The exponential increase of the manufacturing cost and the scientific difficulty of continued scaling of electronic devices built by the conventional "top-down" approach are motivating efforts to explore alternative fabrication techniques. Massively parallel synthesis by "bottom-up" techniques offers the potential for high-density integration of nanoscale devices. Devices based on self-assembled s
emiconductor nanowires, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, DNA, and/or organic-molecules have displayed many novel electronic, optical and chemical properties. To realize the potential of these nanostructures, a massively parallel and manufacturable interconnection technique is desirable to allow reproducible fabrication of dense, low-cost nanodevice arrays. Unlike the research-based approach of sequentially interfacing individual nano-structures for device physics studies, massively parallel and manufacturable interfacing techniques are crucial for reproducible fabrication and incorporation of dense, low-cost nanodevice arrays in highly integrated material systems. Our group's main interests are in the areas of incorporation of low-dimensional nanostructures and functional devices with conventional IC elements, employing processes compatible with mass-manufacturing. In order to control the properties of light, we study a new class of materials, called "negative index materials" that demonstrate unusual electric and magnetic properties not available in nature and offer opportunities for unprecedented functionalities in virtually every area of optics and photonics. We develop new methods and tools for constructing three-dimensional negative index materials using manufacturable nanofabrication techniques and study theoretical and experimental schemes that allow us to switch the refractive index of materials between positive and negative values to enable the design of new optical devices beyond what nature can offer.
