MRI: Acquisition of a Large-Scale, High-Throughput, Electron Beam Lithography System for Multi-Scale Patterning

纽约城市大学高级科学研究中心的纳米制造设施是一个跨学科的研究空间，它是一个不同社区的研究人员的家园，他们在纳米电子学、光子学、纳米生物界面和其他几个由纳米制造实现的领域开展工作。购买高通量、大面积电子束光刻系统解决的一个关键挑战是能够快速、可靠地生成跨越多个长度尺度的图案：从几十纳米到几厘米的尺寸。这样，该系统将加速研究，使研究人员能够快速、经济地制作电子、光子和其他设备的原型，这些设备将成为未来技术的基础。此外，该实验室是纽约市的一个指导高中生、本科生、研究生和早期职业研究人员的中心。该系统将用于培养学生解决美国、STEM研究界和世界面临的复杂问题。从长远来看，预计在为保健技术、环境科学和能源生产开发全新技术方面将产生重大的社会影响。电子束光刻是一种直接写入/无掩模光刻技术，用于快速生成纳米分辨率的图案。在过去的十年中，大量的新材料系统，如二维和三维拓扑绝缘体、石墨烯、过渡金属二硫族化合物和许多其他材料系统的出现，有望彻底改变光子学、纳米电子学和纳米生物界面领域。如果成功实现，由这些材料制成的器件包括高迁移率场效应晶体管、拓扑和门控超导电路、高效光学和光自旋电子架构以及容错量子计算机。在过去的十年里，人们进行了大量的基础研究，以了解支撑这些设备运行的科学原理。为了实现这些材料提供的潜在希望，必须克服的下一个挑战是建立大规模原型设备的能力，以证明这些材料系统是21世纪技术的可行候选。获得高通量电子束光刻系统是解决这些挑战的关键一步，可以实现新器件的快速原型设计。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The NanoFabrication Facility at the Advanced Science Research Center at the City University of New York is an interdisciplinary research space which is home to a diverse community of researchers who conduct work in the fields of nano-electronics, photonics, nano-bio interfaces, and several other fields enabled by nanofabrication. A key challenge, which is addressed by the purchase of a high throughput, large area electron beam lithography system is the ability to quickly and reliably generate patterns across multiple length scales: from tens of nanometers to several centimeters in size. In doing so, the system will accelerate research and enable the researchers to rapidly and cost effectively prototype electronic, photonic, and other devices which will serve as the basis of future technologies. Furthermore, the laboratory is a NYC based hub for mentoring high school, undergraduate, graduate students, and early career researchers. This system will be used to prepare students to tackle the complex problems facing the U.S., the STEM research community, and the world. In the long term, significant societal impact is anticipated in the development of fundamentally new technologies for health technologies, environmental science and energy generation.Electron beam lithography is a direct write / maskless lithographic technique used to rapidly generate patterns with nanometer resolution. In the past decade a large number of new material systems, such as two and three dimensional topological insulators, graphene, and transition metal dichalcogenides and many others emerged with the promise of revolutionizing the fields of photonics, nanoelectronics, and nano-bio interfaces. If successfully implemented, devices made from these materials include high mobility field effect transistors, topological and gate-controlled superconducting circuits, and high efficiency optical and optospintronic architectures, and fault-tolerant quantum computers. During the past decade a lot of fundamental research was done to understand the scientific principles that underpin the operation of these devices. The next challenge that must be overcome in order to realize the potential promise offered by these materials is the ability to build large scale prototype devices to show that these materials systems are viable candidates for 21st century technology. The acquisition of a high throughput electron beam lithography system is a key step in solving these challenges by enabling the rapid prototyping of novel devices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.