Acquisition of a Laser Pattern Generator for Student Training in a 100-User Micro/Nanofabrication Laboratory

该赠款为普林斯顿大学光子学和光电材料中心（POEM）微/纳米纤维实验室提供设备，并提供快速周转图案化工具，包括掩模制作和直接写入。这个洁净室有100名用户，大多数是来自五个学术部门的博士生，以及来自当地初创公司的本科生和个人。项目范围包括硅和玻璃上的微流控表面阵列和微流控DNA光谱仪，III-V半导体中的单电子干涉仪和二维量子流体结构，塑料上的球形电路，钢箔上的晶体管和微机械结构。其中一些器件依赖于具有近纳米特征的功能细胞，而另一些器件则需要100微米范围内的图案。实际上，所有这些都需要在1到10微米的中间分辨率范围内进行频繁的排列和图案化实验。图案化是洁净室工作的核心，设备包括光学掩模对准器和电子束写入器。将安装纳米压印机的测试版，这是一种非常新的、分辨率非常高的技术。缺少的是一个鼓励学生尝试模式的学习工具。该补助金提供了简单，快速周转，现场，直接写作和掩模制作，改变微/纳米实验室实验质量的能力。一个内部的直接激光作家将产生新的想法和新的项目。POEM的洁净室是一个示范性的教学设施。学生做研究（没有技术人员），并协助维护。由来自五个系的研究生组成的用户委员会参与实验室规划和制定程序。普林斯顿大学教育使命的一个关键部分是让本科生从事高级研究。POEM的微/纳米纤维实验室是这一使命的突出贡献者。

This grant provides equipment for the Center for Photonics and Optoelectronic Materials (POEM) micro/nanofabrication laboratory at Princeton University with a tool for fast-turnaround patterning, including mask-making and direct writing. This Clean Room has 100 users, mostly PhD students from five academic departments, and undergraduates and individuals from local startup companies. Projects range from microfluidic surface arrays and microfluidic DNA spectrometers in silicon and on glass, single-electron interferometers and 2-D quantum fluid structures in III-V semiconductors, spherically shaped circuits on plastic, transistors on steel foil, and micromechanical structures. Some of these devices rely on functional cells with near-nanometer features, and others require patterns in the 100-micrometer range. Virtually all need frequent experimentation with arranging and patterning at resolutions in the intermediate 1-to-10 micrometer range. Patterning is central to work in the Clean Room, and the equipment includes optical mask aligners and an electron beam writer. The beta model of a nanoimprinter, a very new and very high-resolution technique, will be installed. What is missing is a photolithographic tool that encourages students to experiment with patterns. This grant provides easy, fast-turnaround, on-site, direct-writing and mask-making, a capability that changes the quality of experimentation in the micro/nanofabrication laboratory. An in-house direct laser writer will spawn new ideas and new projects. POEM's Clean Room is an exemplary teaching facility. Students do the research (no technicians) and assist in maintenance. A users committee of graduate students from five departments participates in lab planning and in setting procedures. A key part of the educational mission of Princeton University is to engage undergraduates in advanced research. POEM's micro/nanofabrication laboratory is a prominent contributor to this mission.