MRI: Development of Nanofabrication Instrument

本研究的目标是开发一种纳米加工仪器，能够生产纳米级机电器件和分子布线结构，而不需要光刻技术。该仪器利用配备的电子束蒸发器相对于沉积基板以纳米精度平移模板掩模。微分蚀刻是利用后续工艺技术形成纳米尺度的边缘特征。最小特征尺寸直接由不同材料蒸发之间的纳米极性转换决定。仪器的发展将以建立高精度仪器为重点。开发中需要解决的分辨率限制参数有：(1)三维模板平移的纳米控制，(2)蒸发材料的准直，(3)温度控制和热屏蔽，(4)级设计和振动控制，(5)在蒸发过程中加入反馈控制。所提出的活动的智力价值在于创造了各种各样的新纳米结构，包括高纵横比，纳米尺寸的金属或电介质线，以实现分子，悬臂和纳米机电器件的表征，其特征尺寸和间距控制在纳米尺寸。这种精度的结构不容易通过电子、离子、光子光刻技术或纳米压印来实现。这项拟议活动的更广泛影响是在仪器制造商丹顿真空和巴黎圣母院的密切合作下产生的。开发完成后，登顿真空准备商业化生产设备，从而将仪器转移到研究界。

The objective of this research is develop a nanofabrication instrument capable of producing nanometer scale electromechanical devices and molecular wiring structures without lithography. The instrument utilizes an electron beam evaporator equipped to translate a stencil mask with nanometer precision with respect to a deposition substrate. Differential etching is used to form the nanometer-scale edge-defined features using a subsequent process technique. The minimum feature sizes are directly determined by the nanopositioner's translation between evaporation of dissimilar materials. The instrument development will focus on establishing a high precision instrument. The resolution limiting parameters to be addressed in the development are: (1) nanometer-control of the stencil mask translation in three dimensions, (2) collimation of the evaporated material, (3) temperature control and thermal shielding (4) stage design and vibration control, and (5) incorporation of feedback control in the evaporation process. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity is in the creation of a wide variety of new nanostructures including high-aspect-ratio, nanometer-sized metal or dielectric lines to enable the characterization of molecules, cantilevers, and nanoelectromechanical devices with feature size and spacing controlled at the nanometer dimension. Structures with this degree of precision are not easily created by electron, ion, or photon lithographic techniques, or nanoimprint. The broader impact of the proposed activity is in the close collaboration of Denton Vacuum, the makers of the instrument, and Notre Dame. Upon completion of the development, Denton Vacuum is prepared to produce the equipment commercially thereby transferring the instrument to the research community.