MRI: Development of a Complex Topography Photolithography Tool for Micro-Patterning on Non-Flat Substrates.

MRI：开发用于在非平面基板上进行微图案化的复杂形貌光刻工具。

• 批准号: 0923506
• 负责人: Wilhelmus Geerts
• 金额: $ 9.93万
• 依托单位: Texas State University - San Marcos
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-10-01 至 2013-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0923506&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Development; Complex; Topography; Photolithography

0923506GeertsTexas State University-San Marcos"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."Technical Summary: There is an emerging need to create meso-, micro-, and nano-scale structures on samples with arbitrary topography. This capability would enable the realization of new devices such as: sensors for vector quantities, CCD cameras without blind spots for military or surveillance applications, and integration of passive tracking electronics on insects and other small animals for surveillance, pest control, and population studies. Moreover, Diffractive Optical Element (DOE) systems, Photonic Band Gap materials, Meta material systems, and micromechanical systems (MEMS) all create non-planar structures. Hence, integrating these technologies in a smart device necessitates access to a non-planar lithography tool. This project aims to develop a unique 3D lithography tool. An existing laser beam writer will be modified; the substrate?s local topography, including height, slope, and curvature will be determined in real time from the contrast distribution of substrate images taken with a high speed camera. The photoresist thickness and the substrate?s local optical properties will be estimated from real time spectroscopic measurement data. A novel high speed liquid crystal spatial modulator will be applied to shape, resize, and orient the focused laser beam in order to correct for topography, photoresist film thickness and substrate?s optical properties variations, and facilitate a constant exposure dose. Computer imaging and computer graphics techniques, such as multiple exposures, exposures with variable intensity, dithering, and equalization will be applied to the beam in order to generate almost perfect pixels. The proposed instrument will be developed by faculty and students from the physics, electrical engineering, and computer science departments of Texas State University. It will serve as a tool and resource for researchers and students in five different departments. Techniques developed from this research will be shared with lithography and imaging research/engineering communities. The developed prototype instrument will be used for teaching lithography by integrating it into relevant undergraduate and graduate courses. Layman Summary: Over the last 30 years, semiconductor manufacturing has seen a 30% annual increase in productivity. Improvements in lithography, the optical photographic process that is used to create integrated circuits, contribute for approximately half of this gain. In 2009, a top of the line industrial lithographic tool prints structures down to 45 nm (1000 times thinner than a human hair) with a speed of one billion Mega-pixels per second. Currently available instruments, however, only work on flat substrates making them unsuitable for many interesting applications. This project aims to develop a lithography tool that can be used to create small structures on not flat samples with arbitrary topography, such as shirt buttons, grains of sand, or the wings of an insect. The proposed instrument will make use of an existing laser beam writer which includes a laser that is focused through an optical microscope on the sample. Small structures are written directly on a photo-sensitive layer on top of the sample, by moving the sample under the focused laser beam. Corrections will be made to the shape and size of the focused laser beam using a novel high speed liquid crystal to adjust for the local properties of the sample. Computer graphics and optical techniques will be used to determine those local properties. The proposed tool will facilitate novel projects in integrated electronics, optics, mechanics, and magnetics, and enable the realization of novel new devices such as CCD cameras without blind spots, passive tracking electronics on insects for surveillance and pest control, medical operation tools with integrated optical and electronic sensors, and wearable computers (smart electronic gourmets). Commercialization is a distinct possibility. The major goal of this research is to collaborate with academia and industry on the development of the research findings and its dissemination. The proposed project will engage undergraduates and will seek out minorities and women to participate in the research.

0923506Geerts德克萨斯州立大学圣马科斯分校“该奖项是根据 2009 年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法 111-5）资助的。”技术摘要：日益需要在具有任意形貌的样品上创建介观、微米和纳米尺度的结构。这种能力将有助于实现新设备，例如：矢量传感器、用于军事或监视应用的无盲点 CCD 摄像机，以及在昆虫和其他小动物上集成无源跟踪电子设备，用于监视、害虫控制和种群研究。此外，衍射光学元件（DOE）系统、光子带隙材料、超材料系统和微机械系统（MEMS）都可以创建非平面结构。因此，将这些技术集成到智能设备中需要使用非平面光刻工具。该项目旨在开发一种独特的 3D 光刻工具。将修改现有的激光束写入器；基材的局部形貌，包括高度、坡度和曲率，将根据高速相机拍摄的基材图像的对比度分布实时确定。光致抗蚀剂的厚度和基底的局部光学特性将根据实时光谱测量数据来估计。新型高速液晶空间调制器将用于对聚焦激光束进行整形、调整大小和定向，以校正形貌、光刻胶膜厚度和基底的光学特性变化，并促进恒定的曝光剂量。计算机成像和计算机图形技术，例如多次曝光、可变强度曝光、抖动和均衡，将应用于光束，以生成几乎完美的像素。拟议的仪器将由德克萨斯州立大学物理系、电气工程系和计算机科学系的教师和学生开发。它将作为五个不同部门的研究人员和学生的工具和资源。这项研究开发的技术将与光刻和成像研究/工程界共享。开发的原型仪器将用于光刻教学，并将其整合到相关本科生和研究生课程中。外行总结：在过去 30 年里，半导体制造业的生产率每年增长 30%。光刻技术（用于制造集成电路的光学照相工艺）的改进贡献了大约一半的收益。 2009 年，顶级工业光刻工具以每秒 10 亿兆像素的速度打印小至 45 纳米（比人类头发细 1000 倍）的结构。然而，目前可用的仪器只能在平坦的基板上工作，这使得它们不适合许多有趣的应用。该项目旨在开发一种光刻工具，可用于在具有任意地形的不平坦样品上创建小型结构，例如衬衫纽扣、沙粒或昆虫的翅膀。拟议的仪器将利用现有的激光束写入器，其中包括通过光学显微镜聚焦在样品上的激光。通过在聚焦激光束下移动样品，将小型结构直接写入样品顶部的感光层上。将使用新型高速液晶对聚焦激光束的形状和尺寸进行校正，以调整样品的局部特性。计算机图形和光学技术将用于确定这些局部特性。 所提出的工具将促进集成电子、光学、机械和磁学方面的新颖项目，并能够实现新颖的新设备，例如无盲点的 CCD 相机、用于监视和害虫控制的昆虫无源跟踪电子设备、具有集成光学和电子传感器的医疗操作工具以及可穿戴计算机（智能电子美食）。商业化是一种明显的可能性。 这项研究的主要目标是与学术界和工业界合作开发研究成果及其传播。拟议的项目将吸引本科生，并寻找少数族裔和女性参与研究。