MRI: Acquisition of a direct write laser lithography system

位于圣路易斯的华盛顿大学提议获得一种仪器，用于在基板表面上绘制微纳米尺度的图案。拟议的仪器将被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。这种精度是通过使用精细的计算机引导激光束在覆盖有光敏薄膜的基板上“写入”来实现的。一旦图案被印上，光敏膜就可以用作去除底层材料的“掩模”。这样，图案就从计算机生成的文件转移到正在设计的材料上。这种独特的仪器的可用性将影响整个密苏里州的纳米科学和工程研究。该仪器直接影响的先进研究包括但不限于研究纳米材料中的新现象，合成用于高效能量收集和存储的独特纳米结构，制造用于成像和传感的生物启发电路，以及用于早期疾病检测和诊断的设备工程。这一工具将通过两个学期的课程和由工作人员领导的额外一对一培训，在圣路易斯华盛顿大学本科生和研究生的课程和培训方案中大量使用。接触该仪器的学生将精通微纳米技术的科学和工程知识，使他们在高科技就业市场上具有全球竞争力。这个MRI提案的目标是在科学和工程的许多领域中实现新的微纳米尺度的研究。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模式转移技术的重大限制。先进的光刻功能，包括灰度曝光模式和使用传统接触光刻技术为打印特征设计铬掩模的能力，将允许制造具有一系列尺寸依赖行为的器件：0D（例如，量子点），1D（纳米线），2D（硅晶体管技术）和3D（微流体和微机电（MEMS）系统）。海德堡DWL 66+在单一集成平台上融合了传统图纹技术的最佳属性，包括(1)设计/重新设计的灵活性，(2)具有亚微米，微米和毫米尺度特征的大面积快速并发图纹，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研究跨越广泛的长度尺度和应用。本工具支持的研究目标包括：(1)纳米线/纳米片和器件、原子薄晶体、超导量子电路以及聚合物和复合微纳米结构的性能测量；(2)用于增强光学传感的仿生纳米级结构、无创化学传感器、用于纳米级传感的微谐振器；(3)具有复杂3D喷嘴轮廓的微电子/微流体/ MEMS器件，用于定向机械孔介导的药物输送到生物细胞。用于细胞运动研究和等离子体及光子器件的微流体环境。对于这些研究项目来说，广泛的微观和纳米结构是任何其他可用的光刻仪器都无法容纳的。

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.