The creation of biomimetic structures based on one-dimensional nanomaterials and lipid membranes will provide a unique platform for achieving functionalities of biological machines and mimicking nature at the nanoscale. Silicon nanowires (SiNW) and carbon nanotubes (CNT) are of significant interest due to the novel properties not present in bulk materials as well as characteristic dimensions comparable to the size of biological molecules. My thesis describes the creation of fabricated nanomaterials integrated with biomaterials such lipid membranes and their constitutive proteins to create biomimetic assemblies.

In the first part of my dissertation, I report transmembrane carbon nanotube pores as a biological ion channel analogs. Biological ion channels in nature transport ions across cellular membranes showing two functions of gating and ion selectivity. CNT pores give structural and functional mimic of an ion channel, in part because smooth, narrow and hydrophobic inner pores of the CNT are remarkably similar to natural biological pores. First, CNTs served as a materials platform that can replicate the features of biological channels. I successfully created ultrashort CNTs (ca. ~10nm) using lipid-assisted sonication-cutting method. Lipid molecules self-assemble on the long CNTs to form a template for sonication cutting. These short CNT pores with their length comparable to the lipid membrane thickness provide a much closer match to protein-channel dimensions. Short CNT pores were incorporated into lipid vesicles to mimic membrane ion channels and study transport properties through CNT pores. These short CNTs in a lipid membrane can transport water, protons, and small ions and reject large uncharged species. Ion rejection in CNT channels is determined by charge repulsion at the CNT rim. Electrophoretic ion transport measurements for individual CNT pores revealed an ion conductance value of 0.63ns which is comparable to those of biological channels. CNT pores inserted in the membrane exhibited stochastic gating behavior common for biological ion channels. These fluctuations result from a spontaneous reversible ionic penetration-exclusion transition previously reported in nanofluidic transport of sub-2-nm pores. Electrophoretically-driven translocation of individual single-stranded DNA molecules through CNT pores produced well-defined ion current blockades. Overall, short CNT mimics transport properties of a biological protein channel. Since the structure and functionality of short CNT pores self-inserted in a lipid membrane resemble the β-barrel structure of a porin, they are termed as "carbon nanotube porins".

In the second part, I describe synthesis of SiNWs grown via vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. Silicon nanowires were grown on silicon substrates via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using silane as a precursor gas and diborane for p-type doing of wires. These nanowires were utilized for a bioelectronics platform for integration of membrane protein functionality based on one-dimensional lipid bilayer. This lipid bilayer provides shielding the nanowires from the solution species and environment for proteins preserving their functionality, integrity, and even vectorality. Here, I report a hybrid lipid bilayer- silicon nanowire bioelectronic device with output controlled via light-induced proton pump protein, bacteriorhodopsin (bR). SiNW field effect transistors (FET) were fabricated via conventional micro/nanofabrication process. bR proteins were incorporated into SiNW transistors covered with a lipid bilayer shell and different ionophore molecules, valinomycin and nigericin were co-assembled to create biologically-tunable bioelectronics devices. In this way, the devices convert photoactivated proton transport by bR protein into an electronic signal. The addition of ionophores tuned the device output by altering membrane ion permeability and the two ionophores were able to modulate different system parameters.

