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Die attachment is one of the most important processes in the packaging of power semiconductor devices. The current die-attach materials/techniques, including conductive adhesives and reflowed solders, can not meet the advance of power conversation application. Silver paste sintering has been widely used in microelectronics and been demonstrated the superior properties. The high processing temperature, however, prevents its application of interconnecting power semiconductor devices. This research focuses processing and characterization of micron-scale and nanoscale silver paste for power semiconductor devices attachment. Lowering the processing temperature is the essential to implement sintering silver paste for power semiconductor devices attachment. Two low-temperature sintering techniques - pressure-assisted sintering micro-scale silver paste and sintering nanoscale silver paste without external pressure - were developed. With the large external pressure, the sintering temperature of micro-scale silver paste can be significantly lowered. The experimental results show that by using external pressure (>40MPa), the commercial micro-scale silver paste can be sintered to have eighty percent relative density at 240oC, which is compatible with the temperature of solder reflowing. The measured properties including electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, interfacial thermal resistance, and the shear strength of sintered silver joints, are significantly better than those of the reflowed solder layer. Given only twenty percent of small pores in the submicron range, the reliability of the silver joints is also better than that of the solder joints under the thermal cycled environment. The large external pressure, however, makes this technique difficult to automatically implement and also has a potential to damage the brittle power semiconductor devices. Reducing silver particles in the paste from micro-size to nanoscale can increases the sintering driving force and thus lowers the sintering temperature. Several approaches were developed to address sintering challenges of nanoscale silver particles, such as particles aggregation and/or agglomeration, and non-densification diffusion at low temperature. These approaches are : nanoscale silver slurry, instead of dry silver powder, is used to keep silver particles stable and prevent their aggregation. Ultrasonic vibration, instead of conventional ball milling, is applied to disperse nanoscale silver particles in the paste from to avoid from agglomerating. Selected organics in the paste are applied to delay the onset of mass-diffusion and prevent non-densification diffusion at low temperature. The measured results show that with heat-treatment at 300oC within one hour, the sintered nanoscale silver has significantly improved electrical and thermal properties than reflowed solders. The shear strength of sintered silver interconnection is compatible with that of solder. The low-temperature sinterable nanoscale silver paste was applied to attach the bare Silicon carbide (SiC) schottky barrier diode (SBD) for high temperature application. Limited burn-out path for organics in the silver layer challenges the sintering die-attach. This difficulty was lessened by reducing organics ratio in the silver paste. The effects of die-size and heating rate on sintering die-attach were also investigated. The single chip packaging of SiC SBD was fabricated by sintering die-attach and wire-bonding. The tested results demonstrate that the sintering nanoscale silver paste can be applied as a viable die-attach solution for high-temperature application. / Ph. D.

All interfaces offer resistance to heat transport. As the size of a device or structure approaches nanometer lengthscales, the contribution of the interface thermal resistance often becomes comparable to the intrinsic thermal resistance offered by the device or structure itself. In many microelectronic devices, heat has to transfer across a metal-nonmetal interface, and a better understanding about the origins of this interface thermal conductance (inverse of the interface thermal resistance) is critical in improving the performance of these devices. In this dissertation, heat transport across different metal-nonmetal interfaces are investigated with the primary goal of gaining qualitative and quantitative insight into the heat transport mechanisms across such interfaces. A time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) system is used to measure the thermal properties at the nanoscale. TDTR is an optical pump-probe technique, and it is capable of measuring thermal conductivity, k, and interface thermal conductance, G, simultaneously. The first study examines k and G for amorphous and crystalline Zr47Cu31Al13Ni9 metallic