Inorganic and Organic Nano Materials and Devices

The dream of futurists andtechnologists is to build complex, multifunctional machines so small that theycan only be seen with the aid of a microscope. The unprecedented technologyadvancements in miniaturizing integrated circuits on semiconductors, and theresulting plethora of sophisticated, low cost electronic devices demonstratethe impact that micro/nano scale engineering can have when applied only to thearea of electrical and computer engineering. Emerging research efforts indeveloping organic and inorganic nano materials together with using micro/nanofabrication techniques for implementing integrated multifunctional devices hopeto yield similar revolutions in other engineering fields. By cross linking theindividual engineering fields through micro/nano technology, various organicand inorganic materials and miniaturized system devices can be developed thatwill have future impacts in the IT and life science applications. Yet to buildthe complex micromachines and nanomachine of the future, engineering will needto develop the technology capable of seamlessly integrating these materials andsubsystems together at the micro and nano scales. The micromachines of thefuture will be “integrated nanosystems,” complex devices requiring the integration of multiple materials,phenomena, technologies, and functions at the same platform. To develop thistechnology will require great efforts in materials science and engineering, infundamental and applied sciences. In this talk, we will first discuss thenature of micro and nanotechnology research for IT and life sciences, and thenintroduce selected current activities in micro and nanotechnology research fororganic and inorganic materials and devices. The newly developed micro/nanofabrication processes and devices, combined with in-depth scientificunderstandings of materials, can lead to rapid development of next generationsystems for applications in IT and life sciences.