Laser with selective and sharp range of photon energies has offered considerable advantages in site-selective, on-demand and fast modifications in materials properties and structures. In the presence of gas molecules, the laser excitation results in combined photo-thermo-chemical processes, which enable doping, synthesis, crystal growth, deposition, and etching. Laser also offers substantial potential for non-invasive, vacuum-free, sensitive, and high-resolution optical probing of various physicochemical phenomena. Integrated with tip-based scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), nanoscale optical diagnostics can be possible by overcoming diffraction limit of far-field laser beam. Further, strong light coupling at the junction between the tip and the sample can induce enhanced electric field, which leads to various exotic light matter interactions. We explored all-laser chemical processing of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials including graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) using our developed laser chemical processing apparatus, including doping, thinning, and synthesis of those materials. 2D vdW material was a choice of material system as it possesses highly sensitive, and delicate atomically thin structure with random shape, which demands reliable site-selective processing tools. Our study demonstrated that laser chemical processing indeed offers substantial capabilities in modifications of material properties and structures. Dual laser beam was developed to control optoelectronic properties of 2D vdW materials by chemical doping. The use of two laser beams in selected geometries, photon energies, and pulse widths can separately address the photochemical and photothermal processing routes. Atomic precision thinning of 2D vdW materials using laser induced chemical etching was studied with in-situ optical probing method. Integrated with tip-based processing, the nanoscale processing of 2D vdW materials was achieved by overcoming diffraction limit of far-field laser processing. Synthesis of 2D vdW materials was also demonstrated by laser assisted mass diffusion of transition metal and chalcogenide at the interface of thin layers consisted of those materials. Thus, the presented studies pave the way to reliable and facile modification of optoelectronic properties and structures of 2D vdW materials. We also demonstrated tip-based nanoscale diagnostics of low dimensional materials, including tip-enhanced photothermal nanoscale mapping of exciton polariton (EP) transport in TMDCs and tip-enhanced near-field second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging of semiconductor and metal nanowires. The tip-enhanced photothermal probing interrogates the thermal dissipation of evanescent electromagnetic field, which can potentially track non-radiative pathways of exciton polaritons in TMDC materials. We found that the use of near infrared wavelength renders thermal expansion of the tip large, which amplifies the electromagnetic field exerted at the junction between the tip and the sample. Next, we explored tip-enhanced visualization of SHG in low dimensional materials. We proposed a resonant energy transfer model to explain the experimentally observed nanoscale SHG contrast. Our technique was applied in in-situ imaging of corrosion process of zinc oxide nanowire, multipolar SHG resonance in silicon nanowire, and SPP mode in silver nanowire.

Silicon nanostructures serve as the backbone of modern electronics and photonics. Particularly, silicon nanoresonator became an increasingly important building block for the advanced photonics applications, including sensing, wavefront engineering and integrated photonics. Its crystallinity engineering is critical for enabling the manufacturability as well as fueling the continuous innovation on the device functionalities. Meanwhile, the scalable patterning of such nanostructures could offer cost-effective and highly controllable manufacturing routes beyond the conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication. Owing to the controllable energy delivery and capability to interact with nanostructures, pulsed laser processing could significantly shed light on the above challenges and opportunities.

The pulsed laser processing of semiconductor material has been intensely investigated in the last century providing insights into fundamental light-material interaction. In early this century, thin-film laser processing became the main research topic as the complex coupling of heat transfer and phase transformation has enabled the technical innovation towards thin-film transistors in the display industry. However, when the lateral dimensions of the semiconductor material further shrunk down to the order of 100nm, the governing laws of the multiphysics interaction had to incite a significant paradigm shift in the study of the optical coupling, heat transfer and phase transformations.

This dissertation focus on understanding new coupling mechanism of pulsed laser interaction with silicon nanostructures, and exploiting them for scalable patterning and crystal engineering of the functional resonator arrays. Based on the unique near-field enhanced optical absorption, we first demonstrate the optically directed assembly of silicon nanoresonators. Spherical silicon nanoresonators can be fabricated with programmable numbers and combinations. Based on the ultrafast quenching rate and high adhesion work of silicon, we then demonstrate the deformation-free reversible phase transformation of silicon resonators that enables the active modulation of visible wavelength metasurfaces. Our in situ reflection probing of a single silicon nanodisk coupled with comprehensive simulations helps to reveal the mechanism behind the amorphization. We believe the experimental probing results lends support to the hypotheses silicon relaxation time scale on the silicon glass transformation. Lastly, through femtosecond laser irradiation, we observed the ultrafast field enhanced selective material removal within nanodisks. The detailed dynamics of the field enhancement, carrier excitation, non-thermal melting and subsequent cold ablation are studied ex-situ and in-situ. The mechanism can be used for scalable manufacturing of bowtie sensing structures and laser printing optical metasurfaces.

Architected materials are considered the state of the art of engineering ingenuity. Specifically, mechanical metamaterials have been accentuated due to their unconventional and augmented responses. They have been gingerly investigated under the context of ultralight-ultrastiff structures for aerospace applications, tailored buckling mechanisms for energy storage, soft robotics and controlled wave propagation and designed anisotropy for tissue engineering.