alloys that are in contact with poly-crystalline Y2O3. The motivation behind this study is to determine the relative importance of energy coupling mechanisms such as electron-phonon or phonon-phonon coupling across the interface by changing the material structure (from amorphous to crystalline), but not the composition. From the TDTR measurements k=4.5 W m-1 K-1 for the amorphous metallic glass of Zr47Cu31Al13Ni9, and k=5.0 W m-1 K-1 for the crystalline Zr47Cu31Al13Ni9. TDTR also gives G=23 MW m-2 K-1 for the metallic glass/Y2O3 interface and G=26 MW m-2 K-1 for the interface between the crystalline Zr47Cu31Al13Ni9 and Y2O3. The thermal conductivity of the poly-crystalline Y2O3 layer is found to be k=5.0 W m-1 K-1. Despite the small difference between k and G for the two alloys, the results are repeatable and they indicate that the structure of the alloy plays a role in the electron-phonon coupling and interface conductance. The second experimental study examines the effect of nickel nanoparticle size on the thermal transport in multilayer nanocomposites. These nanocomposites consist of five alternating layers of nickel nanoparticles and yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) spacer layers that are grown with pulsed laser deposition. Using TDTR, thermal conductivities of k=1.8, 2.4, 2.3, and 3.0 W m-1 K-1 are found for nanocomposites with nickel nanoparticle diameters of 7, 21, 24, and 38 nm, respectively, and k=2.5 W m-1 K-1 for a single 80 nm thick layer of YSZ. The results indicate that the overall thermal conductivity of these nanocomposites is strongly influenced by the Ni nanoparticle size and the interface thermal conductance between the Ni particles and the YSZ matrix. An effective medium theory is used to estimate the lower limits for the interface thermal conductance between the nickel nanoparticles and the YSZ matrix (G>170 MW m-2 K-1), and the nickel nanoparticle thermal conductivity. / Ph. D.

Two-dimensional (2D) nanoscale confinement effects on poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) crystallization were probed through crystallization studies of PCL-b-poly(tert-butyl acrylate) (PCL-b-PtBA) copolymers, PCL with bulky tri-tert-butyl ester endgroups (PCL triesters), PCL with triacid end groups (PCL triacids), and magnetic nanoparticles stabilized by PCL triacid (PCL MNPs) at the air/water (A/W) interface. Thermodynamic analyses of surface pressure-area per monomer (Π−A)) isotherms for the Langmuir films at the A/W interface showed that PCL-b-PtBA copolymers, PCL triheads and PCL MNPs all formed homogenous monolayers below the dynamic collapse pressure of PCL, Π_C ~11 mN•m⁻¹. For compression past the collapse point, the PCL monolayers underwent a phase transition to three-dimensional (3D) crystals and the nanoscale confinements impacted the PCL crystalline morphologies. Studies of PCL-b-PtBA copolymers revealed that the morphologies of the LB-films became smaller and transitioned to dendrites with defects, stripes and finally nano-scale cylindrical features as the block length of PtBA increased. For the case of PCL triester, irregularly shaped crystals formed at the A/W interface and this was attributed to the accumulation of bulky tert-butyl ester groups around the crystal growth fronts. In contrast, regular, nearly round-shaped lamellar crystals were obtained for PCL triacids. These morphological differences between PCL triacids and PCL triesters were molar mass dependent and attributed to differences in dipole density and the submersion of carboxylic acid groups in the subphase. Nonetheless, enhanced uniformity for PCL triacid crystals was not retained once the polymers were tethered to the spherical surface of a PCL MNP. Instead, the PCL MNPs exhibited small irregularly shaped crystals. This nano-scale confinement effect on the surface morphology at the A/W interface was also molar mass dependent. For the small molar mass PCL MNPs, two layers of collapsed nanoparticles were observed. In a later chapter, studies of polyethylene glycol (PEG) surfactant adsorption onto phospholipid bilayers through quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) measurements revealed a strong dependence of the adsorption and desorption kinetics on hydrophobic tail group structure. PEG surfactants with a single linear alkyl tail inserted and saturated the bilayer surface quickly and the surfactants had relatively fast desorption rates. In contrast, PEG lipids, including dioleoyl PEG lipids and cholesterol PEGs, demonstrated slower adsorption and desorption kinetics. The interactions of Pluronics and Nonoxynol surfactants with phospholipid bilayers were also studied. Pluronics showed no apparent affinity for the phospholipid bilayer, while the Nonoxynol surfactants damaged the lipid bilayers as PEG chain length decreased. / Ph. D.

