Interdisciplinary Platforms Nanofabrication
Even once we have the novel materials and a device concept, there is still work to be done. Advanced nanomanufacturing techniques are needed not only to build the devices, but to connect them up to the micro- and macro-scale world.
Some key achievements under the Severo Ochoa programme include:
Nanolithography is a branch of nanotechnology and the name of the process for imprinting, writing or etching patterns on surfaces, creating incredibly small structures that are under 100 nm.
The ICN2 has successfully developed new nanolithography processes able to produce hierarchical topographies based on micro- and nanofeatures smaller than 30 nm, including superhydrophobic 3D structures intended for use for antibacterial surfaces.
ICN2 researchers are currently participating in the three-year EU project FLEXPOL to explore this topic.
The ICN2 has developed new nanomaterials with interesting properties for sensing, therapy and remediation applications in biomedicine. Our state-of-the-art nanofabrication techniques then enabled us to turn one such graphene-based material into a sophisticated neural interface to detect brain activity. Specifically, we fabricated graphene sensor arrays, assembling them on flexible, biocompatible substrates that can mould to the surface of the brain. The device then reads the brain’s electrical activity in the form of small changes in conductivity of the graphene sensor.
This graphene-based neural sensor was made possible thanks to the collaboration between scientists at the ICN2, the National Microelectronics Centre (IMB-CNM-CSIC) and CIBER-BNN, and IDIBAPS.