Albeit the plethora of remarkable results promulgating this subject, the analysis of architected materials has many questions that need to be addressed. There is no rigorous explanation for the selection of specific 3D designs that have been thoroughly utilized in the literature (regarding the selection of specific design variables and cost functions). Consequently, in practice specific structures are repeatedly used, without any explanation whether further search of the design space could not provide a substantially improved result. Therefore, the lack of understanding of the design space and the inherent physical phenomena has not elucidated the tools to obtain a globally optimal design. Thus, tailoring mechanical metamaterials is extremely arduous and has led to an obstacle in the progress of this field.

This thesis aims to provide an analysis for the design of architected materials by illuminating the physical mechanisms and how to model and optimize such problems. The structure of this thesis is comprised of two main themes. The first method aims to control the mechanical performance through interconnected beam members that enhance the densification of the structure and impede catastrophic failure. The second method is related to geometrical defects that dictate the localized failure and anisotropic behavior. Furthermore, the optimization of specific design examples will be presented, employing low computational power for large design spaces and demonstrate how such design problems can be addressed, setting the framework for the systematic design and characterization of architected materials.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) has a long history of usage in electronics. Recently, ZnO has been gathering great interest of researchers in nanoscience due to its diverse and versatile morphologies such as nanoparticles (NP), nanowires (NW), nanorods, nanotubes, nanohelixes, etc. This dissertation deals with studies covering from the synthesis of ZnO nanostructures to deposition & patterning methods and their applications for optoelectronic devices such as transparent electrodes, active layers for thin film transistor and photovoltaics.

A very well–dispersed, transparent and concentration–tunable ZnO NP solution was successfully synthesized with a new process. Highly transparent ZnO thin films were fabricated by spin coating and subsequent ultra short–pulsed UV laser annealing was performed to change the film properties. While as–deposited NP thin films were not electrically conductive, laser annealing imparted a substantial conductivity increase. Thus, selective annealing for conductive patterns directly on the NP thin film without a photolithographic process was achieved. The conductivity is by a factor of 10⁵ higher than that of the previously reported furnace–annealed ZnO NP films and even comparable to that of vacuum–deposited, impurity–doped ZnO films within a factor of 10. The ZnO film obtained from the process developed in this work has been applied to the fabrication of a thin film transistor (TFT) showing enhanced performance compared with the TFT fabricated on furnace annealed ZnO film. The ZnO TFT performance test reveals that by just changing the laser annealing parameters the solution–deposited ZnO thin film properties can be tuned suitable for both transparent conductors and semiconductor active layers.

Two kinds of nanomaterial patterning methods via direct writing have been demonstrated. First, laser–assisted nanoimprinting of metal and semiconductor nanoparticles has been presented as a large area one step patterning method. With the method, submicron structures including mesh, line, nanopillar and nanowire arrays were fabricated on various kinds of wafer scale substrates. Using the rapid laser–based nanolithography, the prohibitive constraints of e–beam patterning could be overcome. Therefore, this method opens a way to the fabrication of electronic and energy devices with high throughput and ultra low–cost. Second, a drop on demand (DOD) inkjet printing of ZnO seed layers integrated with a CAD (computer aided design) system for a fully digital selective ZnO NW array growth has been discussed. Through proper natural convection suppression during the hydrothermal growth, successful ZnO nanowire local growth could be achieved. Without any need for the photolithographic process or stamp preparation, the NW growth location can be easily modified with high degree of freedom. These two methods are compatible with flexible plastic substrates.

As an application of ZnO nanostructures for high efficiency solar cells, ZnO dye–sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with greatly enhanced surface area for higher dye loading and light harvesting were demonstrated. The selective growth of “nanoforests” composed of high density, long branched tree–like multi generation hierarchical ZnO nanowire photoanodes by utilizing seed particles and a capping polymer increased the energy conversion efficiency significantly. The overall light–conversion efficiency of the branched ZnO nanowire DSSCs was almost 5 times higher than the efficiency of DSSCs constructed by upstanding ZnO nanowires. A parametric study to determine the optimum hierarchical ZnO nanowire photoanode was performed through the combination of both length–wise and branched growth processes.

Flexible and wearable electronics are envisioned as a future platform of electronics integrated into a variety of emerging technologies from sensing and monitoring to human-inspired applications. Among many fascinated flexible applications, displays are aggressively developing field of research and they are widely connected with transistor platform. Currently, the needs of people are being particular about for mobile phones, portable devices, and even televisions; they require new and more advanced displays. Therefore, the future displays should have high performances, such as low power consumption, ultra-high resolution, high frame rate and robust flexible platform. High-mobility thin film transistors will be a key enabling technology for achieving such performance by reducing the transistor size in the display’s active area. Also, they helps to increase aperture ratio, brightness, and frame rates and to decrease bus-line load power consumption.