This thesis examines the packaging of high-temperature SiC power electronic devices. Current-voltage measurements were conducted on as-received and packaged SiC power devices. The planar structure was introduced and developed as a substitution for traditional wire-bonding vertical structure. The planar structure was applied to a high temperature (>250oC) SiC power device. Based on the current-voltage (I-V) measurements, the packaging structures were improved, materials were selected, and processes were tightly controlled. This study applies two types of planar structures, the direct bond and the bump bond, to the high-temperature packaging of high-temperature SiC diode. A drop in the reverse breakdown voltage was discovered in the packaging using a direct bond. The root cause for the drop in the breakdown voltage was identified and corrective solutions were evaluated. A few effective methods were suggested for solving the breakdown issue. The forward I-V curve of the planar packaging using direct bond showed excellent results due to the excellent electrical and thermal properties of sintered nanosilver. The packaging using a bump bond as an improved structure was processed and proved to possess desirable forward and reverse I-V behavior. The cross-sections of both planar structures were inspected. High-temperature packaging materials, including nano-silver paste, high-lead solder ball and paste, adhesive epoxy, and encapsulant, were introduced and evaluated. The processes such as stencil printing, low-temperature sintering, solder reflowing, epoxy curing, sputtering deposition, electroplating, and patterning of direct-bond copper (DBC) were tightly controlled to ensure high-quality packaging with improved performance. Finally, the planar packaging of the high temperature power device was evaluated and summarized, and the future work was recommended. / Master of Science

Electrodeposition is one of the main techniques for fabricating conductive parts with one or two dimensions in the micron size range. This technique is utilized to coat surfaces with protective films of several micrometers thickness or fabricate standalone microstructures. In this process, an electrochemical reaction occurs on the electrode surface by applying an electric voltage, called overpotential. Different electrochemical practices were presented in the literature to obtain kinetic parameters of an electrochemical reaction but most of these practices are hard to implement for the reactions occur on a microelectrode. Toward addressing this issue, the first part of the dissertation work presents a combined experimental and analytical method which can more appropriately provides for the kinetic measurement on a microelectrode. Another issue which occurs for electrodeposition on microscale recessed areas is the deviation of the profile of the deposition front from the substrate shape. Non-uniform deposition front usually obtains for a deposit evolved from a flat substrate with microscale size. Consequently, a subsequent precision grinding process is required to level the surface of the electrodeposited microparts. In order to remove the need for this subsequent process, in the second and third parts of the dissertation work, multiphysics modeling was used to study the effects of the fabrication parameters on the uniformity of the deposit surface and suggest a design strategy. Surface texture of the deposit is another parameter which depends on the fabrication parameters. Several important characteristics of the electrodeposited coating including its wettability depend on the surface texture. The next part of the dissertation work presents an experimental investigation and a theoretical explanation for the effects of the overpotential and bath concentration on the surface texture of the copper deposit. As a result of this investigation, a novel two-step electrodeposition technique is developed to fabricate a superhydrophobic copper coating. In the last part of the dissertation work, similar investigation to the previous sections was presented for the effects of the fabrication parameters on the crystalline structure of the deposit. This investigation shows that nanocrystalline and superplastic materials can be fabricated by electrodeposition if appropriate fabrication parameters are applied. / Ph. D.

