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

一张桌子是一个平面（2D），而一座山有一些垂直拓扑（2.5D），然而大多数与我们互动的物体和构成所有生物的物体都是三维的（3D）。这些3D物体通常包括悬垂、嵌入结构、空洞；因此复制起来非常复杂。到目前为止，纳米/微加工一直停留在二维领域。要制造2.5D或3D结构，必须使用一层一层的工艺。这可以在比人类头发（100微米）小1万倍的尺度上完成，但有几个限制。逐层处理非常缓慢，因为需要精确对齐每一层和所有重复的步骤。目前的系统非常昂贵，而且不适合制作这些3D结构。Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 （Nanoscribe）现在允许用户生成亚微米分辨率的真正3D结构（x-y方向0.15 μ m， z方向1 μ m）。国家科学基金的重大研究仪器项目使该系统得以获得。Nanoscribe支持来自许多研究和教育部门的用户。研究包括但不限于3D打印、光伏、光电子、智能粘合剂和组织生长的生物医学工程，以及光子结构的进步。外部用户和合作者也可以使用Nanoscribe，主要是在中西部地区。Nanoscribe还将被用作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动手教学工具；作为最近的发展，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，以帮助那些正在考虑或尚未决定进入STEM领域的女性和少数族裔学生。纳米书写系统允许在一系列介质中制造纳米结构。这些包括UV活化聚合物、水凝胶、将聚合物用作电镀的负极、使用惰性环境和高温将聚合物用作碳化的碳源，以及将聚合物用作填料介质（如碳纳米管）的粘合剂的定制共混物。Nanoscribe支持由几个联邦机构（NSF、NIH、DOD）和其他机构支持的几个研究领域。在密歇根理工大学，Nanoscribe主要支持以下研究：1)小尺寸3D打印的进步，并将其纳入开源技术开发环境；2)通过减少等离子体结构的光学损耗来改进光伏电池；3)用于超分辨率成像、紧密型天线、量子计算和通信等一系列应用的超材料；5)通过复杂的三维亚微米结构改进智能粘合剂；6)由碳纳米管和聚合物混合制成的导电纳米材料，初步研究在基础水平，然后用于组织工程。通过在密歇根理工大学共享的微加工设施中使用，纳米抄写器将可供该地区和全国的所有研究人员使用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

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.