In this regard, 2D transition metal dichalcogenides have attracted much interest owing to their finite band gap values, rich excitonic dynamics, and even valley polarization (valleytronics) associated with the broken inversion symmetry. Among these 2D materials, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been considered a channel material for high speed and/or flexible devices and a component material to improve the performance of conventional silicon devices. Furthermore, these layered semiconductors are emerging alternatives to silicon-based electronics. Despite their potentials in electronics and optoelectronics, reliable and stable processing methods are needed for successful transition to practical applications, especially for the flexible/wearable electronics used flexible materials with a low thermal budget (< 200 °C). Typically, used flexible materials cannot be applied conventional high thermal processes, which affect the entire panel including unwanted areas where the high thermal process should be excluded.

For the process having the critical limitations of the flexible/wearable applications, the many features of laser are exactly appropriate; the laser is spatially local selective, air-stable, and widely tunable by varying the duration and intensity of laser irradiation. Moreover, laser process can be digitally controlled by the computer with programmable software. In this dissertation, the proposed approaches (laser annealing, direct laser writing, laser welding, and interference lithography) represent a powerful means to realize high performance flexible devices based 2D materials, especially for MoS2.

First, I demonstrate that mechanically flexible and optically transparent (more than 81% transmittance in visible wavelength) multilayered MoS2 thin-film transistors (TFTs) in which the source/drain electrodes are selectively annealed using picosecond laser achieve the enhancement of device performance without plastic deformation, such as boosted mobility, increased output resistance, and decreased subthreshold swing. Numerical thermal simulation for the temperature distribution, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis, current-voltage measurements, and contact-free mobility extracted from the Y-function method (YFM) enable understanding of the compatibility and the effects of pulsed laser annealing process; the enhanced performance originated not only from a decrease in the Schottky barrier effect at the contact, but also an improvement of the channel interface.

Second, through laser direct writing (LDW) method, arbitrary fine patterns are produced for the electrodes as well as defining the channel of TFTs. Also, LDW with ink-jet printing shows the possibility and the potential for the future of flexible/wearable electronics as more versatile process. In addition, interference lithography using phase shift mask allows making periodic nano-scale features, readily.

Furthermore, laser process is also applied to the welding for fabricating mechanically robust and electrically attractive 2D-like random networks. The laser welding is compatible with cost-effective solution process and good for the flexible applications. After the laser welding, the sheet resistance of 2D-like networks created by silver nanowires is significantly improved. Note that the best improvement is around 55 times without any degradation of the electrical performance during cycling bending test.

These various outcomes from the experiments indicate that the site selective laser process can open up opportunities to fabrication of the electrical devices on flexible platforms.

As modern technology advances keep pushing the size limit of electronic devices down to nanoscale, the densities of elementary units on integrated circuits (ICs) are drastically increased. One of the major deleterious effects is the huge density of heat generated that may lead to device malfunction or break-down. Therefore, nanoscale thermal management has become an important research topic, which requires progress in both fundamental understanding of nanoscale thermal physics on the material level and novel engineering strategies on the device end. On the other hand, recent advances in material synthesis, processing, and nanofabrication have made available rich families of new materials with unprecedented properties that elevate them to potential candidates for next-generation electronic devices. Characterizing such materials with structure that varies on the length scale of a few nanometers, such as nanowires, 2D materials and Van de Waals heterostructures, necessitates new methodologies and experimental strategies that can unveil unexplored thermal physics mechanisms. In this thesis, we describe our recent work on developing a novel and comprehensive optical diagnostic platform with ultra-high sensitivity to conduct thermal measurements for a wild range of nanomaterials and nanostructures. Specifically, femto-second laser based optical pump-probe scheme is utilized to enable ultra-high temporal resolution (~300 fs), which offers access to investigating ultrafast dynamic processes that fundamental thermal carriers undergo in extreme non-equilibrium circumstances. Based on the ultra-fast optical pump-probe microscopy technique, we have extended the time-domain thermo-reflectance (TDTR) technique to frequency domain and constructed the time-resolved frequency domain thermo-reflectance (Tr-FDTR) measurement to characterize the transient material thermal properties across different time scales, from 100 fs to 10 ns upon ultrafast thermal excitation. Unlike TDTR, this newly developed methodology takes full advantage of the ultra-high time resolution embedded in ultra-fast pump-probe technique, for measuring dynamic thermal transport processes. Next, we have integrated the developed ultra-fast optical pump-probe microscopy technique with an atomic force microscopy (AFM) instrument in the configuration of scattering near-field scanning optical microscopy (s-NSOM). The combination of ultra-high temporal resolution and ultra-high spatial resolution (~10 nm) makes this comprehensive optical diagnostics platform an unprecedented tool for studying nanoscale transient heat transfer and energy transport processes. With this powerful tool, we have successfully demonstrated the ability to capture the two-dimensional ‘snapshots’ of the ultra-fast photoexcitation process in silicon nanowires, and the ability to extract the near-field signals for studying material dynamics at a level that is not achievable with any of the current far-field techniques.