This dissertation presents an experimental investigation of heat transport through solid- solid and solid-liquid interfaces. Heat transport is a process initiated by the presence of a thermal gradient. All interfaces offer resistance to heat flow in the form of temperature drop at the interface. In micro and nano scale devices, the contribution of this resistance often becomes comparable to, or greater than, the intrinsic thermal resistance offered by the device or structure itself. In this dissertation, I report the resistance offered by the interfaces in terms of interface thermal conductance, G, which is the inverse of Kapitza resistance and is quantified by the ratio of heat flux to the temperature drop. For studying thermal transport across interfaces, I adapted a non-contact optical measurement technique called Time-Domain Thermoreflectance (TDTR) that relies on the fact that the reflectivity of a metal has a small, but measurable, dependence on temperature. The first half of this dissertation is focused on investigating heat transport through thin films and solid-solid interfaces. The samples in this study are thin lead zirconate- titanate (PZT) piezoelectric films used in sensing applications and dielectric films such as SiOC:H used in semiconductor industry. My results on the PZT films indicate that the thermal conductivity of these films was proportional to the packing density of the elements within the films. I have also measured thermal conductivity of dielectric films in different elemental compositions. I also examined thermal conductivity of dielectric films for a variety of different elemental compositions of Si, O, C, and H, and varying degrees of porosity. My measurements showed that the composition and porosity of the films played an important role in determining the thermal conductivity. The second half of this dissertation is focused on investigating heat transport through solid-liquid interfaces. In this regard, I functionalize uniformly coated gold surfaces with a variety of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). Heat flows from the gold surface to the sulfur molecule, then through the hydrocarbon chain in the SAM, into the terminal group of the SAM and finally into the liquid. My results showed that by changing the terminal group in a SAM from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, G increased by a factor of three in water. By changing the number of carbon atoms in the SAM, I also report that the chain length does not present a significant thermal resistance. My results also revealed evidence of linear relationship between work of adhesion and interface thermal conductance from experiments with several SAMs on water. By examining a variety of SAM-liquid combination, I find that this linear dependency does not hold as a unified hypothesis. From these experiments, I speculate that heat transport in solid-liquid systems is controlled by a combination of work of adhesion and vibrational coupling between the omega-group in the SAM and the liquid. / Ph. D.

Yes / In this work, a compression-induced percolation threshold was found when the thickness of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) nanocomposite samples was reduced via a spatial confining forced network assembly (SCFNA) process from 1.0 mm to 0.1 mm. Such as for PDMS/2 wt% short carbon fiber/4 wt% carbon nanotube (CNT) composite, its conductivity was more than 8 times enhanced to 487 S/m from 59.5 S/m, and the mechanical properties of composites have been improved by more than 15% accordingly. Comparatively, when increased the concentration of CNT or Gr from 1 to 4 wt%, the electrical conductivity of PDMS nanocomposites at 1 mm thickness was barely changed as it generally reached saturation and became independent of filler loading. Compared with the traditional blending method, it indicates that the SCFNA process can further promote the maximum electrical conductivity of polymer nanocomposites when the filler concentration has little effect on the conductivity. Especially under the condition of relatively high filler concentration, the electrical conductivity enhancement effect becomes more significant that is contrary to the classical percolation theory. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites can be slightly improved by the mechanical compression, which makes it more suitable for flexible electronic devices' applications.

