MRI: Acquisition of a Maskless Lithography System

物理、工程、化学和生物学领域的许多尖端研究领域都依赖于制造一微米或更小尺寸的结构的能力。传统上，用于制造这种结构的光刻工艺是使用高分辨率掩模来完成的，其中光线通过掩模投射到光敏光致抗蚀剂聚合物上，以产生所需的亚微米图案。这些面具的周转时间很长，这会减慢原型和测试过程，而且面具可能会很昂贵。相比之下，无掩模光刻系统允许人们使用移动的激光束将图案直接写入光刻胶上；使用这种系统不需要掩模，它也可以用于在内部制造定制掩模。该合同使科罗拉多州立大学(CSU)能够获得一套无掩模光刻系统。该仪器安置在加州州立大学的净室设施中，任何感兴趣的用户都可以使用。这一工具加强了各个领域的研究并使之成为可能。它允许研究人员快速高效地创造亚微米结构，大大缩短了想法和实现之间的时间，并使科学和工程的全新方向成为可能。这一工具也直接使学生受益。来自科罗拉多州北部/怀俄明州地区20多个研究小组的学生和博士后将立即使用该工具进行研究。此外，还将开发一门带有动手组件的微制造短期课程，这将使CSU的学生以及附近没有提供此类课程的设施的机构受益，包括怀俄明大学和北科罗拉多大学。科罗拉多州的前沿地区正经历着高科技领域的巨大增长，这门课程将确保学生接受与该领域的工作越来越相关的技能方面的实践培训。根据该奖项将获得的无掩膜光刻系统使科罗拉多州立大学和北科罗拉多/怀俄明州地区邻近机构能够进行与纳米科学相关的广泛研究。所选择的系统的主要优势是其高分辨率(0.8微米)，并且能够轻松地与预先存在的图案对准。该工具针对在小范围内直接写入光刻图案进行了优化，并且非常适合能够轻松地重新想象和重新设计样品的研究环境。新的无掩模光刻系统使许多学科的新研究成为可能。CSU物理学家使用该仪器研究磁性纳米结构中的自旋动力学，具有微米级特征的薄膜中的超导涡旋，以及新型自旋电子器件。在化学上，亚微米接触将被制造成与氧化锌纳米棒进行电接触，在工程上，该仪器将被用于在硅和玻璃上制造新型微米尺寸的生物传感器，制造具有独特润湿性的纳米结构，并制造高效太阳能电池。无掩模光刻系统将安装在CSU的洁净室设施中，并将提供给尽可能广泛的用户基础。CSU中央仪器设施(CIF)在培训学生和维护科学设备方面的专业知识将被利用，以提供专门的工作人员来监督仪器，这将确保仪器可访问和维护，并确保所有用户接受高质量的培训。

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.