004).
11. C. R. Barry, N. Z. Lwin, M. G. Steward, and H. O. Jacobs, “Nanoparticle Assembly by Nanoxerography,” Proceedings of the 2004 NSF Design, Service and Manufacturing Grantees and Research Conference, Dallas, Texas, January 5-8, (2004).
12. C. R. Barry, M. G. Steward, S. A. Campbell, and H. O. Jacobs, “NanoXerography: The Use of Electrostatic Forces to Pattern Nanoparticles,” Proceedings of the 2003 NSF Design, Service and Manufacturing Grantees and Research Conference, Birmingham, Alabama, January 6-9, (2003).
Patents:
H. O. Jacobs and C. R. Barry, "Method and apparatus for depositing charge and/or nanoparticles,” U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. (2005), Patent No. US 2005123687.
H. O. Jacobs, C. R. Barry, and X. Wang, “Contact Electrification as a Method for Charge Patterning and Material Transfer,” U.S. provisional patent in process (2007).