Surface Plasmon-Assisted Nanolithography

该项目将在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校进行，其目标是开发一种新的纳米制造技术，即表面等离子体辅助纳米光刻（SPAN），以大规模并行方式制造亚50 nm结构。PI将通过实验和理论模拟相结合进行全面的研究，以获得通过纳米狭缝和光刻胶增强光传输的基本理解。使用不同的掩模材料，光刻胶，并在基板上的涂层的SPAN过程的优化设计将进行旨在解决潜在的必要性，可预测性，生产率和生产力使用SPAN。拟议的研究需要纳米光子学和纳米制造的独特组合。作为一种通用的纳米制造技术，SPAN工艺的技术影响将非常广泛，从纳米电子学的制造到纳米光子学和纳米生物系统的开发。与现有的纳米制造技术相比，这种新方法提供了高产量和低成本，这对工业规模制造至关重要。此外，这项工作的结果将提供令人兴奋的教学材料和有趣的实验室项目。将研究与教育相结合的拟议努力将使本科生和研究生更多地接触纳米科学和工程技术及其应用。特别是，改善正在进行的NEMS/MEMS研究生课程，启动一个新的本科课程-介绍微和纳米工程”，并将新兴的纳米工程组件到传统的本科核心课程的实施将对研究生和本科生教育产生重大影响。

The objective of this project, to be conducted at the University of Texas at Austin, is to develop a new nano-fabrication technique, Surface Plasmons-Assisted Nanolithography (SPAN), to manufacture sub-50 nm structures in a massively parallel fashion. The PI will conduct comprehensive investigations by a combination of experiments and theoretical simulation to obtain a fundamental understanding of enhanced optical transmission through nano-slits and photoresist. Optimal design of the SPAN process using different mask materials, photoresists, and coating on the substrate will be carried out aiming to address the underlying necessities for predictability, producibility, and productivity using SPAN. The proposed research requires the unique combination of nano-photonics and nanomanufacturing. As a general purpose nanomanufacturng technique, the technical impact of the SPAN process will be very broad, ranging from the fabrication of nanoelectronics, to the development of nanophotonics and nano-bio systems. Compared to existing nano-fabrication techniques, this new method offers high throughput and low costs, which are critical to industrial scale manufacturing. Moreover, the results of this work will provide exciting teaching materials and interesting laboratory projects. The proposed efforts of integrating research with education will offer undergraduates and graduate students increased exposure to nanoscience and engineering technologies and applications. In particular, improving on-going graduate courses in NEMS/MEMS, initiation of a new undergraduate course -Introduction to Micro and Nanoengineering", and implementation of emerging nanoengineering components into traditional undergraduate core courses will have a significant impact on graduate and undergraduate education.