MRI: Acquisition of NanoFrazor for Nanofabrication of Advanced Nanomaterials with Ultimate Resolution and Flexibility

纳米技术的进步取决于制造、定位和连接纳米结构的能力。纳米技术在广泛应用中的成功依赖于合适的纳米光刻和纳米图案方法的存在。传统的制造方法在分辨率、3D图案、软材料和新材料缺乏灵活性方面的局限性促使了新方法的发展。该主要研究仪器（MRI）奖支持收购NanoFrazor，这是一种独特的工具，用于快速制造纳米结构和纳米器件，具有极高的分辨率和高通用性。利用该技术进行的3D模式的基础研究具有低于10纳米的分辨率和高写入速度，有可能在纳米电子学，纳米磁学，纳米光子学，催化和生物医学方面带来变革性的应用。纽约市立大学（CUNY）和哥伦比亚大学的研究人员将广泛使用NanoFrazor，并将促进新的跨学科研究合作。它位于纽约市立大学的高级科学研究中心，将为本科生和研究生提供研究和培训机会，其中许多人来自代表性不足或低收入家庭，并为公众提供实践活动。NanoFrazor是一种独特的工具，专为需要获取非常规材料(包括聚合物、一维材料（如纳米管）、二维材料和生物分子（如蛋白质）的任意纳米几何形状的地形和化学图案的研究人员而开发。甚至3D纳米图案也可以在一个步骤中制造，具有无与伦比的1纳米精度。其他功能包括无掩模图案和无标记的覆盖/拼接，闭环光刻的原位同时书写和成像，高速（mm/s）和大面积（104 cm2）。NanoFrazor主要是为被热纳米尖加热时蒸发的电阻的地形图案设计的。然而，这个MRI项目将在NanoFrazor中实现其他类型的热光刻方法，扩展其功能。例如，该奖项将使最近的热化学纳米光刻（TCNL）方法（利用局部热量改变表面的化学性质）在NanoFrazor中得以实施，以推进潜在的变革性基础研究：(1)纳米图案聚合物，为干细胞分化和神经科学研究创造复杂的图案和梯度蛋白质；(2)用于电子和光学应用的二维材料的受控纳米掺杂；（iii）自旋电子学研究的磁畴图像化，以及（iv）单分子传感应用的纳米图像化纳米管。

Progress in nanotechnology depends on the capability to fabricate, position and interconnect nanoscale structures. The success of nanotechnology for a wide range of applications relies on the existence of suitable nanolithography and nanopatterning approaches. The limitations of conventional fabrication methods in terms of resolution, 3D patterning, and lack of flexibility for soft and novel materials have motivated the development of new methods. This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of a NanoFrazor --a unique tool for rapid-fabrication of nanostructures and nanodevices with extreme resolution and high versatility. Fundamental research using this technology for 3D patterning with sub-10 nm resolution and high writing speeds has the potential to bring transformative applications in nanoelectronics, nanomagnetism, nanophotonics, catalysis and biomedicine. The NanoFrazor will be broadly accessible to researchers at City University of New York (CUNY) and Columbia and will serve to catalyze new interdisciplinary research collaborations. Housed in CUNY's Advanced Science Research Center, it will provide research and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom are from underrepresented or low-income families, and hands-on activities for the general public. The NanoFrazor is a unique tool developed for researchers who need access to topographical and chemical patterning of arbitrary nanoscale geometries of non-conventional materials including polymers, 1D materials such as nanotubes, 2D materials, and biomolecules such as proteins. Even 3D nanopatterns can be fabricated in a single step, with the unmatched precision of 1 nm. Further features include mask-less patterning and marker-free overlay/stitching, in-situ simultaneous writing and imaging for closed loop lithography, high speed (mm/s), and large areas (104 cm2). The NanoFrazor is primarily designed for topographical patterning of resists that evaporate when they are heated by the hot nanotip. However, this MRI project will implement in the NanoFrazor other types of thermal lithographic methods extending its capabilities. For example, this award will enable the recent thermochemical nanolithography (TCNL) method, which utilizes local heat to change the chemistry of surfaces, to be implemented in the NanoFrazor to advance potentially transformative fundamental research on (i) nanopatterning polymers to create complex patterns and gradients of proteins for stem cells differentiation and neuroscience studies, (ii) controlled nanoscale doping of 2D materials for electronics and optics applications, (iii) magnetic domains patterning for spintronics studies, and (iv) nanopatterning nanotubes for single molecule sensing applications.