Generation Of Sidewall Patterns Using A Thermal Shape-Memory Polymer

该赠款为研究在衬底结构侧壁上制造芯片的新方法提供资金。因此，小型化半导体系统中的芯片密度将增加，从而导致改进的功能，例如增加的计算机速度。还没有开发出利用衬底结构的侧壁区域来产生图案的可行方法;仅衬底结构的顶表面用于存储芯片。所提出的工艺很好地利用了热形状记忆聚合物的应变恢复变形。当这种聚合物被加热到一定温度以上时，其从变形的形状恢复其原始形状。本项目将结合理论、数值和实验研究，系统地探索100纳米以下的侧壁芯片的制造方法。如果成功，该方法将成为制造密集分布芯片的小型化半导体系统的主要方法之一，本项目中对该方法的系统研究将是实现这一目标的关键步骤。该项目还将致力于帮助K-12，本科生和研究生可视化微米和纳米技术概念。此外，首席研究员致力于促进本科生和少数民族参与科学研究。

The grant provides funding for investigating a novel approach to fabricate chips on the sidewalls of substrate structures. Consequently, chip density in a miniaturized semiconductor system will be increased resulting in improved functionality, such as increased computer speed. There is no viable method yet developed which takes advantage of the sidewall areas of substrate structures to generate patterns; only the top surfaces of the substrate structures are used to store chips. The proposed process makes good use of the strain-recovery deformation of a thermal shape-memory polymer. Such a polymer recovers its original shape from the deformed shape when it is heated above a certain temperature. This project will systematically explore the creation of sidewall chips of sizes down to 100 nanometers, using a combination of theoretical, numerical and experimental investigations.If successful, this method will become one of the major approaches to generate miniaturized semiconductor systems of densely distributed chips, and the systematic investigation of the method in this project will be a critical move to achieve this goal. The project will also focus on an effort to help K-12, undergraduate and graduate students visualize micro- and nanotechnology concepts. In addition, the principal investigator is committed to furthering the involvement of undergraduate students and minorities in scientific research.