MRI: Acquisition of Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 3D Lithography System

桌子是一个平面(2D)，而山丘有一些垂直的拓扑(2.5D)，然而我们与之互动并构成所有生物的大多数对象都是三维的(3D)。这些3D对象通常包括悬挑、嵌入的结构、空洞；因此，复制它们非常复杂。到目前为止，纳米/微制造一直停留在2D领域。要制造2.5D或3D结构，人们必须使用逐层工艺。这可以在比人类头发(100微米)小10000倍的尺度上完成，但有几个限制。由于对齐每一层和所有重复步骤所需的精度，逐层处理非常慢。目前的系统非常昂贵，而且不是为制造这些3D结构而设计的。Nanoscribe光子专业版GT2(Nanoscribe)现在允许用户制作亚微米分辨率(x-y方向0.15微米，z方向1微米)的真正3D结构。国家科学基金会的重大研究仪器计划使该系统的获得成为可能。Nanoscribe支持研究和教育领域多个部门的用户。这些研究包括但不限于3D打印、光伏、光电子学、用于智能粘合剂和组织生长的生物医学工程以及光子结构的进展。外部用户和合作者也可以使用Nanoscribe，主要是在中西部上段。Nanoscribe还将作为3D打印、纳米制造和生物医学工程领域的本科生和研究生的实践教学工具；作为这样一个最近的发展，学生们将接触到最先进的3D制造系统。此外，Nanoscribe将被纳入K-12课程，以帮助正在考虑或尚未决定进入STEM领域的女性和少数族裔学生。Nanoscribe系统允许在一系列介质中制造纳米结构。这些包括紫外线活化聚合物、水凝胶、使用聚合物作为电镀负极、使用聚合物作为碳源在惰性环境和高温下碳化，以及定制共混物，其中聚合物用作碳纳米管等填充介质的粘结剂。Nanoscribe支持由几个联邦机构(NSF、NIH、DOD)和其他机构支持的几个领域的研究。在密歇根理工学院，Nanoscribe主要支持以下方面的研究：1)推动较小尺寸的3D打印并将其纳入开源技术开发环境，2)通过等离子体结构减少光学损失来改进光伏电池，3)用于一系列应用的超材料，如超分辨率成像、紧凑型天线、量子计算和通信，4)拓扑和奇异光子学，5)通过复杂的3D亚微米结构改进智能粘合剂，以及6)由碳纳米管和聚合物混合物制成的导电纳米材料，将在基础水平上进行初步研究，然后用于组织工程。通过在密歇根技术共享微制造设施中提供它，Nanoscribe将向该地区和全国的所有研究人员提供。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A table is a flat surface (2D), while a hill has some vertical topology (2.5D), however most objects we interact with and that make up all living things are three dimensional (3D). These 3D objects often include overhangs, embedded structures, voids; therefore making them very complex to replicate. Until now nano/microfabrication has been stuck in a 2D realm. To fabricate a 2.5D, or 3D, structure one has to use a layer-by-layer process. This can be done at a scale 10,000 times smaller than a human hair (100 µm), but there are several limitations. Layer-by-layer processing is very slow due to the precision required to align each layer and all the repetitive steps. The current systems are very expensive and are not designed to make these 3D structures. The Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 (Nanoscribe) now allows users to produce a true 3D structure with sub-micron resolution (0.15 µm in the x-y direction and 1 µm in z direction). The Major Research Instrument program of the National Science Foundation enables the acquisition of the system. The Nanoscribe supports users from many departments in research and education. The research includes, but is not limited to, 3D printing, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, biomedical engineering for smart adhesives and tissue growth, and advancements in photonic structures. The Nanoscribe is also available to external users and collaborators, mainly in the upper Midwest. The Nanoscribe will also be used as a hands-on teaching tool for undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of 3D printing, nanofabrication, and biomedical engineering; being such a recent development, students are going to get exposure to a state-of-the-art system for 3D fabrication. Furthermore, the Nanoscribe will be incorporated into K-12 programs to help engage with women and minority students that are thinking, or undecided, about going into a STEM field.The Nanoscribe system allows for the fabrication of nanostructures in a range of media. These include UV activated polymers, hydrogels, using the polymer as a negative for electroplating, using the polymer as source of carbon for carbonization using an inert environment and high temperature, and custom blends where the polymer is used as the binder for a filler medium like carbon nanotubes. The Nanoscribe supports several areas of research supported by several Federal agencies (NSF, NIH, DOD), and others. At Michigan Tech the Nanoscribe mainly supports research in 1) Advancement of 3D printing at smaller-size scales and incorporating these into open-source technical development environments, 2) Improving photovoltaic cells through reduced optical losses with plasmonic structures, 3) Metamaterials to be used in a range of applications – super-resolution imaging, compact antennas, quantum computing, and communications, 4) Topological and singular photonics, 5) Improvement of smart adhesives through complex 3D submicron structures, and 6) Conductive nanomaterials fabricated from a blend of carbon nanotubes and polymers to be initially studied at the fundamental level and then used in tissue engineering. By having it available in the Michigan Tech shared Microfabrication Facility, the Nanoscribe will be available to all researchers in the region and across the country.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.