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

这一重大研究仪器奖允许杜兰大学获得一种工具，以实现纳米级材料和设备的制造和成像，以支持路易斯安那州东南部的纳米科学和纳米技术研究。来自杜兰大学、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职员工都参与了这项工作。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/纳米加工设施中，该设施是该地区微米和纳米尺度制造工作的枢纽。利用这一工具的项目将在电信、原子尺度设备、制药设计、化学催化剂、高速计算等方面取得进展。杜兰大学和邻近的机构正在扩大材料科学和工程方面的教育和研究，这一工具将是推动这些努力的一项资产。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，帮助来自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/巴吞鲁日地区日益增长的科技经济提供重要能力。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努力。代表杜兰大学、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职员工代表了从物理和化学到生物医学和机械工程的各个系。与该地区现有的纳米制造能力相比，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；写入面积将增加100,000倍以上，以及目前无法提供的额外功能。使用该仪器的研究人员将开展各种项目，包括用于平板透镜的纳米光学天线、轨道角动量相板、结构生物学表征和2D红外光谱。由二维过渡金属硫化物和一维纳米线组成的器件将被创造出来，用于高速和低能耗的计算。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、神经系统功能相关模型、新型复合材料、基于硅纳米线的传感器等。该工具还将支持该地区大学最近材料科学和工程教育的显著增长和推广工作，包括该州(杜兰)的第一个材料工程博士项目和路易斯安那州少数民族参与联盟(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).