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.

“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。”技术概述：在任意形貌的样品上创建中观、微观和纳米尺度的结构是一个新兴的需求。这种能力将使新设备得以实现，例如：用于矢量的传感器、用于军事或监视的无盲点CCD相机，以及用于监视、虫害控制和人口研究的昆虫和其他小动物的无源跟踪电子设备的集成。此外，衍射光学元件（DOE）系统、光子带隙材料、元材料系统和微机械系统（MEMS）都可以产生非平面结构。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。现有的激光束写入器将被修改；底物?根据高速相机拍摄的基片图像的对比度分布，实时确定S的局部地形，包括高度、坡度和曲率。光刻胶厚度和基板？S的局部光学性质将从实时光谱测量数据估计。一种新型的高速液晶空间调制器将应用于聚焦激光束的形状、大小和定向，以校正地形、光刻胶膜厚度和衬底？S光学性质的变化，并有利于恒定的暴露剂量。计算机成像和计算机图形技术，如多次曝光，曝光与可变强度，抖动和均衡将应用于光束，以产生几乎完美的像素。该仪器将由德克萨斯州立大学物理系、电子工程系和计算机科学系的教师和学生共同开发。它将成为五个不同部门的研究人员和学生的工具和资源。从这项研究中开发的技术将与光刻和成像研究/工程社区共享。开发的原型仪器将整合到相关的本科和研究生课程中，用于光刻教学。外行人总结：在过去的30年里，半导体制造业的生产率以每年30%的速度增长。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增益。2009年，一种顶级的工业光刻工具可以以每秒10亿像素的速度打印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面基板上工作，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非平坦样品上创建小结构，例如衬衫纽扣，沙粒或昆虫的翅膀。提出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。通过在聚焦的激光束下移动样品，将小结构直接写在样品顶部的光敏层上。利用一种新型高速液晶对聚焦激光束的形状和大小进行校正，以调整样品的局部特性。计算机图形学和光学技术将用于确定这些局部属性。提出的工具将促进集成电子、光学、机械和磁学方面的新项目，并使新型设备得以实现，如无盲点的CCD相机、用于监测和虫害控制的昆虫被动跟踪电子设备、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（智能电子美食家）。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，发展和传播研究成果。拟议的项目将吸引本科生，并将寻求少数民族和妇女参与研究。