The developed instrumentation has the potential to contribute a new technology for investigating ultra-fast nanoscale thermal transport phenomena in both equilibrium and non-equilibrium regimes, which are currently completely unattainable with conventional thermal measurement techniques. The first major contribution will be the ability to directly investigate the ultrafast non-equilibrium thermal transport processes that various material systems undergo in response to an abrupt release of thermal energy. Key to the success of this effort is to utilize the femto-second time resolution to characterize the different behaviors of thermal energy carriers (electrons and phonons) and their interactions across all the stages (from sub-picosecond to nanosecond time range). This technique will enable us to experimentally verify new thermal transport mechanisms that emerge in unconventional material systems. The second major contribution is that the developed ultrafast thermal measurement technique can be extended down to nanoscale, thus offering the opportunity to interrogate fundamental nanoscale heat transfer problems. Therefore, we anticipate with confidence that this work will not only push the boundaries of our understandings of the nanoscale heat transfer and energy transport, but also shed light on unconventional mechanisms of thermal transport in newly discovered material systems that may be potential candidates for the next-generation electronics, and suggest new strategies for engineering nanomaterials for nanoscale thermal management in the next-generation electronics.

The photovoltaic semiconducting and transparent dielectric materials are of high interest in current industry. Femtosecond laser processing can be an effective technique to fabricate such materials since non-linear photochemical mechanisms predominantly occur. In this series of studies, femtosecond (fs) laser processing techniques that include laser drilling on Si wafer, laser scribing on CIGS thin film, laser ablation on Lithium Niobate (LN) crystal, and fabrication of 3D structures in fused silica were studied.

The fs laser drilling on Si wafer was performed to fabricate via holes for wrap-through PV devices. For reduction of the number of shots in fs laser drilling process, self-action of laser light in the air was initiated. To understand physical phenomena during laser drilling, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), emission, and shadowgraph images were studied. The result indicated the presence of two mechanisms that include fabrication by self-guided beam and wall-guided beam. Based on our study, we could fabricate ~16 micrometer circular-shaped via holes with ~200 laser pulses on 160-170 micrometer thick c- and mc-Si wafer.

For the fs laser scribing on ink jet printed CIGS thin film solar cell, the effect of various parameters that include pulse accumulation, wavelength, pulse energy, and overlapping were elucidated. In our processing regime, the effect of wavelength could be diminished due to compensation between beam size, pulse accumulation, energy fluence, and the absorption coefficient. On the other hand, for high PRF fs laser processing, pulse accumulation effect cannot be ignored, while it can be negligible in low PRF fs laser processing. The result indicated the presence of a critical energy fluence for initiating delamination of CIGS layer. To avoid delamination and fabricate fine isolation lines, the overlapping method can be applied. With this method, ~1 micrometer width isolation lines were fabricated.

The fs laser ablation on LN wafer was studied. The ablation thresholds and laser induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) patterns according to the angle between laser polarization and crystal orientation were elucidated via SEM images. We could observe that both the ablation threshold and the LIPSS patterns were affected by the angle between laser polarization and crystal orientation. Additionally, we could fabricate ~45 nm dots on z-cut LN wafer surface along the x-axis.

