MRI: Acquisition of Ultra-High Resolution Electron Beam Lithography for Nanoscience in Southeast Louisiana

这项重大研究仪器奖允许杜兰大学获得一种工具，使材料和设备的制造和成像在纳米尺度上，以支持整个路易斯安那州东南部的纳米科学和纳米技术研究。来自路易斯安那州杜兰州立大学、路易斯安那州泽维尔大学和新奥尔良大学的教师都在从事这项工作。用户包括来自物理，化学，材料科学，电气工程，化学工程，生物医学工程和机械工程系的教师。该工具将部署在杜兰微/纳米制造设施，这是该地区微和纳米制造工作的中心。利用该工具的项目将追求电信，原子级设备，药物设计，化学催化剂，高速计算等方面的进步。杜兰大学和邻近的机构正在扩大材料科学和工程的教育和研究，这一工具将成为推进这些努力的资产。除了加强共同的研究和教育目标外，该工具还将通过各种外联活动和伙伴关系，帮助代表性不足群体的学生接触纳米技术。它还将为大新奥尔良/巴吞鲁日地区不断增长的技术经济提供重要的能力。该奖项使杜兰大学能够获得超高分辨率电子束光刻和电子显微镜系统，以支持路易斯安那州东南部的纳米科学和技术工作。代表杜兰、路易斯安那州立大学、路易斯安那泽维尔大学和新奥尔良大学的教师参加了会议，代表了从物理和化学到生物医学和机械工程的各个部门。与该地区现有的纳米芯片能力相比，所要求的设备将使分辨率提高6倍，写入速度提高10倍，稳定性提高10倍以上;它将使写入面积增加10万倍以上，以及目前不可用的其他功能。使用该仪器的研究人员将从事各种项目，包括用于平面透镜的纳米级光学天线、轨道角动量相位板、结构生物学表征和二维红外光谱。由2D过渡金属硫族化物和1D纳米线组成的器件将用于高速和低能耗计算。其他项目包括嵌段共聚物的定向自组装，从界面应变生成纳米折纸3D结构，神经系统的功能相关模型，新型复合材料，基于硅橡胶的传感器等等。该工具还将支持该地区大学最近材料科学和工程教育以及外展工作的显着增长，包括该州第一个材料工程博士项目（杜兰大学）以及路易斯安那州少数族裔参与联盟（LAMP）等项目。

This Major Research Instrumentation award allows Tulane University to acquire a tool to enable fabrication and imaging of materials and devices at the nanometer scale, to support nanoscience and nanotechnology research across southeastern Louisiana. Faculty from Tulane, Louisiana State University, Xavier University of Louisiana, and the University of New Orleans are engaged in this effort. Users include faculty from physics, chemistry, materials science, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, and mechanical engineering departments. The tool will be deployed in the Tulane Micro/Nanofabrication Facility which is the hub for micro- and nanoscale fabrication efforts in the region. Projects that utilize this tool will pursue advances in telecommunications, atomic scale devices, pharmaceutical design, chemical catalysts, high speed computing, and much more. Tulane and neighboring institutions are expanding education and research in materials science and engineering, and this tool will be an asset in advancing those efforts. In addition to enhancing shared research and educational objectives, the tool will help expose students from underrepresented groups to nanotechnology through a variety of outreach activities and partnerships. It will also provide an important capability to the growing tech economy of the greater New Orleans/Baton Rouge region.This award enables Tulane University to acquire an ultra-high resolution electron beam lithography and electron microscopy system to support nanoscience and technology efforts across southeastern Louisiana. Faculty representing Tulane, Louisiana State University, Xavier University of Louisiana, and the University of New Orleans are participating, representing departments from physics and chemistry to biomedical and mechanical engineering. Compared to existing nanofabrication capabilities in the region, the requested equipment will enable a six-fold increase in resolution, a ten-fold improvement in writing speed, more than a ten-fold improvement in stability; it will increase the write area by more than 100,000 times, as well as additional features that are currently unavailable. Researchers using the instrument will pursue a variety of projects, including nanoscale optical antennas to be used for flat lenses, orbital angular momentum phase plates, structural biology characterization, and 2D infrared spectroscopy. Devices composed of 2D transition metal chalcogenides and 1D nanowires will be created for high speed and low energy consumption computing. Other projects include directed self-assembly of block copolymers, generation of nano-origami 3D structures from interfacial strains, functionally relevant models of the nervous system, new composite materials, silicon nanowire-based sensors, and much more. The tool will also support the recent significant growth of materials science and engineering education and outreach efforts at universities in the region, including the first materials engineering PhD program in the state (at Tulane) and programs such as the Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation (LAMP).