Nanomanufacturing

This course, most recently taught by John Hart at the University of Michigan, presents how to make and assemble nanostructures—particularly nanotubes, nanowires, and nanoparticles—into devices and materials ranging from transistors to films, fibers, and structural composites. Our goal is enable new materials and devices using nanostructures, along with manufacturing processes that that can realize the promise of nanotechnology at commercially-feasible scales. Emphasis is placed on understanding the unique properties of these building blocks, and how properties scale from the individual elements to bulk material architectures. We study, analytically and empirically, how scalability is governed by the physical interactions among the structures, and the ability to manipulate and order nanostructures using chemical, mechanical, and electrical means. The course culminates in a team project that proposes a novel device or manufacturing process that uses nanostructures, such as a new architecture for a photovoltaic cell or battery, or a self-assembly or printing technology.