NER: Phonon Enhanced Near Field Infrared Lithography

该项目的目标是对与研制“完美”透镜有关的关键问题进行实验和理论研究：这种透镜的分辨率不受衍射限制。具体来说，我们将展示一种新的纳米光刻方法：声子增强近场红外光刻（PENFIL）。虽然光学光刻和材料图案化的标准技术的分辨率受到负责光刻过程的辐射的波长的限制，但是我们的方法由于其近场性质而不受衍射限制。 具体目标是：（一）申请人的姓名;（ii）研究与超薄“完美”SiC透镜制造相关的关键问题：最佳薄膜沉积技术、衬底材料、成像波长、薄膜厚度和操作温度;（三）研究两种“完美”镜片的相对优缺点：（真空-SiC-真空）透镜和附着的衬底-SiC-衬底）透镜;及（iv）发展一个路线图，以利用完美透镜作为纳米光刻和纳米电磁传感的实用工具，拟议项目的主要智力意义是在红外频率范围内的完美透镜的实验演示，这可能导致纳米技术的几个领域的重大进展：纳米级制造、纳米成像和纳米级生物学。例如，可以设想涉及使用红外光的纳米光刻的创新纳米制造方法。在红外频率范围内的高功率短脉冲源的可用性使得这样的前景非常吸引人。 潜在的更广泛的影响包括使用激光以最适合这些生物物体的频率对单个细胞和长生物分子（如蛋白质或DNA）的切片进行成像和操纵。还可以设想通过用红外辐射激发其振动模式来对亚微米尺寸的各种细菌孢子进行个体指纹识别。此外，这项研究将使学生接触到从材料生长到透镜制造再到光学测试的广泛领域，涉及几所大学和布鲁克海文国家实验室。

The objective of this project is to carry out experimental and theoretical efforts on critical issues related to the development of a "perfect" lens: the lens whose resolution is not diffraction limited. Specifically, we will demonstrate a new approach to nanolithography: Phonon Enhanced Near-Field Infrared Lithography(PENFIL). While the resolution of standard techniques of optical lithography and material patterning is limited by the wavelength of radiation responsible for the lithographic process, our approach is not diffraction limited due to its near-field nature. Specifically, the goals are: (i) To demonstrate the property of an ultra-thin (sub-micron) film of SiC to focus the electromagnetic radiation produced by a tunable CO2 laser to a spotsize smaller than 100 nm; (ii) To investigate the critical issues related to manufacturing of an ultra-thin "perfect" SiC lens: optimal film deposition technique, substrate material, imaging wavelength, film thickness, and operation temperature; (iii) To investigate the relative advantages and disadvantages of two types of "perfect" lenses: free-standing (vacuum-SiC-vacuum) lens and the attached substrate-SiC-substrate) lens; and (iv) To develop a roadmap towards utilizing perfect lensing as a practical tool for nanolithography and electromagnetic sensing of nanometer-sized biological and chemical objects.The main intellectual significance of the proposed project is the experimental demonstration of the perfect lensing in the infrared frequency range, which is likely to lead to significant advances in several areas of nanotechnology: nanoscale manufacturing, nanoimaging, and nanoscale biology. For example, innovative approaches to nanofabrication involving nanolithography using infrared light could be envisioned. The availability of high-power short pulse sources in the infrared frequency range make such prospects very appealing. Potential broader impacts include the imaging and manipulation of individual cells and sections of long biological molecules (such as proteins or DNA) using laser light at the frequencies most appropriate for those biological objects. Individual fingerprinting of various bacterial spores of sub-micron size by exciting their vibrational modes with infrared radiation can also be envisioned. In addition, this research will expose students to a broad range of areas from material growth to lens fabrication to optical testing, involving several universities and Brookhaven National Laboratory.