Advanced nanostructure and device fabrication

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Nanoscale science and technology is one of the fastest growing research areas in recent years. Nanofabrication techniques are the cornerstone for this rapid growth; without this capability, nanotechnology would be a mere speculation. In fact, while the birth of nano-science/technology was occurred over fifty years ago, from Richard Feynman's famous 1959 lecture "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", growth in this field was rather slow in its first 30 years - mainly due to the lack of nanofabrication capability (and its accessibility). It is only since the mid-1990s that nano-research has experienced explosive grown, coinciding with the development and more availability of a broad range of nanofabrication techniques. The nanotechnology industry has experienced a similar fast growth since a decade later.***There are two approaches to enabling fabrication at the nanoscale: "bottom-up", which involves chemical synthesis and self-assembly, and "top down", where nanostructures are generated or duplicated by lithography. For the "top-down" method, electron beam lithography, focused ion beam etching/lithography and nanoimprint lithography are generally used to create or duplicate nano-structures. My research over the past 18 years has centered on nanostructure and device fabrication using top-down approaches, which offer more precise control than the bottom up methods in terms of nanostructure size, geometry and location.***The primary objective of the proposed research program is to develop leading-edge nanofabrication techniques. The ultimate goal of nanofabrication research is to improve performance in terms of resolution, throughput, three dimensional (3D) patterning, reproducibility, capability of patterning on irregular (non-planar) surface, compatibility with the substrate/superstrate materials, etc. Over the next five years, my group will work to address some of these key issues, through three highly integrated projects.***The first project is helium ion lithography. Helium ion microscope (HIM) is without doubt the most significant breakthrough in the family of focused ion beam in the past decade. At present, UW has the only HIM in Canada. It offers very high resolution with significantly less damage and contamination to the device than the popular gallium ion beam. The second project aims to develop a novel nano-lithography technique capable of nanofabrication on non-planar or irregular surface, for which the applications include optoelectronic device, and chemical and biological sensors. The last project endeavors to push the limit of electrochemical etching of silicon to create extremely deep and narrow nanoscale hole array in silicon. One application of such structure in silicon is anode for lithium ion battery, which offers one order higher theoretical energy storage capacity than carbon.