Nanoscale Labs is developing the world’s first high-throughput and low-cost nanomanufacturing system. For the first time, functionally superior nanodevices may become cost-competitive with less sophisticated technologies, helping usher in the next technological revolution that could improve society and public and environmental health.
FELLOW
Gabriel Cossio is Founder and CEO of Nanoscale Labs. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas’ Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials. Cossio earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and has a B.S. in physics. Cossio performed seminal research in nanoparticle self-assembly, including the first demonstration of a low-cost and high-throughput nanomanufacturing system.
TECHNOLOGY
Critical Need
The ability to engineer matter at the nanometer and submicron scale has become increasingly important for developing next-generation nanophotonic, biomedical, renewable energy, and semiconductor technologies. While various nanotechnologies offer massive benefits to society and public health (e.g., rapid response single molecule biosensors), there currently need to be pathways for their successful commercialization. This is due to prohibitively expensive commercial nanomanufacturing options, often requiring tens of millions of dollars in capital investments. A new low-cost and high-throughput nanomanufacturing system is needed to help usher in the next generation of nanotechnology-enabled technologies.
Technology Vision
Nanoscale Labs’ technology offers two breakthroughs relative to conventional nanolithography methods. First, the company’s nanopatterning systems leverage self-assembled processes, where nanostructures and nanopatterns are created via a highly parallelized process in which nanoparticles self-coordinate into the shapes, structures, and patterns of interest. This dramatically improves manufacturing speed and eliminates the need to create the exact (and expensive) tooling, machinery, and optics previously needed to develop nanoscale structuring. Second, Nanoscale Labs’ system dramatically reduces material and operation costs by leveraging colloidally synthesized nanoparticles, enabling us to reach $1/square-meter patterning costs.
Potential for Impact
Nanoscale Labs’ self-assembly-based nanomanufacturing system provides a pivotal platform for translating decades of lab-based innovations into commercial successes by offering high-speed fabrication, large-area scalability, and broad material flexibility. This new manufacturing paradigm may help pioneer markets for nanotechnology in emerging economies and unlock opportunities across scientific disciplines and commercial needs. For the first time, functionally superior nanodevices may become cost-competitive with less sophisticated technologies and help usher in the next technological revolution that could improve society as well as public and environmental health.