Semiconducting and mechanical nanoscale 3D printing

Two-photon polymerization (2PP) additive manufacturing, also referred as two-photon lithography, has enabled complex three-dimensional (3D) structures with emergent mechanical properties to be printed at high speed and lateral resolutions below 200 nm. Recently, the Gu Group at Stanford University reported a 2PP photoresist containing quantum-confined nanoclusters which act as highly sensitive two-photon activators to enable arbitrary 3D structures with impressive mechanical properties such as high specific strength, energy absorption, deformability, and recoverability. The objective of this project is to develop a 2PP resist which would enable printing semiconducting and mechanically robust 3D nanostructures with high resolution by introducing semiconducting 2D materials into the nanocluster-based resist developed by the Gu Group. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are a class of semiconducting 2D crystals with favourable mechanical properties and have the general form of MX2, in which M symbolizes transition metal from groups IV–X and X represents chalcogen. TMD nanoplatelets are well suited for dispersion in the nanocluster-based resist to achieve semiconducting electronic behaviour. A secondary objective of this research is to demonstrate an application of the developed resist by developing an ultra-small, highly sensitive, and low-cost nanoelectromechanical accelerometer that is orders of magnitude smaller than commercially available options.

Faculty Supervisor:

Tobin Filleter

Student:

Partner:

Stanford University

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program: