Acquisition Proposal: Laboratory for Large Scale Integration of Nanostructures

加州理工学院(加州理工学院)最近在开发和应用从基础科学到技术应用的主要是单个纳米级结构方面取得了重大进展。在过去15年来共同致力于纳米制造的P·1‘S、谢勒教授和鲁克斯教授的研究小组中，电子束光刻技术已被开发并用于构建广泛的功能纳米级器件。横向尺寸通常在10纳米以下，这些小组的学生已经掌握了必要的电子束控制码的专业知识，并深入了解了实现超高分辨率的专门抗蚀剂处理和图案转移技术。现在，通过创造纳米系统来利用这些进展的时机已经成熟--即由作者正在完善的单个纳米级元素的相干耦合阵列组成的先进结构。这项设备采购计划，如果获得资金，将使这种研究成为可能。纳米器件阵列正在成为纳米科学和技术的优先事项。正如本提案(及其附带的支持函)中详细说明的那样，纳米级阵列将立即在提出者的研究计划中得到应用。他们目前涉及加州理工学院的13名教授，涉及基础物理、化学、生物学、工程和材料科学等学科。目前正在研究的具体课题包括：量子光学、量子计算、纳米光子学、自旋电子学、纳米力学、神经生理学、生物技术、电化学和分子电子学。这些应用需要制造跨越尺寸等级的结构-从通过最先进的纳米制造技术获得的最小尺寸，到基于芯片的集成系统的毫米到厘米域。制造这些复杂的纳米级阵列需要在晶片规模上进行多个连续对准的大场电子束光刻步骤。第二个重要的研究推力将通过所提出的仪器来实现。重点放在未来的技术应用上，这些应用需要用光刻技术整体产生纳米级的特征。这一规模远远低于目前通过深紫外光刻技术获得的尺寸，深紫外光刻技术是最先进的商业生产线的当前行业标准。为了满足这一技术需求，世界各地最近的努力都集中在开发新的、高分辨率、高通量的光刻方法上。投影x射线光刻、定形电子束光刻和机械转移方法(压花、模压或冲压)都已发展成为定义大面积100 nm以下结构的主要竞争者。然而，所有这些技术都有一个共同点，那就是对晶片规模的高分辨率掩模的需求。这些通常是由矢量扫描电子束光刻产生的。目前还没有替代的光刻工具可以提供与最先进的商用电子束写入器一样的灵活性、分辨率和放置精度来达到这一目的。学生接触到这样的工具将极大地加强在建议者的大学环境中的研究和培训。成功地启动这些拟议的努力需要一个全新的工具水平。具体地说，在低于50 nm的尺度上写入大(晶片尺度)特征场的能力是绝对关键的。这只能用最先进的电子束写入器来完成；然而，购买这样的仪器大大超出了大多数资助计划的范围。在这里，私人投资机构建议为这个实验室购买一套电子束光刻系统。这台仪器的成本将由加州理工学院(150万美元)、美国国家科学基金会(1.0万美元)和DARPA/DURINT(10万美元)分摊。用这些资金建立的实验室将在国际和平研究所的更大努力中构成一个互动的“专家”设施。这个精选的、专注于研究人员的小组将包括本科生和研究生、教职员工。该小组将共同致力于建立通往涉及大型纳米元件阵列的下一代结构的路线。

0116776RoukesMajor advances have recently been made at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in developing and employing what are, largely, individual nanometer-scale structures for applications ranging from fundamental science to technological applications. Within the research groups of the co--P1's, Professor Scherer and Professor Roukes, who have worked together on nanofabrication for the past fifteen years, electron beam lithography techniques have been developed and used for the construction of a wide range of functional nanometer-scale devices. Lateral dimensions below 10 nm are routinely obtained, and students in these groups have developed both expertise in the requisite electron-beam-control code and an in-depth understanding of the specialized resist processing and pattern transfer techniques enabling ultrahigh resolution. The time is now ripe to exploit these advances by creating nanosystems - i.e. advanced structures that comprise coherently coupled arrays of the individual nanoscale elements the authors are perfecting. This equipment acquisition proposal, if funded, would enable such research.Nanodevice arrays are emerging as a priority in nanoscale science and technology. As detailed in this proposal (and its accompanying letters of support), nanoscale arrays will find immediate applications within the proposers' research programs. These currently involve 13 Caltech professors, in disciplines spanning fundamental physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering and materials science. Among the specific topics currently being pursued are: quantum optics, quantum computation, nanophotonics, spin electronics, nanomechanics, neurophysiology, biotechnology, electrochemistry and molecular electronics. These applications require fabrication of structures spanning a hierarchy of size scales -from the smallest dimensions accessible via state-of-the-art nanofabrication techniques, to the millimeter to centimeter domain of integrated, chip-based systems. Fabrication of these complex nanoscale arrays requires multiple, successively-aligned steps of large-field electron beam lithography over the wafer scale.A second important research thrust would be enabled by the proposed instrumentation. This focuses upon future technological applications requiring nanometer-scale features produced lithographically en masse. This scale is far below the dimensions currently accessible via deep ultraviolet lithography, the current industry standard for state-of-the-art commercial production lines. To address this technological need, much recent effort world-wide has focused upon development of new, high-resolution, high-throughput lithographic methods. Projection x-ray lithography, shaped electron beam lithography, and mechanical transfer methods (embossing, molding, or stamping) all have evolved as principle contenders for the definition of sub-I 100nm structures over large areas. All of these techniques, however, have in common the need for wafer-scale high-resolution masks. These are normally generated by vector-scanned electron beam lithography. There are currently no alternative lithographic tools which offer comparable flexibility, resolution and placement accuracy for this purpose as state-of-the-au commercial electron beam writers. Student access to such an instrument would greatly enhance research and training in the proposers' university setting.An entirely new level of instrumentation is required to successfully initiate these proposed endeavors. Specifically, the capability of writing large (wafer scale) fields of features at the sub-5Onm scale is absolutely crucial. This can only be done with a state-of-the-art electron beam writer; however the acquisition of such an instrument is significantly beyond the scope of most funding programs. Here the PIs propose to purchase an electron-beam lithography system for this laboratory. The cost for this instrument will be shared by Caltech ($l.5M), the NSF ($1.OM), and DARPA/DURINT ($l.OM). The laboratory established with these funds will constitute an interactive, "expert" facility within the larger efforts of the PI's. This select, focused group of researchers will include undergraduate and graduate students, staff and faculty members. This group will be collectively dedicated to establishing routes to next-generation structures involving large arrays of nanoscale elements.