Perovskite rare-earth manganites of the form R1-xAxMnO3 (R – rare earth ion or Bi, A – Ca,Sr) have drawn an overwhelming research interest during the last few years owing to their extraordinary physical properties. Some of the interesting phenomena exhibited by the manganites are (a) colossal magneotresistance (CMR) (b) charge, orbital and spin ordering and (c) phase separation at nano and micron scale. The manganites are strongly correlated systems in which the charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom are coupled. The properties of these materials are sensitive functions of external stimuli such as the doping, temperature and pressure [1-5] and have been extensively studied both experimentally and theoretically on single crystal, bulk polycrystalline and thin film forms of the samples [6-9]. Recently attention has been drawn towards the properties of nanoscale manganites. The nanoscale materials are expected to behave quite differently from extended solids due to quantum confinement effects and high surface/volume ratio. Nanoscale CMR manganites have been fabricated using diverse methods in the form of particles, wires, tubes and various other forms by different groups. It has been shown that the properties of CMR manganites can be tuned by reducing the particle size down to nanometer range and by changing the morphology [10-14]. The physical properties of antiferromagnetic insulating charge ordered manganites have been well investigated by using numerous experimental techniques on bulk solids. It is known that the charge ordered (CO) phase is ‘melted’ resulting in a ferromagnetic, metallic phase on application of high magnetic fields, electric fields, impurity ion doping, high energetic ion irradiation and by pressure [15-17]. However, no attempts have been made on the fabrication and the physical property investigations on nanoscale charge ordered manganites. Hence, we have undertaken to study the properties of charge ordered manganites prepared at nanoscale using various experimental probes. In this thesis we present the results on magnetization, magnetotransport and Electron Magnetic Resonance (EMR) (electron paramagnetic resonance in the paramagnetic phase and ferromagnetic resonance in the ferromagnetic phase) studies of the following nanoscale compounds and compare the properties with those of their bulk counterparts; (a) highly robust antiferromagnetic insulating CE –type charge ordered manganite Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (PCMO) (b) highly robust antiferromagnetic insulating CE- type charge ordered manganite Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (NCMO) (c) moderately robust A-type charge ordered manganite Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3 (PSMO) (d) highly robust insulating anti-ferromagnetic charge ordered manganites Bi0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (BCMO) and Bi0.5Sr0.5MnO3 (BSMO) and (e) a CMR manganite Pr0.7Pb0.3MnO3 (PPMO). Chapter 1 of the thesis contains a brief introduction to the general features of manganites describing various interesting phenomena and the interactions underlying them. Further, we have written a detailed review on the properties of nanometric CMR manganites of various sizes and shapes. In this chapter, we have also described the experimental methodology and the analysis procedure adopted in this work Chapter 2 reports the fabrication of nanowires and nanoparticles of Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (PCMO) and the results obtained from magnetization, magnetotransport and electron magnetic resonance measurements performed on nanoscale PCMO along with their comparison with those of the bulk sample. Here, the nanowires of PCMO were prepared by hydrothermal method and the nanoparticles of mean sizes 10, 20 and 40 nm were prepared by polymer assisted sol-gel method. Solid state reaction method was used to prepare the micron sized PCMO bulk material. Different techniques like XRD, TEM, EDAX and ICPAES have been used to characterize the samples. The novel result of the present investigation is the weakening of charge order and switch over from the anti-ferromagnetic phase to ferromagnetic phase in PCMO nanowires [18]. In addition, the charge order is seem to have completely suppressed in 10 nm PCMO nanoparticles as observed from the magnetization measurements. These results are particularly very significant as one needs magnetic fields of ~ 27 T to melt the charge ordered phase in PCMO. Size induced insulator-metal transition TM-I is observed in nanoscale PCMO at low temperatures accompanied by ferromagnetism. CMR of 99.7% is obtained at TM-I and at a field of 11 T. EMR studies have confirmed the presence of ferromagnetic phase at low temperatures. Temperature dependent EMR line width and intensity have shown the presence of CO phase in PCMO10 though static magnetization measurements have shown the absence of CO phase. It is found that the EMR linewidth increases with the decrease of particle size. Chapter 3 reports the fabrication of nanoparticles of Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (NCMO) and the results obtained from magnetization, magnetotransport