On-Chip Nanofabrication Techniques for the Manufacturing of Nanoscale Objects Using Nanometal Templating, Shape-Directing Ligands, Atomic Layer Deposition, and Selective Etching

The work presented here focuses on the advancement of substrate-based nanofabrication techniques that are robust, scalable, and yield nanostructures that are not readily obtained using existing techniques. The nanofabrication techniques presented rely on (i) gold nanoparticle arrays that function as templates for fabricating more complex nanostructures, (ii) growth-shaping ligands that define the geometries present after a liquid-based synthesis, (iii) atomic layer deposition for the uniform and atomically thin deposition of metal-oxides, and/or (iv) etching (both wet and dry) to selectively control which components remain in the nanostructures.