MRI: Acquisition of Instrumentation for Characterization and Fabrication of Hard and Soft Structures for Remote and On-Site National Usage (NNIN Consortium)

美国国家纳米技术基础设施网络(NNIN)的成员康奈尔纳米设备公司(CNF)收购了氙气二氟化合物释放系统，这将使开发用于制造释放的微结构和纳米结构的可重复蚀刻能力成为可能。释放结构是通过选择性地去除包含在表面微机械加工层下的牺牲材料而形成的。选择性地去除不同的材料，使表层悬浮在衬底上。悬挂结构被广泛应用于各种科学和工程实验及应用中。在表征方面，非常常见的形式是用于原子力、隧道、磁共振和光学探头仪器的悬浮探针。在微电子机械系统的生物学和电子学应用中，这些应用包括通过共振进行灵敏质量检测、用于访问软材料区域的超精细集成尖锐探头以及谐振器。在物理学中，这包括基于灵敏的单电子晶体管的位置和电荷检测。这种结构的制造需要重复性和可靠性，由于脆弱的悬浮结构通常通过液体介质释放，释放过程中的表面张力会导致失败。二氟化氙(XeF2)干气蚀刻是一种直接通过气相实现这种释放的技术。XeF2对其他材料具有很高的选择性，可以自发地刻蚀硅。CNF是NNIN的成员，它向科学界提供设备、教育和技术支持。NNIN的资源是向全国开放的。XeF2蚀刻系统在CNF的出现将代表着NNIN内第一个这样的干气蚀刻能力，并立即支持涉及超过125个CNF用户的各种学科的约70个项目。NNIN的结构将使整个网络的用户能够利用这一过程。通过利用网络中包含的独特基础设施，这种能力的增加将带来有趣的新研究方向，涉及新材料、纳米级释放结构、具有新颖3D几何结构的设备以及其他跨学科应用。

The acquisition of the Xenon difluoride release system, by Cornell Nanoscale Facility (CNF), a member of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) will make possible the development of reproducible etch capability for fabricating released micro- and nanostructures. Released structures are formed by the selective removal of a sacrificial material contained beneath a surface micro-machined layer. The dissimilar material is removed selectively leaving the surface layer suspended from the substrate. Suspended structures are employed in a range of science and engineering experiments and applications. In characterization, very common forms are the suspended probes used in atomic force, tunneling, magnetic resonance, and optical probe instruments. In biology and electronics applications of micro-electro-mechanical systems, these include sensitive mass detection through resonance, ultra-fine integrated sharp probes used to access regions of soft materials, and resonators. In physics, these include sensitive single electron transistor based detection of position and charge. Fabrication of such structures requires reproducibility and reliability, and since the fragile suspended structures are commonly released through a liquid medium, surface tension during the release process, leads to failure. Xenon difluoride (XeF2) dry gas etching is a technique for achieving this release directly through the gas phase. XeF2 etches silicon spontaneously with high selectivity to other materials. The NNIN, of which CNF is a member, provides equipment, education and technical support to the scientific community. The resources of NNIN are openly available to the entire nation. The presence of a XeF2 Etch System at CNF will represent the first such dry gas etch capability within the NNIN and immediately support an estimated 70 projects in a variety of disciplines involving over 125 users of CNF. The structure of NNIN will enable users throughout the network to take advantage of this process. By leveraging the unique infrastructure contained within the network, the addition of this capability will lead to interesting new directions of research involving new materials, nanoscale released structures, devices with novel 3-D geometries, and other interdisciplinary applications.