Overview: what we do.
We are an experimental research group engaged in the application of nanotechnology to energy solutions. We are particularly interested in the interface between chemical nanotechnology and device technology – the ability to use scalable, environmentally benign methods for the production of functional nanomaterials that can be effectively integrated with existing manufacturing paradigms. To address issues related to new energy technology we apply nanomaterials synthesis techniques in order to prepare thin films. We then subject these films to rigorous testing in order ascertain whether there is a true possibility for technology adoption. R&D within the context of economic reality, and growing expertise in technology transfer are also part of our activities. We prepare nanocrystals and use them as the building blocks for thin films. The films can be single or multicomponent and can be prepared as a series of steps nominally compatible with IC fabrication, or as radical alternatives to current fabrication methods in the spirit of self-assembly.
Chemical solution processing approaches to materials synthesis are uncontested in their ability to produce novel structures, and, with the aid of increasingly powerful structural characterization tools, are a powerful avenue for materials discovery. Colloidal semiconductor nanoparticles (quantum dots) is an example where inorganic materials synthesis has played a pivotal role in advancing a field, stimulating new theory, physics and applications. In materials chemistry, the journey towards rational design is hardly over, and is notably much less sophisticated than organic chemistry. Scientists struggle for purity, stoichiometry, phase or shape isolation. In nanoscience, these methods are attempting to find their role when compared to physical deposition techniques (e.g. PVD, MBE) as a means towards novel device fabrication, and into a realm that will permit the approach to be described as technological. Such a worthy objective is hard won, requiring rigorous experimentation, a broad range of characterization tools, and theory to push for deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms.