MRI: Development of Nanofabrication Instrument

本研究的目的是开发一种无需光刻即可制作纳米机电器件和分子布线结构的纳米加工设备。该仪器利用电子束蒸发器，其装备成相对于沉积基底以纳米精度平移模板掩模。差分蚀刻用于使用后续工艺技术形成纳米级边缘限定特征。最小特征尺寸直接由纳米定位器在不同材料的蒸发之间的平移确定。仪器开发将重点建立高精度仪器。在开发中要解决的分辨率限制参数是：（1）模板掩模在三维中平移的纳米控制，（2）蒸发材料的准直，（3）温度控制和热屏蔽，（4）载物台设计和振动控制，以及（5）在蒸发过程中引入反馈控制。拟议活动的智力价值在于创造各种各样的新纳米结构，包括高纵横比，纳米尺寸的金属或介电线，以使分子，杠杆和纳米机电设备的特征尺寸和间距控制在纳米尺寸的表征。具有这种精度的结构不容易通过电子、离子或光子光刻技术或纳米压印来创建。拟议活动的更广泛影响是在丹顿真空，仪器的制造商，和圣母院的密切合作。开发完成后，丹顿真空准备生产的设备商业化，从而将仪器转移到研究界。

The objective of this research is develop a nanofabrication instrument capable of producing nanometer scale electromechanical devices and molecular wiring structures without lithography. The instrument utilizes an electron beam evaporator equipped to translate a stencil mask with nanometer precision with respect to a deposition substrate. Differential etching is used to form the nanometer-scale edge-defined features using a subsequent process technique. The minimum feature sizes are directly determined by the nanopositioner's translation between evaporation of dissimilar materials. The instrument development will focus on establishing a high precision instrument. The resolution limiting parameters to be addressed in the development are: (1) nanometer-control of the stencil mask translation in three dimensions, (2) collimation of the evaporated material, (3) temperature control and thermal shielding (4) stage design and vibration control, and (5) incorporation of feedback control in the evaporation process. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity is in the creation of a wide variety of new nanostructures including high-aspect-ratio, nanometer-sized metal or dielectric lines to enable the characterization of molecules, cantilevers, and nanoelectromechanical devices with feature size and spacing controlled at the nanometer dimension. Structures with this degree of precision are not easily created by electron, ion, or photon lithographic techniques, or nanoimprint. The broader impact of the proposed activity is in the close collaboration of Denton Vacuum, the makers of the instrument, and Notre Dame. Upon completion of the development, Denton Vacuum is prepared to produce the equipment commercially thereby transferring the instrument to the research community.