Processing technologies of functional materials
Coordinator Prof. dr. ir. M.C.M. van de Sanden,
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The main challenge in this technology theme is to obtain greater fundamental insight and understanding of processing and assembling of functional materials at the micro, meso and nano length scales in order to guarantee the desired level of reliability in the resulting products. Functional materials are made of the optimum combination of materials, chosen for a specifically requested functionality, and can be made up of any combination of chemical elements from the periodic table. Some examples are phase-change materials, new and high-performance materials, materials integrated into micro-electronics and MEMS, lab-on-a-chip developments, materials with actuating and sensing functions, and self-healing and self-cleaning materials.
The ability to manufacture functional materials will benefit industry in the area of products with new properties or new functions and in the area of micro- and nanotechnology. They are used for dielectric materials for a new generation of batteries and electronic devices, optical materials for flexible computer screens, materials for high-energy and high-efficiency fuel cells and solar cells, and biocompatible materials for implantable devices. These are mostly thin-film applications, but patterning on the submicron scale is also carried out to design materials with the required surface functionality, like hydrophobicity.
Examples of research projects in this technology theme are:
• The Vapour-Liquid-Solid epitaxial growth of III-V semiconducting nanowires
• Barrier film deposition on polymer substrates by APG plasma
• Expanding Thermal Plasma high throughput DLC deposition
• Nanocomposites with surface plasmon resonance effects for uniform coloured coatings
• Surface texturing (for hydrophobicity, etc) using ultra short laser pulses
