Revolutionize Energy and Personal Health by Nanotechnology

Stephen Chou
Joseph C. Elgin Professor of Engineering, and Professor of Electrical Engineering
Princeton University

Stephen Y. Chou, Joseph C. Elgin Professor of Engineering and the head of the NanoStructure Laboratory at Princeton University, is a world leader, pioneer, and inventor in a broad range of nanotechnologies. Dr. Chou received his PhD from MIT in 1986. He was a Research Associate and Acting Assistant Professor at Stanford University (1986--1989), and a faculty member at the University of Minnesota (1989-1991, Assistant Prof, 1991-1994, Associate Prof, and 1994-1997 Full Prof), and joined Princeton University in 1998. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Chou founded Nanonex (1999) and NanoOpto (2000) Corporations.

Dr. Chou's pioneering research and inventions in a broad spectrum of nanotechnologies and nanodevices has helped shape new paths in the fields of nanofabrication, nanoscale electronics, optoelectronics, magnetics, and materials. Dr. Chou's graduate work used X-ray lithography to scale MOSFETs to the 60 nm range, and since 1985 he has demonstrated various ultra-small MOSFETs, quantum devices, and single electron transistors. In early 1990's, he began pioneering work in exploring sub-wavelength optical elements (SOEs) and bringing nanofabrication into magnetic data storage media. He originated quantized magnetic disks (QMDs), a new paradigm in magnetic data storage in 1993. In 1995, he pioneered his best-known work,nanoimprint lithography (NIL), a revolutionary nanoscale patterning method that allows sub-10 nm patterning over large areas with high throughput and low cost. He is also a key inventor of lithographically induced self-assembly (LISA) and laser-assisted direct imprint (LADI) and applications of NIL, LISA and LADI in a wide range of disciplines, from electronics and optics to magnetics, biotech, and materials. Since 1999, he has been applying unique and extensive expertise in nanofabrication, nanoelectronics, nanooptics, nanomagnetics and nanomaterials to biology for developing innovative biological manipulators, separators, detectors and analyzers for DNAs, proteins and cells.

Dr. Chou's inventions have brought significant impacts to industry. Nanoimprint lithography is regarded as one of the "10 emerging technologies that will change the world" (MIT Technology Review); is selected as a next generation lithography for semiconductor ICs; and is becoming an enabling manufacturing platform for multiple multi-billion-dollar industries ranging from semiconductor ICs, magnetic data storage, displays, optics, biotech to nanomaterials. Furthermore, SOEs and QMDs are being developed by industries aggressively as a future of integrated optics and magnetic data storage.