MRI: Acquisition of a direct write laser lithography system

圣路易斯的华盛顿大学计划购买一种仪器，用于在衬底表面上绘制微米和纳米级特征的图案化。拟议的仪器将安置在校园内的共享用户洁净室设施中。该仪器能够以600纳米的空间精度绘制二维设计和三维特征的图案。这种精确度是通过使用精细的计算机引导的激光束在覆盖有光敏薄膜的衬底上“写入”来实现的。一旦图案被压印下来，感光薄膜就可以用作去除底层材料的‘掩膜’。因此，图案从计算机生成的文件转移到正在设计的材料。这一独特仪器的问世将影响整个密苏里州的纳米科学和工程研究。直接受该仪器影响的高级研究包括但不限于，研究纳米材料中的新现象，合成独特的纳米结构以有效地收集和存储能量，制造用于成像和传感的生物启发电路，以及设计用于早期疾病检测和诊断的设备。该工具将通过两个学期的长课程和额外的工作人员主导的一对一培训，在圣路易斯华盛顿大学的本科生和研究生的课程和培训计划中广泛使用。接触这种仪器的学生将在微米和纳米技术的科学和工程方面变得精通和知识，使他们在高科技就业市场上具有全球竞争力。这项核磁共振计划的目标是在许多科学和工程领域实现新的微米和纳米尺度的研究。这一目标将通过收购海德堡DWL 66激光直写系统来实现，该系统解决了密苏里州大学和研究机构目前可用的图案转移技术的重大限制。先进的光刻能力，包括灰度曝光模式和使用传统接触光刻对印刷特征的铬掩模进行图案化的能力，将允许制造具有一系列尺寸依赖行为的设备：0D(例如量子点)、1D(纳米线)、2D(硅晶体管技术)和3D(微流体和微型机电(MEMS)系统)。Heidelberg DWL 66在单个集成平台上融合了传统图形技术的最佳属性，包括(1)设计/重新设计灵活性，(2)具有亚微米、微米和毫米级特征的大面积快速并行图形，以及(3)比光学和UV光刻更精细的最终分辨率。直接写入系统将影响跨越大范围和应用的研究。该仪器支持的研究目标包括：(1)纳米线/纳米片·器件、原子薄晶体、超导量子电路以及聚合物和复合微纳结构的性质测量，(2)用于增强光学传感的生物启发纳米结构、非侵入性化学传感器、用于纳米传感的微谐振器，以及(3)具有复杂3D喷嘴特征的微电子/微流体/MEMS器件，用于靶向机械操作介导的药物输送到生物细胞、用于细胞运动研究的微流体环境以及等离子体和光子器件。这些研究项目的基础是广泛的微纳结构，任何其他可用的光刻仪器都无法提供这种结构。

Washington University in St. Louis proposes to acquire an instrument for patterning of micro and nanoscale features on substrates surfaces. The proposed instrument will be housed in the shared user cleanroom facility on campus. The instrument is capable of patterning two dimensional designs and three dimensional features with a spatial accuracy of 600 nanometers. This accuracy is achieved using a fine computer-guided laser beam to 'write' on a substrate covered with a light sensitive film. Once the pattern is imprinted, the light sensitive film can be used as a 'mask' for removing underlying material. Thus, the pattern is transferred from the computer generated file to the material being engineered. The availability of this unique instrument will impact nanoscale science and engineering research in the entire state of Missouri. Advanced research directly impacted with this instrument includes, but is not limited to, studying novel phenomena in nanomaterials, synthesizing unique nanostructures for efficient energy harvesting and storage, fabricating bio-inspired circuits for imaging and sensing and, engineering of devices for early disease detection and diagnostics. This instrument will be intensively used in the curricula and training program of undergraduate and graduate students at Washington University in St. Louis through two semester long courses and additional, staff-led one-on-one training. Students exposed to this instrument will become well-versed and knowledgeable in the science and engineering of micro- and nanotechnology, making them globally competitive in the high technology jobs market.The goal of this MRI proposal is to enable new micro- and nanoscale research in numerous fields of science and engineering. This goal will be achieved through the acquisition of the Heidelberg DWL 66+ laser direct write system, which addresses significant limitations associated with available pattern transfer techniques currently available at universities and research institutions in the state of Missouri. The advanced lithographic capabilities, including gray scale exposure mode and the ability to pattern chrome masks for printing features using conventional contact lithography, will allow the fabrication of devices with a range of dimensionally-dependent behaviors: 0D (e.g., quantum dots), 1D (nanowires), 2D (Si transistor technology), and 3D (microfluidics, and micro-electromechanical (MEMS) systems). The Heidelberg DWL 66+ incorporates the best attributes of conventional patterning technologies on a single integrated platform, including (1) design / redesign flexibility, (2) rapid and concurrent patterning of large areas with sub-micron, micron and millimeter scale features, and (3) a finer ultimate resolution than optical and UV photolithography. The direct write system will impact research spanning broad length scales and applications. Research objectives supported by this instrument include: (1) property measurement of nanowires / nanosheets and devices, atomically thin crystals, superconducting quantum circuits, and polymeric and composite micro- and nanostructures, (2) bio-inspired nanoscale structures for enhanced optical sensing, noninvasive chemical sensors, microresonators for nanoscale sensing, and (3) microelectronic / microfluidic / MEMS devices featuring complex 3D nozzle profiles for targeted mechanoporation-mediated drug delivery to biological cells, microfluidic environments for cell motility studies and plasmonic and photonic devices. The broad range of micro- and nanostructures fundamental to these research projects are not accommodated by any other available lithographic instrument.