MRI: Acquisition of Instruments to Establish a Capability in Nanoimprinting of New Materials

该奖项支持收购Jenoptik热压印系统Hex 03，用于使用最新开发的聚合物纳米压印技术制造纳米结构。该仪器将由加州大学欧文分校(UCI)和其他地方的大约12名研究人员使用。用于制造纳米结构的传统光刻技术仅限于大于50纳米的特征尺寸。存在更高分辨率的技术，但吞吐量极低，因此不适用于大规模生产。聚合物的纳米压印是一种制造纳米结构的新技术，该技术已由PI和他的同事在实验室规模上进一步开发和完善，在直径约0.5英寸的硅片上制造纳米结构。新仪器将被改造为能够在几分钟内使用PI开发的技术在4英寸晶片上对聚合物进行纳米压印。增强的纳米制造能力将吸引工业用户和大学研究人员，从而为UCI的学生提供与更广泛范围的研究人员互动的机会。UCI在通过其洁净室设施与行业(约45家公司)合作方面已经有了良好的记录。这些工业用户将可以使用纳米压印机。对于学生来说，这种设备也将大学的能力扩展到一个新的领域。大约25名研究生和本科生将在第一年接受使用这种机器的培训，更多的人将通过课堂项目和讲座接触到它的用处。收购纳米压印机将对纳米技术、微流体学、邮票平版印刷以及用于生物医学应用的微纳技术等课程的教学和发展产生重大影响。

This award supports the acquisition of a Jenoptik Hot Embossing System Hex 03 for the fabrication of nanostructures using a newly developed technique for nanoimprinting of polymers. The instrument will be used by about a dozen researchers at University of California, Irvine (UCI) and elsewhere. Conventional photolithographic techniques for fabricating nanostructures are limited to feature sizes larger than 50 nm. Higher resolution techniques exist but have extremely low throughput and are therefore impractical for large-scale production. Nanoimprinting of polymers is a new technique for fabricating nanostructures that has been further developed and refined by the PI and his colleagues on the laboratory scale, producing nanostructures on a silicon wafer roughly 0.5" in diameter. The new instrument will be adapted to enable nanoimprinting of polymers using the techniques developed by the PI on 4" wafers in minutes.The enhanced nanofabrication capabilities will attract industrial users as well as university researchers, thus providing opportunities for UCI students to interact with a broader spectrum of researchers. UCI already has a track record in working with industries (~ 45 companies) through its clean room facility. These industrial users will have access to the nanoimprinter. For students, this equipment also extends the university's capabilities into a new arena. Approximately 25 graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in the use of this machine in the first year, and a larger number will be exposed to its usefulness through classroom projects and lectures. The acquisition of the nanoimprinter will significantly impact the teaching and development of courses on nanotechnologies, microfluidics, stamp lithography,.and micro- and nano-technology for biomedical applications.