MRI: Acquisition of a Nanoscale 3D printer for Fundamental and Applied Research at Wayne State University and Southeast Michigan

MRI：韦恩州立大学和东南密歇根大学购买纳米级 3D 打印机用于基础和应用研究

• 批准号: 2116715
• 负责人: Amar Basu
• 金额: $ 62.83万
• 依托单位: Wayne State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2116715&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; Nanoscale; 3D; printer

Rapid prototyping of devices by 3D printing has become an indispensable tool in science and engineering research; however, conventional instruments are unable to create custom micro- and nanoscale structures with short turnaround times. This project seeks to accelerate research for a diverse team of investigators in southeast Michigan by acquiring a Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2, a state-of-the-art nanoscale 3D printing and maskless lithography system that will be the first of its kind in Michigan’s lower peninsula. The instrument will be used by eighteen faculty investigators across seven departments at Wayne State University (WSU) and six other regional universities. The GT2 will be housed at the WSU Nanofabrication Facility (nFab), a 5,000 sqft clean room that provides class 100 air filtration to reduce defects, filtered lighting, and access to other instruments for pre- and post-print processes. The management plan seeks to maximize the user base by maintaining modest fees and a remote service model. The GT2 will accelerate the micro- and nanofabrication capabilities at WSU while strengthening its role in the regional network of device manufacturing hubs in southeast Michigan. Over its 15-year lifespan, we anticipate the instrument will be used in research by 400 graduate students, 400 undergraduates, and 80 postdocs, including women and underrepresented students and junior scholars. It will help train 1,000 additional students by incorporating rapid nanoscale prototyping into graduate and undergraduate courses on microfabrication and design. Hands-on exposure to 3D CAD and microfabrication is critical to workforce training in Michigan, where manufacturing makes up 20% of the total economy. Three of six partner universities are primarily undergraduate institutions, serving 7,500 engineering students. Lastly, the GT2 will facilitate community outreach through the WSU STEM Innovation Learning Center, Detroit-area science fair projects, and the annual STEM day for K-12 students. The GT2 will complement WSU’s other NSF-funded optical, electron, and atomic force microscopes to provide an in-depth, hands-on understanding of micro design workflow to the Detroit community. The Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 uses 2-photon polymerization (2PP) to print 3D structures with a resolution of 200 nm in a variety of materials. Three key instrument capabilities will overcome challenges faced by researchers. The GT2: (1) enables fabrication of 3D structures with unconstrained geometries at 1000X smaller length scales than conventional 3D printers, enabling systematic studies and exploitation of physics at 200 nm-100 µm length scales; (2) is compatible with a variety of custom resins to support a diversity of projects, including nanoparticle embedded or biodegradable materials; and (3) enables rapid iteration on experimental device designs, which is key to accelerating both hypothesis-driven and applied research. The GT2 will enable synergistic advances in 3 scientific thrusts. 1) Colloidal assembly will address unanswered questions of how 3D structures control the assembly of biomembranes, nanocolloids, and droplets at length scales from 200 nm to 100 µm. 2) Deterministic porosity will seek to understand how geometrically controlled, sub-µm to µm mesostructures change bulk polymer properties, addressing contemporary issues such as the volume expansion in solid-state battery electrodes, and the role of porosity gradients in molecular filtration. 3) 3D MEMS will engineer 3D structures to extend or improve the performance of microsensors and actuators, contributing novel approaches for planetary seismometers, in-vivo microrobots, image-activated cell sorters, and optical signal processors. Outcomes within three thrusts will advance knowledge in diverse applications including energy storage, lab on a chip, tissue engineering, neural interfaces, colloidal manufacturing, drug delivery, robotics, sensors, and metamaterials. Projects will also enhance the field of 2PP fabrication, including machine-learning optimization of CAD designs, and characterization of 2PP optical components by interferometry. Success will be evaluated by publications and the number and diversity of 3D CAD designs disseminated to the research community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

通过 3D 打印快速制作设备原型已成为科学和工程研究中不可或缺的工具；然而，传统仪器无法在短时间内创建定制的微米级和纳米级结构，该项目旨在加速不同研究人员团队的研究。密歇根州东南部购买了 Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2，这是一种最先进的纳米级 3D 打印和无掩模光刻系统，这将是密歇根州下半岛的第一个此类仪器。 GT2 由韦恩州立大学 (WSU) 和其他六所地区大学的 7 个系的 18 名教员研究人员完成，该设施将安置在 WSU 纳米制造设施 (nFab) 中，这是一个 5,000 平方英尺的洁净室，可提供 100 级空气过滤，以减少缺陷、过滤。管理计划旨在通过维持适度的费用和远程服务模式来最大限度地扩大用户群。华盛顿州立大学的微米和纳米制造能力，同时加强其在密歇根州东南部设备制造中心区域网络中的作用。在其 15 年的使用寿命中，我们预计该仪器将被 400 名研究生、400 名本科生和 80 名博士后用于研究。 ，包括女性和代表性不足的学生以及初级学者，它将通过将快速纳米级原型技术纳入研究生和本科生的微制造和设计课程，帮助培训另外 1,000 名学生。亲身接触 3D CAD 和微细加工对于密歇根州的劳动力培训至关重要，该州的六所合作大学中有三所主要是本科院校，为 7,500 名工程专业学生提供服务。最后，GT2 将促进社区发展。 GT2 通过 WSU STEM 创新学习中心、底特律地区科学博览会项目以及每年一度的 K-12 学生 STEM 日进行推广，将补充 WSU 的其他 NSF 资助的光学、电子和技术项目。原子力显微镜为底特律社区提供对微观设计工作流程的深入、实际的了解 Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 使用 2 光子聚合 (2PP) 以各种分辨率打印 3D 结构。 GT2 的三个关键仪器功能将克服研究人员面临的挑战：(1) 能够以比传统 3D 打印机小 1000 倍的长度制造具有不受约束的几何形状的 3D 结构。实现 200 nm-100 µm 长度尺度的物理研究和开发；(2) 与各种定制树脂兼容，支持各种项目，包括纳米颗粒嵌入或可生物降解材料；(3) 实现实验的快速迭代；器件设计，这是加速假设驱动和应用研究的关键。GT2 将实现 3 个科学主旨的协同进步：1) 胶体组装将解决 3D 如何实现的未解答问题。结构控制长度尺度为 200 nm 至 100 µm 的生物膜、纳米胶体和液滴的组装 2) 确定性孔隙率将寻求了解几何控制的亚微米至微米介观结构如何改变本体聚合物性能，解决诸如固态电池电极的体积膨胀以及分子过滤中孔隙率梯度的作用 3) 3D MEMS 将进行工程设计。 3D 结构可扩展或提高微传感器和执行器的性能，为行星地震仪、体内微型机器人、图像激活细胞分选机和光学信号处理器提供新方法，这三个方向的成果将推进包括能源存储、芯片实验室、组织工程、神经接口、胶体制造、药物输送、机器人、传感器和超材料项目也将增强 2PP 制造领域的发展。 CAD 设计的机器学习优化以及通过干涉测量法表征 2PP 光学元件的成功将通过出版物以及向研究界传播的 3D CAD 设计的数量和多样性来评估。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为是值得的。通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来提供支持。