MRI: Acquisition of a Maskless Lithography System

物理学、工程学、化学和生物学的许多前沿研究领域都依赖于制造微米或更小尺寸结构的能力。传统上，用于制造此类结构的光刻工艺是使用高分辨率掩模完成的，其中光通过掩模投射到光敏光刻胶聚合物上，以创建所需的亚微米图案。这些掩模的周转时间很长，这减慢了原型和测试过程，并且掩模可能很昂贵。相比之下，无掩模光刻系统允许使用移动激光束直接在光刻胶上写入图案;使用这种系统不需要掩模，并且它也可以用于内部制造定制掩模。该合同使科罗拉多州立大学（CSU）能够获得无掩模光刻系统。CSU洁净室设施中的仪器将提供给任何感兴趣的用户。这一工具加强并促进了各个领域的研究。它使研究人员能够快速有效地创建亚微米结构，大大缩短了想法和实现之间的时间，并为科学和工程提供了全新的方向。这一工具也直接使学生受益。来自北方科罗拉多/怀俄明州地区20多个研究小组的学生和博士后将立即使用该工具进行研究。此外，还将开发一个带有动手组件的微型制造短期课程，这将使CSU的学生以及没有提供此类课程设施的邻近机构受益，包括怀俄明州大学和北方科罗拉多大学。科罗拉多的前沿地区正在经历高科技领域的巨大增长，本课程将确保学生对技能的实践培训，这些技能越来越多地与该地区的工作相关。光刻是纳米研究和材料科学的关键能力。根据该奖项获得的无掩模光刻系统将在科罗拉多州立大学和北方科罗拉多/怀俄明州地区的邻近机构进行广泛的纳米科学相关研究。所选系统的主要优点是其高分辨率（0.8微米）和易于与现有图案对齐的能力。该工具针对在小面积上直接写入光刻图案进行了优化，非常适合研究环境，在这种环境中，轻松重新想象和重新设计样品的能力是一项特殊的资产。新的无掩模光刻系统可以在许多学科进行新的研究。CSU的物理学家使用该仪器研究磁性纳米结构中的自旋动力学，具有微米级特征的薄膜中的超导涡旋以及新型自旋电子器件。在化学方面，将制造亚微米接触以与ZnO纳米棒进行电接触，在工程方面，该仪器将用于在硅和玻璃上创建新型微米级生物传感器，制造具有独特润湿性的纳米结构，以及制造高效太阳能电池。无掩模光刻系统将被安置在CSU的洁净室设施，并将提供给尽可能广泛的用户群。CSU的中央仪器设施（CIF）在培训学生和维护科学设备方面的专业知识将被用来提供专门的工作人员来监督仪器，这将确保仪器可以使用和维护，并且所有用户都接受高质量的培训。

Many cutting-edge areas of research in physics, engineering, chemistry, and biology depend on the ability to make structures with sizes of a micron or less. Traditionally, lithography, the process used to make such structures, is done using a high-resolution mask where light is projected through the mask onto a light-sensitive photoresist polymer to create the desired submicron patterns. These masks have a long turnaround time, which slows the prototyping and testing process, and the masks can be costly. In contrast, a maskless lithography system allows one to write a pattern directly onto photoresist using a moving laser beam; with such a system no mask is required, and it can also be used to fabricate custom masks in-house. This award enables the acquisition of a maskless lithography system at Colorado State University (CSU). The instrument housed in CSU's cleanroom facility will be available to any interested users. This instrument enhances and enables research in a variety of areas. It allows researchers to rapidly and efficiently create submicron structures, which greatly shortens the time between ideas and realization, and it enables entirely new directions in science and engineering. This instrument also directly benefits students. Students and postdocs from more than 20 research groups in the northern Colorado/Wyoming region will use the tool immediately for research. Additionally, a short course on microfabrication with a hands-on component will be developed that will benefit students at CSU as well as neighboring institutions that do not have the facilities to offer such a course, including the University of Wyoming and the University of Northern Colorado. The Front Range area of Colorado is experiencing tremendous growth in the high tech sector and this course will ensure that students have hands-on training on skills that are becoming increasingly relevant for jobs in the areaPhotolithography is a critical capability for nanoscale research and materials science. The maskless lithography system that will be acquired under this award enables a wide range of nanoscience-related research at Colorado State University and at neighboring institutions in the Northern Colorado/Wyoming area. The key advantages of the chosen system are its high resolution (0.8 micron) and its ability to easily align to pre-existing patterns. This tool is optimized for the direct writing of lithographic patterns over a small area and is well suited to a research environment where the ability to easily reimagine and redesign a sample is a particular asset. The new maskless lithography system enables new research in a number of disciplines. CSU physicists use the instrument to study spin dynamics in magnetic nanostructures, superconducting vortices in films with micron-scale features, and novel spintronic devices. In chemistry, submicron contacts will be fabricated to make electrical contact to ZnO nanorods, and in engineering, the instrument will be used to create novel micron-sized biosensors on silicon and glass, to fabricate nanostructures that have unique properties of wettability, and to make high-efficiency solar cells. The maskless lithography system will be housed in CSU's cleanroom facility and will be available to as wide a user base as possible. The expertise of CSU's Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF) in training students and maintaining scientific equipment will be leveraged to provide dedicated staff to oversee the instrument, which will ensure that the instrument is accessible and maintained, and that all users receive high-quality training.