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努力：分辨率不受衍射限制的透镜。具体地说，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光刻过程中辐射波长的限制，但由于其近场性质，我们的方法不受衍射限制。具体地说，目的是：(I)展示超薄(亚微米)碳化硅薄膜的特性，将可调谐二氧化碳激光器产生的电磁辐射聚焦到小于100 nm的光斑尺寸；(Ii)研究与制造超薄“完美”碳化硅透镜有关的关键问题：最佳的薄膜沉积技术、衬底材料、成像波长、薄膜厚度和操作温度；(Iii)研究两种“完美”透镜：独立(真空-碳化硅-真空)透镜和附着衬底-碳化硅-衬底的透镜的相对优缺点；以及(Iv)制定一个路线图，将完美透镜作为一种实用工具，用于纳米尺寸生物和化学对象的纳米光刻和电磁传感。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：纳米制造、纳米成像和纳米生物学。例如，可以设想使用红外光进行纳米光刻的创新方法。红外频率范围内的高功率短脉冲源的可获得性使这种前景非常诱人。潜在的更广泛的影响包括以最适合这些生物对象的频率使用激光对单个细胞和长生物分子(如蛋白质或DNA)的部分进行成像和操作。还可以通过红外辐射激发细菌孢子的振动模式，对各种亚微米大小的细菌孢子进行个人指纹识别。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.