Theme 1: Nanofabrication and Devices

There are two approaches to nanofabrication each with strengths and weaknesses. Traditional "top down" methods are critically constrained by resolution limits, and new approaches are needed. Here we will explore such new approaches in areas of optical nanolithography and nano-imprint lithography, and continue to work on atomic- and molecular-scale self-assembly for nanofabrication. We will also apply more traditional miro- and nano-fabrication techniques to explore electronic, optical and magnetic materials and devices. Theory and simulation will be used to inform and stimulate our experimental investigations, and indeed in many cases theoretical predictions drive the direction of the experimental program.

Infrastructure and capability:

The researchers of the MacDiarmid Institute comprise a large fraction of New Zealand’s capability in nano-science and technology and the Institute's fertile environment acts as an excellent incubator of ideas and interactions. The nanofabrication and processing resources include facilities for growth (PLD, UHV-cluster deposition), for processing (e-beam, optical and imprint lithography, plasma etching) and finally characterisation (TEM, SEM AFM, STM, electrical, optical spectroscopy). Theory and modeling work is supported by access to the BlueFern supercomputer. Our capital infrastructure is of high quality and, very importantly, maintained and operated by skilled technical support staff.

Image - Atoms of Bismuth

Ojas Mahapatra
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, University of Canterbury

Image captured by an Ultra High Vacuum Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (UHV-STM)

This is an image of bismuth after it was evaporated onto a flat graphite surface, taken using an ultra high vacuum scanning tunnelling microscope. We can see the atoms of bismuth in the form of periodically arranged mountain peaks.

Bismuth is an interesting material because its electronic properties are midway between metals and semiconductors. Bismuth is used in medicine and cosmetics.

We make nanostructures of bismuth which exhibit exotic properties. These nanostructures could be used in the next generation of electronic circuits which would be much smaller, faster, more durable, and more energy efficient.

The image won second prize in the ‘Art of Nanotechnology’ competition.