Michael Dickey
 |
Assistant Professor (Joining the Department in Fall 2008)B.S., Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (1999) M.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin (2003) Ph. D., Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin (2006) Post-doc, Chemistry, Harvard University (2006-present) Areas of Interest: Alternative micro- and nano-fabrication, microfluidics, electronic materials, and photo-curable materials for nanotechnology. Email: mdickey(at)gmwgroup(dot)harvard.edu |
Research |
My research interests are primarily in developing alternative micro- and nano-fabrication techniques, and studying the fundamental properties of the materials that are used or produced by these processes.
Photolithography - a "top down" approach to nanofabrication - is the state of the art in forming nanostructures; it is the keystone technology that is used to form the devices in computer chips, cell phones, etc. Photolithography, however, has several limitations (it is expensive, limited to planar surfaces, limited in resolution, etc). "Bottom up" techniques (e.g., the formation of nanowires in solution) are capable of forming nano structures, but these techniques are generally incapable of creating the long range order necessary to form useful devices, and are often limited to structures with simple geometry.
I am interested in alternative techniques that address one or more of these limitations (such as, imprint lithography, soft lithography, microfluidics, e-field assisted assembly, nanoskiving, templated patterning, etc.) These techniques provide a "tool box" by which new materials and structures can be created; these structures are useful for electronics, sensors (optical, biological, etc.), solar cells, etc.
I am also interested in photo-curable polymeric materials, particularly those used in both photo- and imprint lithography. The properties (curing speed, sensitivity, elemental composition, dielectric constant, mechanical properties, viscosity, etc.) of these materials must be tailored and optimized depending on the application.