and electron magnetic resonance measurements performed on nanoscale NCMO along with their comparison with those of bulk NCMO. The nanoparticles of NCMO of mean sizes 5, 20 and 40 nm were prepared by polymer assisted sol-gel method. Solid state reaction method was used to prepare the micron sized NCMO bulk material. Different techniques like XRD, TEM, EDAX and ICPAES have been used to characterize the samples. A striking result of this particular investigation is the complete suppression of charge ordered phase in 5 and 20 nm NCMO nanoparticles as observed from the magnetization measurements [19]. Size induced insulator-metal transition TM-I is observed in nanoscale NCMO at low temperatures accompanied by ferromagnetism in accordance with Zener double exchange meachanism. CMR of 99.7% is obtained at TM-I and at a field of 11 T. EMR studies have confirmed the presence of ferromagnetic phase at low temperatures. Temperature dependent EMR line width and intensity have shown the presence of residual CO fluctuations in NCMO5 though the static magnetization measurements have shown the absence of CO phase. It is found that the EMR linewidth increases with the decrease of particle size. Low temperature X-ray diffraction measurements on NCMO20 indicate the absence of CO phase. But the preliminary results obtained from the optical spectroscopy measurements indicate the evidence for the presence of CO phase. In Chapter 4, we report the investigations on the nanoscale PSMO. PSMO nanoparticles of sizes 20, 40 and 60 nm are prepared by polymer precursor sol-gel method. PSMO nanowires of diameter 50 nm and lengths of a few microns have been prepared by hydrothermal method. The bulk polycrystalline PSMO is obtained by crushing the single crystal of the same prepared by float zone method. Various techniques like XRD, TEM, VSM, transport measurements and EMR spectroscopy have been employed to characterize and to study the size dependent magnetic, transport and electron magnetic resonance properties and to compare them with those of the bulk. Our results show that there is a disappearance of anti-ferromagnetic charge ordering phase and the appearance of a ferromagnetic phase at low temperatures in all PSMO nanoparticles and nanowires. Metal like behaviour is observed in the size induced ferromagnetic phase in nanoparticles. The EMR linewidth increases with the decrease of particle size. A comparison with the properties of the bulk material shows that the ferromagnetic transition at 265 K remains unaffected but the anti-ferromagnetic transition at TN = 150 K disappears in the nanoparticles. Further, the temperature dependence of magnetic anisotropy shows a complex behaviour, being higher in the nanoparticles at high temperatures, lower at lower temperatures in comparison with the bulk [20]. In Chapter 5, we present the fabrication, characterization and the results obtained from the magnetization and EMR measurements carried out on BCMO and BSMO nanoparticles and compare the results with those of the bulk. X-ray diffraction gives evidence for single phasic nature of the materials as well as their structures. Mono-dispersed to a large extent, isolated nanoparticles are seen in the transmission electron micrographs. High resolution electron microscopy shows the crystalline nature of the nanoparticles. Superconducting quantum interferometer based magnetic measurements from 10 K to 300 K show that these nanomanganites retain the charge ordering nature unlike the Pr and Nd based nanomanganites. The CO in Bi based manganites is thus found to be very robust consistent with the observation that magnetic fields of the order of 130 T are necessary to melt the CO in these compounds. These results are supported by electron magnetic resonance measurements [21]. In Chapter 6, we present our results on the effect of particle size on the magnetic properties of Pr0.7Pb0.3MnO3 (PPMO). PPMO nanoparticles of two different sizes (~5 nm and 30 nm) were prepared by the polymeric precursor sol-gel method. The samples are characterized by different techniques like XRD, TEM, SQUID magnetometry, EMR and optical spectroscopic measurements. It is found that the nanoparticles crystallize in the cubic perovskite structure. TEM measurements show that the 5 nm particles are uniform in size. They are also crystalline as seen by HREM and XRD measurements. SQUID magnetometry measurements have shown that the Curie temperature increases (from 220 K to 235 K) with the increase of particle size. Saturation magnetization is higher for the smaller particles studied. We have observed only one EMR signal down to 4 K in both the nanoparticles (5 and 30 nm) in contrast to the two EMR signal behaviour observed in bulk PPMO [22]. It is found that the EMR linewidth increases with the decrease of particle size in the paramagnetic phase. Temperature dependent optical spectroscopy measurements performed on 5 nm PPMO nanoparticles indicate that the insulator-metal transition temperature TM-I = 230 K, is not very different from TM-I = 235 K of the bulk sample [23] The thesis concludes with a brief writeup summarizing the results and pointing out possible future directions of research in the area.

