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Graduate Student Office: 226 Mason Lab Phone: (203) 436-4059 |
Since August 2014, PhD student, Yale University, School of Engineering & Applied Science, Department of Chemical Engineering May 2014, B.S. in Chemical Engineering, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art |
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My research concerns the development of a new paradigm for patterning self-assembled nanomaterials, namely the electrospray deposition of block copolymer (BCP) thin films. The motivation for this work is the prospect of having a continuous deposition method of thin films (as opposed to spin coating and vapor annealing) for the use of precisely controlled spatial organization of nanostructures, such as in nanolithographic masks for magnetic data storage, templating of various nanomaterials, and next generation batteries, fuel cells, photonics, or optoelectronic devices. Principle contributions of this work have been (1) the proof-of-concept patterning of PS-PMMA on a glass substrate with a copper grid held at high voltage to show that electrical forces may be used to control the deposition of polymer, (2) numerical modeling of the voltage map as well as the electrical vector field to show the optimal geometry for the set-up, (3) characterization of the deposited self-assembled BCPs via atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Future work in this area will concern developing a better understanding of the role of competing intermolecular and external forces in the self-assembled morphology of the polymers and scalability of the system for uniform and highly ordered BCP patterning. We want to make a method of forming arbitrary patterning through the use of programmable masks and electric fields. For industrial applications (such as new high density storage media), density multiplication and pattern rectification of the BCPs will be priorities. |
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