HYPERSURFACE PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY PLATFORM
Abstract
This proposal requests support for the purchase of a powerful printing platform that is capable of producing arbitrary and multicomponent patterns of soft materials and with nanometer-scale control over feature diameter and feature height. This printer, produced only by TeraPrint LLC, combines a light-source that can induce photochemical reactions, a digital-micromirror device that controls the spatiotemporal delivery of light to a surface, a piezo stage, and microfluidics into a single, integrated platform. With this unique combination of components, the printer induces photochemical reactions on a surface with nanoscale feature resolution, and, without removing the surface from the printer, the microfluidics exchange fluids so that different materials can be immobilized in close proximity onto the surface. As a result, this instrumentation provides a general solution to a long-standing and ubiquitous challenge – the inability of researchers to carry out combinatorial chemistry of soft materials on a surface. With this tool, researchers can create patterns with thousands of different combinations to systematically investigate how architecture and/or chemical composition affect a particular interfacial property, or, alternatively, use the combinatorial capabilities to rapidly optimize a chemical/printing process. The resulting combinatorial surfaces or optimized processes are vital for addressing many current DoD-relevant technical and scientific challenges, including in developing coatings and films, understanding biological recognition at interfaces, building new sensors, preparing adhesives, mediating the biotic-abiotic interface, creating new optical architectures, and accelerating optimization and discovery. In addition to furthering the PI’s research program, the instrument, once installed within the shared user space of the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, will become immediately accessible to numerous researchers working on a wide-range of DoD-funded projects, and, as a consequence, will have a substantial impact on ongoing and future DoD research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 2023
- Source ID
- FA95502210513
Entities
People
- Adam B Braunschweig
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Research Foundation of The City University of New York
- United States Air Force