Finally, 3D helical microchannel was fabricated in fused silica and utilized for protein mixing. The channel of ~50 micrometer diameter was fabricated by the femtosecond laser irradiation and chemical etching (FLICE) technique. For understanding of fluidic motions, numerical analysis was performed. The numerical analysis indicates the existence of an effective mixing condition due to compensation between residence time of the flow in the channel and the transverse flow patterns. Experiments supported the numerical analysis and we could achieve 90% mixing within ~400 micrometer distance from the confluence of two streams.

Femtosecond laser-direct writing (FS-LDW) can functionalize the surface of diverse device components, including cell culture plates and medical implants. Since FS-LDW is in essence a non-contact fabrication method, it allows the surface patterning and micro-/nano-machining of material with minimal mechanical/thermal deformation. Hence, micro-/nanofabrication and material processing by femtosecond laser has attracted intense interest.

Ultrafast laser ablation using far-field optics in a tight focusing configuration offers substantial advantages for the direct, maskless and arbitrary patterning of various materials and curved surfaces, while maintaining high feature resolution. Patterned surfaces with nanoscale craters or ablated pattern on electrospinning fibrous scaffolds can control and direct the cell migration. Control of topographical features in the cellular microenvironment can be achieved by combining FS-LDW with new materials. Direct laser writing by multi-photon polymerization is a nonlinear optical technique that allows the fabrication of 3D structures with resolution beyond the diffraction limit (~100nm). Incorporation of self-assembled block-copolymer nanomaterials into such structure fabricated by two-photon polymerization and, produced mesoscale structures endowed with guided nanoscale patterns (~10nm). This new capability can be used in many applications, including advanced optical metamaterials as well as for efficient photovoltaic energy conversion. In contrast, using low numerical aperture objective lens, fast fibrous structure (high aspect ratio) fabrication is possible. Well-organized fibrous structure can be used for patient-/disease-specific drug testing platform.

Femtosecond laser direct writing is promising technique that can induce surface (e.g., via ablation) or volumetric patterning in a serial fashion (multi-photon polymerization). We applied these techniques to design and control multi-functional platform fabrication. As a result, FS-LDW fabricated structures exhibit higher resolution fabrication, and efficient functionality (e.g., in controlling the migration on 2D and 3D structure / tuning of mechanical stiffness of structure / directed self-assembly of block copolymer / enhancement of fluidic mixing.

The last decade has seen exciting and unprecedented work at the interface between biology and materials science, particularly in the form of exquisite control of cell attachment, shape, traction, motility, and differentiation. Recent progress in developing techniques for microfabrication of biomaterials helps recapitulate many extracellular matrix (ECM) cues, making them progressively more useful for applications in biology and tissue engineering. This dissertation presents a study of femtosecond laser assisted micro- and nano-fabrication applicable for the biomaterials design aiming at achieving deliberate control of the cell behavior. Cell mechanics connected to cell alignment and migration, from speculation of cell response to the biomaterials surface to control of the response by topographic and chemical patterns, was studied.

Cell migration is an essential cellular process for a variety of physiological and pathological phenomena. Migration of leukocytes mediates phagocytic and immune responses. Migration of fibroblasts, vascular endothelial cells, and osteoblasts contributes to wound healing and tissue regeneration, and tumor cell migration is essential to metastasis. The cell migration process can be initiated by mechanical and chemical cues from the extracellular microenvironment. Factors affecting cell migration can be both soluble and insoluble macromolecules that comprise the ECM or mediate extracellular communication.

We apply femtosecond laser induced two-photon polymerization and multiphoton laser ablation lithography to fabricate precisely defined two-dimensional patterned surface in nanometer to micrometer length scale and three-dimensional filamentous materials to be used in studies addressing fundamental issues concerning control of cell adhesion and migration. We studied microscale topographical patterned surface for cell alignment and migration. Anisotropic micronscale ridge/groove patterned surfaces are powerful cues to control cell shape and to enhance or obstruct cell migration. However, they have limited ability to independently control the size and the distribution of the cell adhesive domains and the ligand density. Thus, we applied chemically and topographically patterned surfaces in the nanoscale to control cell adhesion and guide directional cell migration to overcome constraints of microscale patterns. During cell migration, contractile force is needed to move the cell body forward. We also studied the contractile force exerted by an individual locomoting cell using fiber scaffolds.