MRI: Acquisition of a Maskless Lithography System

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Many cutting-edge areas of research in physics, engineering, chemistry, and biology depend on the ability to make structures with sizes of a micron or less. Traditionally, lithography, the process used to make such structures, is done using a high-resolution mask where light is projected through the mask onto a light-sensitive photoresist polymer to create the desired submicron patterns. These masks have a long turnaround time, which slows the prototyping and testing process, and the masks can be costly. In contrast, a maskless lithography system allows one to write a pattern directly onto photoresist using a moving laser beam; with such a system no mask is required, and it can also be used to fabricate custom masks in-house. This award enables the acquisition of a maskless lithography system at Colorado State University (CSU). The instrument housed in CSU's cleanroom facility will be available to any interested users. This instrument enhances and enables research in a variety of areas. It allows researchers to rapidly and efficiently create submicron structures, which greatly shortens the time between ideas and realization, and it enables entirely new directions in science and engineering. This instrument also directly benefits students. Students and postdocs from more than 20 research groups in the northern Colorado/Wyoming region will use the tool immediately for research. Additionally, a short course on microfabrication with a hands-on component will be developed that will benefit students at CSU as well as neighboring institutions that do not have the facilities to offer such a course, including the University of Wyoming and the University of Northern Colorado. The Front Range area of Colorado is experiencing tremendous growth in the high tech sector and this course will ensure that students have hands-on training on skills that are becoming increasingly relevant for jobs in the areaPhotolithography is a critical capability for nanoscale research and materials science. The maskless lithography system that will be acquired under this award enables a wide range of nanoscience-related research at Colorado State University and at neighboring institutions in the Northern Colorado/Wyoming area. The key advantages of the chosen system are its high resolution (0.8 micron) and its ability to easily align to pre-existing patterns. This tool is optimized for the direct writing of lithographic patterns over a small area and is well suited to a research environment where the ability to easily reimagine and redesign a sample is a particular asset. The new maskless lithography system enables new research in a number of disciplines. CSU physicists use the instrument to study spin dynamics in magnetic nanostructures, superconducting vortices in films with micron-scale features, and novel spintronic devices. In chemistry, submicron contacts will be fabricated to make electrical contact to ZnO nanorods, and in engineering, the instrument will be used to create novel micron-sized biosensors on silicon and glass, to fabricate nanostructures that have unique properties of wettability, and to make high-efficiency solar cells. The maskless lithography system will be housed in CSU's cleanroom facility and will be available to as wide a user base as possible. The expertise of CSU's Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF) in training students and maintaining scientific equipment will be leveraged to provide dedicated staff to oversee the instrument, which will ensure that the instrument is accessible and maintained, and that all users receive high-quality training.