MRI: Acquisition of NanoFrazor for Nanofabrication of Advanced Nanomaterials with Ultimate Resolution and Flexibility

纳米技术的进步取决于制造、定位和互连纳米结构的能力。纳米技术能否在广泛的应用中取得成功，取决于是否存在合适的纳米光刻和纳米刻蚀方法。传统制造方法在分辨率、3D图案化方面的局限性，以及对软材料和新材料缺乏灵活性，推动了新方法的发展。这一重大研究仪器(MRI)奖支持收购NanoFrazor，这是一种以极高分辨率和高通用性快速制造纳米结构和纳米设备的独特工具。利用该技术制作分辨率低于10 nm、写入速度快的3D图形的基础研究有可能在纳米电子学、纳米磁学、纳米光子学、催化和生物医学中带来革命性的应用。纽约城市大学(CUNY)和哥伦比亚大学的研究人员将广泛使用NanoFrazor，并将推动新的跨学科研究合作。该中心位于纽约城市大学高级科学研究中心，将为本科生和研究生提供研究和培训机会，其中许多人来自代表性不足或低收入家庭，并为普通公众提供动手活动。NanoFrazor是为需要获得非常规材料(包括聚合物、纳米管等一维材料、2D材料和蛋白质等生物分子)的任意纳米级几何形状的地形和化学图案的研究人员开发的独特工具。即使是3D纳米管，也可以在一步内制造出来，精度达到无与伦比的1纳米。其他功能包括无掩模图案化和无标记覆盖/缝合、用于闭环光刻的原位同步写入和成像、高速(mm/S)和大面积(104cm2)。NanoFrazor主要是为抗蚀剂的表面图案设计的，当抗蚀剂被热的纳米尖端加热时，抗蚀剂会蒸发。然而，这个磁共振成像项目将在NanoFrazor中实施其他类型的热敏光刻方法来扩展其能力。例如，该奖项将使最近的热化学纳米光刻(TCNL)方法能够在NanoFrazor中实施，该方法利用局部热来改变表面的化学成分，以推动以下潜在变革性的基础研究：(I)纳米包覆聚合物以创建用于干细胞分化和神经科学研究的复杂蛋白质图案和梯度；(Ii)用于电子和光学应用的受控纳米级掺杂2D材料；(Iii)用于自旋电子学研究的磁区图案化；以及(Iv)用于单分子传感应用的纳米纳米管。

Progress in nanotechnology depends on the capability to fabricate, position and interconnect nanoscale structures. The success of nanotechnology for a wide range of applications relies on the existence of suitable nanolithography and nanopatterning approaches. The limitations of conventional fabrication methods in terms of resolution, 3D patterning, and lack of flexibility for soft and novel materials have motivated the development of new methods. This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of a NanoFrazor --a unique tool for rapid-fabrication of nanostructures and nanodevices with extreme resolution and high versatility. Fundamental research using this technology for 3D patterning with sub-10 nm resolution and high writing speeds has the potential to bring transformative applications in nanoelectronics, nanomagnetism, nanophotonics, catalysis and biomedicine. The NanoFrazor will be broadly accessible to researchers at City University of New York (CUNY) and Columbia and will serve to catalyze new interdisciplinary research collaborations. Housed in CUNY's Advanced Science Research Center, it will provide research and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom are from underrepresented or low-income families, and hands-on activities for the general public. The NanoFrazor is a unique tool developed for researchers who need access to topographical and chemical patterning of arbitrary nanoscale geometries of non-conventional materials including polymers, 1D materials such as nanotubes, 2D materials, and biomolecules such as proteins. Even 3D nanopatterns can be fabricated in a single step, with the unmatched precision of 1 nm. Further features include mask-less patterning and marker-free overlay/stitching, in-situ simultaneous writing and imaging for closed loop lithography, high speed (mm/s), and large areas (104 cm2). The NanoFrazor is primarily designed for topographical patterning of resists that evaporate when they are heated by the hot nanotip. However, this MRI project will implement in the NanoFrazor other types of thermal lithographic methods extending its capabilities. For example, this award will enable the recent thermochemical nanolithography (TCNL) method, which utilizes local heat to change the chemistry of surfaces, to be implemented in the NanoFrazor to advance potentially transformative fundamental research on (i) nanopatterning polymers to create complex patterns and gradients of proteins for stem cells differentiation and neuroscience studies, (ii) controlled nanoscale doping of 2D materials for electronics and optics applications, (iii) magnetic domains patterning for spintronics studies, and (iv) nanopatterning nanotubes for single molecule sensing applications.