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

作为国家纳米技术基础设施网络（NNIN）的成员之一，康奈尔纳米设施（CNF）收购了二氟化氙释放系统，这将使可复制蚀刻能力的发展成为可能，用于制造释放的微纳米结构。释放结构是通过选择性去除包含在表面微加工层下的牺牲材料而形成的。选择性地去除不同的材料，使表面层悬浮在基材上。悬架结构在一系列科学和工程实验和应用中都有应用。在表征方面，最常见的形式是原子力、隧道、磁共振和光学探针仪器中使用的悬浮探针。在微机电系统的生物学和电子学应用中，这些包括通过共振进行灵敏的质量检测，用于访问软材料区域的超细集成尖锐探针和谐振器。在物理学中，这些包括基于敏感的单电子晶体管的位置和电荷检测。这种结构的制造需要再现性和可靠性，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效。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自发地蚀刻硅，对其他材料有很高的选择性。CNF是NNIN的成员之一，它为科学界提供设备、教育和技术支持。NNIN的资源对全国开放。CNF的XeF2蚀刻系统将代表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都能利用这一过程。通过利用网络中包含的独特基础设施，这种能力的增加将导致涉及新材料、纳米级释放结构、具有新颖3d几何形状的设备和其他跨学科应用的有趣的新研究方向。

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.