MRI: Acquisition of 3D Lithography System with Sub-Micrometer Resolution

该奖项支持佐治亚理工学院(佐治亚理工学院)获得亚微米分辨率的3D直接激光写入(3D-DLW)光刻系统，该系统将安装在马库斯纳米技术大楼(MNB)的共享用户、开放式洁净室设施中。利用双光子聚合，所提出的3D-DLW系统可以将任意形状的三维图案写入光敏聚合物薄膜，横向分辨率低至150 nm。因此，这些工具是佐治亚理工学院现有的光学和电子束光刻工具的补充，后者只能写入特征尺寸分别为1微米和10纳米的二维图案。MNB的无尘室是佐治亚理工学院电子和纳米技术研究所(IEN)的一部分，不仅向佐治亚理工学院的研究人员开放，也向来自学术界和工业界的外部用户开放，这是NSF资助的国家纳米技术协调基础设施(NNCI)计划的一部分。将这种3D直接激光写入光刻系统安装在美国一家主要的开放式洁净室设施中，不仅可以为佐治亚理工学院的研究人员提供最先进的亚微米分辨率的3D图形绘制功能，而且还可以为来自学术界、工业和政府实验室的外部用户提供访问权限。与现有的洁净室工具组合一起，3D-DLW系统将能够制造各种3D微和纳米结构，并将它们集成到设备和系统中。佐治亚理工学院的电子和纳米技术研究所将举办关于3D光刻工具的应用和能力的研讨会，向来自工业界的本科生和研究生、博士后、教师和研究人员推广该系统。PI和他的合作PI将使用3D-DLW系统的模块嵌入到佐治亚理工学院教授的课程中。最后，将为小学、初中和高中开发基于3D光刻的教育模块。凭借3D直接激光写入光刻系统以亚微米分辨率写入真实3D图形的独特能力，目标是在光子学和微光学、微电子机械系统(MEMS)、再生医学的微系统和微流体元件、细胞生物学和组织工程、多功能纳米材料以及光学和机械超材料等领域促进广泛的研究活动。因此，3D结构的材料选择不仅限于越来越多的(光敏)聚合物，而且可以使用模板和薄膜涂层技术来扩展到包括例如金属和无机介质。来自佐治亚理工学院工程学院和科学院以及邻近的埃默里大学的六所学院的15名教职员工已经确定了这种3D-DLW系统的研究和培训用途。

This award provides support for the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) to acquire a 3D Direct Laser Writing (3D-DLW) Lithography System with sub-micrometer resolution, which will be installed in the shared-user, open-access cleanroom facilities of the Marcus Nanotechnology Building (MNB). Using two-photon polymerization, the proposed 3D-DLW system can write arbitrarily-shaped, three-dimensional patterns into light-sensitive polymer films with a lateral resolution down to 150 nm. The tools, thus, complements optical and e-beam lithography tools available at Georgia Tech, which can only write two-dimensional patterns with feature sizes down to 1µm and 10nm, respectively. The cleanroom in the MNB is part of Georgia Tech's Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) and open not only to Georgia Tech researchers, but also outside users from academia and industry, as part of the NSF-funded National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) program. Installing this 3D Direct Laser Writing Lithography System in a major, open-access cleanroom facility in the US, enables access to state-of-the-art 3D patterning capability with sub-micrometer resolution not only for researchers from Georgia Tech, but also external users from academia, industry, and government labs. Together with the existing cleanroom tool set, the 3D-DLW system will enable fabrication of a wide variety of 3D micro- and nanostructures and their integration into devices and systems. Georgia Tech's Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology will offer workshops on the applications and capabilities of the 3D lithography tool to promote the system to undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, faculty and researchers from industry. The PI and his Co-PIs will embed modules using the 3D-DLW system into courses taught at Georgia Tech. Finally, education modules based on 3D lithography will be developed for elementary, middle, and high schools. With the 3D Direct Laser Writing Lithography System's unique ability to write true 3D patterns with sub-micrometer resolution, the goal is to catalyze a broad spectrum of research activities in areas such as photonics and micro-optics, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), microsystems and microfluidic components for regenerative medicine, cell biology and tissue engineering, multifunctional nanomaterials, as well as optical and mechanical metamaterials. Thereby, the material choice for the 3D structures is not only limited to an increasing number of (light-sensitive) polymers, but can be extended using templating and thin-film coating techniques to include, e.g., metals and inorganic dielectrics. Fifteen faculty members spanning six schools across Georgia Tech's College of Engineering and College of Sciences, as well as from neighboring Emory University have identified research and training uses for this 3D-DLW system.