Laser and Aerosols in Nanomaterials Fabrication. Using laser-solid interactions and aerosol science we have developed new fabrication methods that can be applied to a wide variety of materials systems. Our research is aimed at further developing these general methods and at using them for the synthesis of nanostructured materials with applications in biomedicine and optoelectronics.

Publications

Calcium Phosphate Bioceramics. Our goal in this area is to gain new levels of control over the micro- and nanostructure of calcium phosphate bioceramics. The aim is to harness the outstanding biocompatibility of calcium phosphates, engineered at the nanoscale, to manipulate and probe biological processes involved in tissue regeneration and gene delivery. We have demonstrated calcium phosphates with tailored phase composition and controlled crystallographic texture.

Publications

Hybrid Nanomaterials. Nanocomposite materials synthesis allowing independent control of a nanophase matrix and a nanoscale secondary phase remains a significant research challenge. With funding from NSF and NASA we have developed a process that allows this independent control. We have focused on nanocomposites of tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) with embedded metal nanoparticles. Besides its outstanding mechanical and tribological properties, ta-C is also an excellent bio-inert hermetic encapsulant for implantable biomedical devices. Through controlled incorporation of metal nanoparticles in ta-C, we have demonstrated the modulation of its propertiesand we are pursuing its surface functionalization.

Publications

Nanostructured Semiconductors. This thrust takes advantage of the low-temperature and gas-phase synthesis of our laser-aerosol methods to produce zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films and quantum dots that can be integrated into flexible electronics platformsand doped quantum confined structures of zinc selenide (ZnSe) for mid-infrared laser applications. These nanostructured semiconductor materials are difficult to produce by other physical deposition methods (e.g., MBE, CVD, MOCVD) and chemical approaches (e.g., colloidal, sol-gel, self-assembly). Funded by NSF.

Publications