MRI: Acquisition of Nanolithography Instrumentation for Research and Education at Boston College

该计划将采用纳米光刻仪器在一系列的研究和教育活动中的物理，生物和化学领域在波士顿学院。 更重要的是，它将促进和加强这些领域在新兴综合科学领域（如癌症检测、太阳能电池、人工视觉、超材料和纳米SPM）的研究、培训和课堂合作。 该仪器将成为BC综合科学的极其重要的组成部分，将其最近建造的洁净室的能力从微米级扩展到纳米级。 它由两个高级SEM组成，每个SEM适用于电子束纳米光刻和聚焦离子束纳米加工。 前者是配备有Nabity纳米图案生成系统和Oxford EDS的JEOL JSM-7001 F场发射扫描电子显微镜。 它的放大倍数范围为10倍到100万倍，在最大加速电压为30 kV时，分辨率为1.2nm。 后者是JEOL JIB-4500 Multibeam SEM+FIB系统，一种基于LaB 6的聚焦离子束/聚焦电子束仪器，具有用于离子或电子束辅助沉积以及烧蚀的多气体注入系统。 它还有一个Kleindieck四探针插件，用于原位四探针纳米操纵和纳米级电探测，以及一个带有微型夹持器的旋转尖端，用于TEM提升和其他用途。 组合的仪器将由至少11名教师和他们的研究小组在BC的三个部门使用。 这相当于约50人，不包括学生在两个本科生和研究生课程（各1）在综合科学正在共同开发的PI，也不包括预期的使用外部用户从地区学院和当地公司。 仪器供应商，JEOL公司，已同意资助纳米仪器博士后两年，以帮助培训instrumentation用户community.Nontechnical Abstract纳米材料，如纳米线，纳米管，和分子材料提供最小的积木为未来的电子，磁性，光学微系统和纳米系统设备，不仅有减少的大小，但往往大大改善或新的特性。 对于许多这样的系统，内在的物理和生物化学特性现在才被揭示，通过合作，？综合科学？涉及物理学家、化学家、生物学家、医生和工程师的努力。纳米结构的小尺寸要求用于其制造、表征、操纵和致动的专用工具。扫描电子显微镜（SEM）配备了电子束光刻（EBL）和聚焦离子束（FIB）的使用是最有效的解决方案，这一需求。 聚焦离子束系统使用带电原子（离子）的窄束在基底或样品上烧蚀或存款材料，不仅具有纳米级分辨率，而且具有三维能力。 因此，FIB补充了EBL，并且一起实现了完整的纳米纤维能力。 该项目的新仪器将由波士顿学院三个部门（物理，化学和生物学）的教师及其本科生，研究生和博士后使用，以支持越来越多的资助和未来的综合科学领域的研究项目，如纳米磁性显微镜，碳纳米管使能药物输送和纳米工程视网膜植入物视觉假体。许多这些项目目前在其他大学收费使用EBL和FIB系统，结果不太令人满意，主要是由于使用不足和不定期，缺乏质量控制以及运输过程中的污染。这些仪器也将供当地大学的师生和当地商业实体使用，两者都是收费的。 物理，化学和生物学的本科生和研究生，包括妇女和少数民族成员，将在讲座，教学实验室和研究实验室环境中指导使用EBL和FIB系统进行尖端的纳米科学和技术实验，通过合作研究小组和两个新的，交叉列出的综合科学课程，专门围绕这些仪器开发，由三个系的私家侦探共同授课他们将能够在基础和应用科学研究中创建，测量和操纵微观和纳米结构。 在这样做的过程中，他们不仅将获得科学前沿的知识，而且还将利用综合科学的经验为纳米科学，医学和技术的现代世界的职业生涯做准备。

Technical AbstractThis program will employ nanolithography instrumentation in a range of research and education activities in the fields of physics, biology and chemistry at Boston College. More importantly, it will foster and strengthen research, training and classroom collaborations between these fields in emerging integrated science areas such as cancer detection, solar cells, artificial vision, metamaterials, and nanoscale SPM. The instrumentation will be extremely important components of integrated science at BC, expanding the capabilities of its recently-built clean room from the microscale to the nanoscale. It is comprised of two high-level SEMs, one each adapted for electron beam nanolithography and focused ion beam nanomachining. The former is a JEOL JSM-7001F field emission scanning electron microscope outfitted with Nabity nanometer pattern generation system and Oxford EDS. It has a magnificaition range of 10X to 1,000,000X, and a resolution of 1.2 nm at its maximum accelerating voltage of 30 kV. The latter is a JEOL JIB-4500 Multibeam SEM+FIB system, an LaB6-based focused ion beam/ focused electron beam instrument with a multi-gas injection system for ion- or electron-beam-assisted deposition as well as ablation. It also has a Kleindieck quad-probe insert for in situ four-probe nanomanipulation and nanoscale electrical probing, as well as a rotational tip with microgrippers for TEM lift-out and other uses. The combined instrumentation will be used by at least 11 faculty members, and their research groups, in three departments at BC. This amounts to about 50 individuals, not counting students in the two undergraduate and graduate courses (1 each) in Integrated Science being codeveloped by the PIs, and also not counting anticipated usage external users from area colleges and local companies. The instrument vendor, JEOL, has agreed to fund a nano-instrumentation post-doc for two years to help train the instrumentation user community.Nontechnical AbstractNanoscale materials such as nanowires, nanotubes, and molecular materials provide the smallest building blocks for future electronic, magnetic, and optical microsystem and nanosystem devices, having not only reduced size but often greatly improved or novel characteristics. For many such systems, intrinsic physical and biochemical properties are only now being revealed, through collaborative, ?integrated science? efforts involving physicists, chemists, biologists, physicians, and engineers. The small dimensions of nanostructures demand specialized tools for their fabrication, characterization, manipulation and actuation. Scanning electron microscopes (SEM) outfitted for electron beam lithography (EBL) and for focused ion beam (FIB) use are the most effective solutions to this need. The Focused Ion Beam system uses a narrow beam of charged atoms (ions) to either ablate or deposit material on a substrate or sample specimen, with not only nanometer-scale resolution but three-dimensional capability. FIB thus complements EBL, and together, full nanofabrication capabilities are enabled. The new instrumentation for this project will be used by faculty members and their undergraduate students, graduate students and postdocs in three departments at Boston College (Physics, Chemistry and Biology), to support a growing number of funded and future research projects in integrated science areas such as nanoscale magnetic microscopy, carbon nanotube-enabled drug delivery, and a nanoengineered retinal implant visual prosthesis. Many of these projects currently make use of EBL and FIB systems at other universities on a fee basis, with less-than-satisfactory results stemming largely from inadequate and aperiodic access, lack of quality control, and contamination during transport. The instrumentation will also be used by faculty and students at local colleges, and by local commercial entities, both on a fee-basis. Undergraduate and graduate students in physics, chemistry and biology, including women and members of minority populations, will be guided in lecture, teaching laboratory, and research laboratory settings to use the EBL and FIB systems to conduct cutting-edge nanoscience and technology experiments, via collaborative research groups and two new, cross-listed integrated science courses developed specifically around these instruments, and co-taught by the PIs from the three departments. They will be able to create, measure and manipulate micro- and nanostructures in fundamental and applied scientific research. In doing so, they will not only gain knowledge of the frontiers of science, but will also use the experience in integrated science to prepare for careers in the modern world of nanoscience, medicine and technology.