NIRT: Nanotechnological Manufacturing: Nanostructured Polymers Designed for Plasma/Energetic Beam Templating of Materials

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National Science FoundationABSTRACTPI name: Oehrlein, Gottlieb S.Institution: University of MarylandProposal Number: 0506988NIRT: Nanotechnological Manufacturing: Nanostructured Polymers Designed for Plasma/Energetic Beam Templating of MaterialsThis proposal was received in response to Nanoscale Science and Engineering initiative, NSF 04-043, category NIRT. The objective of the proposed research is to establish an atomistic understanding of the interactions of nanostructured polymers with the plasmas and energetic beams used during pattern transfer, and to identify the molecular design parameters and plasma processing parameters required to control patterning at nanoscale dimensions. A strong motivation for this proposal is the recognition that molecular design of organic materials for emerging nanolithographic approaches based on soft lithography and self-assembly is not constrained by the requirement for transparency at short optical wavelengths. This profound change provides the opportunity to design organic masking materials for greatly enhanced stability in plasma environments. The approach is to bring together an interdisciplinary team of academic and industrial researchers, who, through their combined expertise and research capabilities are positioned to significantly advance the cutting edge of controlled nanoscale patterning of materials. This includes design and synthesis of organic imaging materials; nanostructuring the materials using soft lithography and self-assembly, exposing the organic molecules to highly controlled and well-characterized plasma environments and energetic beams, and characterizing and simulating the changes of the chemistry, structure and topography induced by these interactions. Successful completion of the project tasks will enable design of new nanoscale imaging materials with enhanced chemical and structural stability in plasma/energetic beam environments and will lead to the development of advanced plasma equipment\processes. These are prerequisites to controlled precision patterning of materials at the nanoscale, which is one of the critical foundations of future nanotechnological manufacturing. The interdisciplinary character and inter-dependence of the various research tasks along with the university-industry collaboration of this NIRT project provide unique educational opportunities for the students, post-doctoral fellows, faculty and industrial researchers involved, and will be used to enhance class-room based teaching.