MRI: Acquisition of Nanolithography Instrumentation for Research and Education at Boston College

技术摘要：该项目将在波士顿学院物理、生物和化学领域的一系列研究和教育活动中使用纳米光刻仪器。更重要的是，它将促进和加强这些领域在新兴综合科学领域的研究、培训和课堂合作，如癌症检测、太阳能电池、人工视觉、超材料和纳米尺度SPM。该仪器将成为不列颠哥伦比亚大学综合科学的极其重要的组成部分，将其最近建成的洁净室的能力从微观尺度扩展到纳米尺度。它由两个高级sem组成，分别适用于电子束纳米光刻和聚焦离子束纳米加工。前者是JEOL JSM-7001F场发射扫描电子显微镜，配备了Nabity纳米模式生成系统和Oxford EDS。它的放大倍率范围为10倍至100万倍，在最大加速电压为30 kV时分辨率为1.2 nm。后者是JEOL JIB-4500多束SEM+FIB系统，这是一种基于lab6的聚焦离子束/聚焦电子束仪器，具有多气体注入系统，用于离子或电子束辅助沉积以及烧蚀。它还有一个Kleindieck四探针插入，用于原位四探针纳米操作和纳米级电探测，以及一个带有微夹具的旋转尖端，用于TEM提升和其他用途。该组合仪器将被至少11名教员和他们的研究小组在BC的三个部门使用。这一数字约为50人，这还不包括pi共同开发的综合科学两个本科和研究生课程（各1人）的学生，也不包括来自地区大学和当地公司的预期使用外部用户。仪器供应商JEOL已经同意资助一个纳米仪器博士后，为期两年，以帮助培训仪器用户社区。纳米材料，如纳米线、纳米管和分子材料，为未来的电子、磁性和光学微系统和纳米系统器件提供了最小的构建模块，它们不仅尺寸减小，而且往往大大改进或具有新颖的特性。对于许多这样的系统，内在的物理和生化特性现在才被揭示出来，通过协作，？综合科学?物理学家、化学家、生物学家、内科医生和工程师的努力。纳米结构的小尺寸需要专门的工具来制造、表征、操作和驱动。配备电子束光刻（EBL）和聚焦离子束（FIB）使用的扫描电子显微镜（SEM）是满足这一需求的最有效解决方案。聚焦离子束系统使用一束狭窄的带电原子（离子）来烧蚀或沉积在衬底或样品上的材料，不仅具有纳米级的分辨率，而且具有三维能力。因此，FIB与EBL相辅相成，使完整的纳米制造能力成为可能。该项目的新仪器将由波士顿学院三个系（物理、化学和生物）的教职员工及其本科生、研究生和博士后使用，以支持越来越多的已资助和未来的综合科学领域的研究项目，如纳米级磁显微镜、碳纳米管药物输送和纳米工程视网膜植入视觉假体。目前，这些项目中有许多都是在收费的基础上使用其他大学的EBL和FIB系统，但结果并不令人满意，主要原因是访问不充分和不定期，缺乏质量控制，以及运输过程中的污染。这些仪器也将被当地大学的教师和学生以及当地的商业实体使用，两者都是收费的。物理、化学和生物专业的本科生和研究生，包括女性和少数民族，将在讲座、教学实验室和研究实验室的指导下，通过合作研究小组和专门围绕这些仪器开发的两个新的交叉列出的综合科学课程，进行尖端的纳米科学和技术实验。这些课程由三个系的pi共同教授。他们将能够在基础和应用科学研究中创造、测量和操纵微纳米结构。在这样做的过程中，他们不仅将获得科学前沿的知识，而且还将利用综合科学方面的经验为现代纳米科学、医学和技术领域的职业生涯做准备。

Technical AbstractThis program will employ nanolithography instrumentation in a range of research and education activities in the fields of physics, biology and chemistry at Boston College. More importantly, it will foster and strengthen research, training and classroom collaborations between these fields in emerging integrated science areas such as cancer detection, solar cells, artificial vision, metamaterials, and nanoscale SPM. The instrumentation will be extremely important components of integrated science at BC, expanding the capabilities of its recently-built clean room from the microscale to the nanoscale. It is comprised of two high-level SEMs, one each adapted for electron beam nanolithography and focused ion beam nanomachining. The former is a JEOL JSM-7001F field emission scanning electron microscope outfitted with Nabity nanometer pattern generation system and Oxford EDS. It has a magnificaition range of 10X to 1,000,000X, and a resolution of 1.2 nm at its maximum accelerating voltage of 30 kV. The latter is a JEOL JIB-4500 Multibeam SEM+FIB system, an LaB6-based focused ion beam/ focused electron beam instrument with a multi-gas injection system for ion- or electron-beam-assisted deposition as well as ablation. It also has a Kleindieck quad-probe insert for in situ four-probe nanomanipulation and nanoscale electrical probing, as well as a rotational tip with microgrippers for TEM lift-out and other uses. The combined instrumentation will be used by at least 11 faculty members, and their research groups, in three departments at BC. This amounts to about 50 individuals, not counting students in the two undergraduate and graduate courses (1 each) in Integrated Science being codeveloped by the PIs, and also not counting anticipated usage external users from area colleges and local companies. The instrument vendor, JEOL, has agreed to fund a nano-instrumentation post-doc for two years to help train the instrumentation user community.Nontechnical AbstractNanoscale materials such as nanowires, nanotubes, and molecular materials provide the smallest building blocks for future electronic, magnetic, and optical microsystem and nanosystem devices, having not only reduced size but often greatly improved or novel characteristics. For many such systems, intrinsic physical and biochemical properties are only now being revealed, through collaborative, ?integrated science? efforts involving physicists, chemists, biologists, physicians, and engineers. The small dimensions of nanostructures demand specialized tools for their fabrication, characterization, manipulation and actuation. Scanning electron microscopes (SEM) outfitted for electron beam lithography (EBL) and for focused ion beam (FIB) use are the most effective solutions to this need. The Focused Ion Beam system uses a narrow beam of charged atoms (ions) to either ablate or deposit material on a substrate or sample specimen, with not only nanometer-scale resolution but three-dimensional capability. FIB thus complements EBL, and together, full nanofabrication capabilities are enabled. The new instrumentation for this project will be used by faculty members and their undergraduate students, graduate students and postdocs in three departments at Boston College (Physics, Chemistry and Biology), to support a growing number of funded and future research projects in integrated science areas such as nanoscale magnetic microscopy, carbon nanotube-enabled drug delivery, and a nanoengineered retinal implant visual prosthesis. Many of these projects currently make use of EBL and FIB systems at other universities on a fee basis, with less-than-satisfactory results stemming largely from inadequate and aperiodic access, lack of quality control, and contamination during transport. The instrumentation will also be used by faculty and students at local colleges, and by local commercial entities, both on a fee-basis. Undergraduate and graduate students in physics, chemistry and biology, including women and members of minority populations, will be guided in lecture, teaching laboratory, and research laboratory settings to use the EBL and FIB systems to conduct cutting-edge nanoscience and technology experiments, via collaborative research groups and two new, cross-listed integrated science courses developed specifically around these instruments, and co-taught by the PIs from the three departments. They will be able to create, measure and manipulate micro- and nanostructures in fundamental and applied scientific research. In doing so, they will not only gain knowledge of the frontiers of science, but will also use the experience in integrated science to prepare for careers in the modern world of nanoscience, medicine and technology.