NanoStencil - Nanoscale self-assembled epitaxial nucleation controlled by interference lithography

The NanoStencil project seeks to address a key issue in nanomaterials fabrication, which is how to structure materials in all three dimensions on the true nanoscale? Our vision is of a new process philosophy for the production of dense arrays of identical nanostructures of precise dimensions based on the interaction between light patterns and surface reaction processes. In Nanostencil we apply coherent laser pulses inside a growth environment to achieve interference patterning and thereby directly modify local reaction processes, resulting in the formation of ordered sites for self-assembly. The method will be applied to the direct synthetisation of metallic, semiconducting and biological nanomaterials with diverse applications including quantum optoelectronics, sensing and medical devices.

TAUs aim is to develop technique in pressurized conditions with reactive atmosphere. The supercritical CO2 processing know-how of ceramic materials is now combined to laser assisted ordered patterning for making semiconductive oxide surface structures.