MRI: Acquisition of a Large-Scale, High-Throughput, Electron Beam Lithography System for Multi-Scale Patterning

纽约市立大学先进科学研究中心的纳米制造设施是一个跨学科的研究空间，是研究人员在纳米电子学、光子学、纳米生物界面和纳米制造技术所能实现的其他几个领域开展工作的多样化社区的所在地。通过购买高吞吐量、大面积电子束光刻系统来解决的一个关键挑战是能够快速可靠地生成多个长度尺度的图案：从几十纳米到几厘米的尺寸。通过这样做，该系统将加速研究，并使研究人员能够快速，经济有效地原型电子，光子和其他设备，这些设备将作为未来技术的基础。此外，该实验室是一个位于纽约的中心，用于指导高中生，本科生，研究生和早期职业研究人员。该系统将用于帮助学生解决美国面临的复杂问题，STEM研究社区和世界。从长远来看，在卫生技术、环境科学和能源生产方面的根本性新技术的发展预计会产生重大的社会影响。电子束光刻是一种直接写入/无掩模光刻技术，用于快速生成纳米分辨率的图案。在过去的十年中，出现了大量的新材料系统，如二维和三维拓扑绝缘体，石墨烯和过渡金属二硫属化物等，有望彻底改变光子学，纳米电子学和纳米生物界面领域。如果成功实现，由这些材料制成的器件包括高迁移率场效应晶体管，拓扑和门控超导电路，高效光学和光自旋电子架构以及容错量子计算机。在过去的十年中，为了理解支撑这些设备运行的科学原理，进行了大量的基础研究。为了实现这些材料提供的潜在前景，必须克服的下一个挑战是构建大规模原型装置的能力，以表明这些材料系统是21世纪世纪技术的可行候选者。获得高通量电子束光刻系统是解决这些挑战的关键一步，它可以快速制作新型器件的原型。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The NanoFabrication Facility at the Advanced Science Research Center at the City University of New York is an interdisciplinary research space which is home to a diverse community of researchers who conduct work in the fields of nano-electronics, photonics, nano-bio interfaces, and several other fields enabled by nanofabrication. A key challenge, which is addressed by the purchase of a high throughput, large area electron beam lithography system is the ability to quickly and reliably generate patterns across multiple length scales: from tens of nanometers to several centimeters in size. In doing so, the system will accelerate research and enable the researchers to rapidly and cost effectively prototype electronic, photonic, and other devices which will serve as the basis of future technologies. Furthermore, the laboratory is a NYC based hub for mentoring high school, undergraduate, graduate students, and early career researchers. This system will be used to prepare students to tackle the complex problems facing the U.S., the STEM research community, and the world. In the long term, significant societal impact is anticipated in the development of fundamentally new technologies for health technologies, environmental science and energy generation.Electron beam lithography is a direct write / maskless lithographic technique used to rapidly generate patterns with nanometer resolution. In the past decade a large number of new material systems, such as two and three dimensional topological insulators, graphene, and transition metal dichalcogenides and many others emerged with the promise of revolutionizing the fields of photonics, nanoelectronics, and nano-bio interfaces. If successfully implemented, devices made from these materials include high mobility field effect transistors, topological and gate-controlled superconducting circuits, and high efficiency optical and optospintronic architectures, and fault-tolerant quantum computers. During the past decade a lot of fundamental research was done to understand the scientific principles that underpin the operation of these devices. The next challenge that must be overcome in order to realize the potential promise offered by these materials is the ability to build large scale prototype devices to show that these materials systems are viable candidates for 21st century technology. The acquisition of a high throughput electron beam lithography system is a key step in solving these challenges by enabling the rapid prototyping of novel devices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.