Controlling the morphology of nanocrystals provides provides a possible pathway to tune properties and hence has been explored in depth. However, to obtain a wider spectrum of properties or for multi-functionality. Other strategies need to be devised. Combining different functional nanostructures to obtain a functional hybrid is one such strategy that holds promise for a wide range of applications. While this is simple in principle, there are no simple and general protocols for synthesis of such functional heterostructure. The challenge lies in producing a hybrid with good control over the structure and chemistry of the interfaces in the system. The use of molecular linkers or physical forces to form the hybrid has several drawbacks in terms of interface quality and stability. In this dissertation, a rational basis is developed for the evolution of symmetry forbidden FCC nanocrystals via wet chemical route which relies on appropriate choice of reagents and the reaction conditions for nucleation and growth. The concept is extended to devise general synthetic strategies for functional nanoheterostrcutres in solution via economic, facile and environment friendly routes. Electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has been used as the major tools for structural characterization of the materials and to investigates the reaction/formation mechanism. The properties of the synthesized materials are investigated primarily targeting the nanoelectronic and catalytic applications. The entire study reported in the thesis is organized as follow: chapter I leads to a general introduction of nanocrystals and role in different fields of application. It describes the motivation behind controlling the shape of nanocrystals and combining two or more nanostructures to obtain a functional heterostructure. The existing methodologies to achieve shape control and nanoscale hybrid/heterostructure with active interfaces are elaborated while indicating the role of morphology, interfaces and composition for enhanced activity/performance. The information on the chemical used for synthesis, routers adopted for synthesizing and the basic techniques utilized to characterize the materials in study are detailed in the respective chapters. Chapter 2 provides a study by which one can easily select an appropriate reductant for a metal couple to achieve the desired morphology. Moreover, the role of kinetics and the factors driving the kinetics in obtaining the symmetry breaking shapes like 2-D and I-D for Ag and Au nanocrystals is discussed in detail and validated by experiments. Chapter 3 describes the methodology to attach ultrafine Au nanowires to different nanosubstrates ranging from oxides to carbon (CNT/graphene) where the key step is heteronucleation of the Au (I) precursor on the substrate. Chapter 4 deals with the growth of ultrafine Au nanowires on various substrates and between pre-defined contacts to fabricate nanodevices. The mechanistic investigation directs to the controlled heterogeneous nucleation of the building units (Au nanoparticles) on substrate as the key step followed by its subsequent growth into wires in presence of Au nanoparticles in the medium. Kinetic control of the nucleation and growth step enabled precise control over the population and length of the wires. This is of immense importance for application like catalysis, sensors and nanoelectronics. Moreover, the method enabled the first time electrical transport studies on these wires which revealed an insulating behavior in such metallic wires on progressive lowering of temperature down to few kelvins. The concept of heterogeneous nucleation is extended to design nanoscale heterogeneous in the following three chapters where primarily a precursor coating is formed on a nanosubstrate, viz. ZnO nanorods and graphene, and converted to the phase of interest in a controlled manner to obtain the desired morphology. In each of the chapters the mechanisms of formation of the heterostructure are discussed in detail. Chapter 5 deals with formation of semiconductor based heterostructure like ZnO/CdS in solution by aqueous route. The material has been demonstrated as a potential visible light catalyst for dye degradation with enhanced activity. The interfacial chemistry could be tuned appropriately to achieve high activity in the catalyst by simple wet chemical route. In chapter 6, an ultrafast, facile, green route to obtain oxide supported metal catalyst has been demonstrated. ZnO/Au heterostructures were designed with well defined morphology and studied for low temperature CO oxidation reaction. Detail investigation reveals the surface doping of ZnO with Au the nucleation process leading to active ionic sites for CO oxidation. Chapter 7 demonstrate a rapid and economically viable route to graphene based pt catalysts where a synergistic co-reduction mechanism operates between the metal precursor and the graphic oxide to from the heterostructure. The obtained G-Pt heterostructure exhibits high catalytic activity for methanol oxidation reaction and hydrogen convention at ambient conditions. Finally a conclusion is drawn, highlighting the possibilities and prospects that the study leads to.