Low Cost, Tailored Nanocomposites: Properties and Applications

Nanostructured materials have a great potential for applications in portable advanced electronic systems. One class of materials, nanocomposites, containing nanoparticles (metal, semiconductors, insulators and ceramics) in a polymer matrix is particularly attractive. Nanocomposites allow coexistence of competing material properties in one material. This results in new functional properties that are unachievable with traditional materials. Novel inorganic-organic and organic-organic nanocomposite materials with the morphology and composition textured and controlled at the nanoscale exhibit unique desirable properties that are useful in a number of advanced electronic applications such as embedded passives, energy conversion and storage, highly sensitive biomedical sensors, electromagnetic shielding, organic electronics and other novel device applications. We present a versatile, simple, and single-step high-vacuum electron-beam-assisted codeposition technique for the controlled fabrication of nanocomposites and other nanostructured materials in thin or thick film form. Our nanofabrication capability allows simultaneous or sequential evaporation of up to four different polymers, metals, semiconductors, insulators, and ceramics. Nanocomposite film properties can be tailored by controlling a number of deposition conditions. The process has a great potential to produce materials for many different practical applications for both R&D and scaled-up pilot production. This paper summarizes our nanocomposite research including equipment design, nanocomposite fabrication and characterization, and the resulting properties that indicate potential for practical applications.