MRI: Acquisition of a Maskless Aligner

该主要研究仪器（MRI）奖支持购买海德堡无掩膜对准器光刻工具（MLA150），以增强马里兰大学帕克分校（UMD）及其周边机构的微/纳米制造计划。光刻技术是一种通过使用紫外光选择性地暴露光敏聚合物涂层中的掩模模式来定义微米尺度图案的过程，它是一种无处不在的工艺，是现代电子设备的基础，从微控制器和处理器芯片到新型电池设计，生物医学设备，甚至是正在开发的量子计算机技术。MLA150仪器允许研究人员在不需要掩模的情况下激光打印光刻图案，大大降低了改进和开发新设备设计的费用和成本。该仪器支持材料科学、纳米科学、能源科学和量子科学的各种研究项目以及马里兰大学的学生培训。提出的MLA150系统是促进广泛的基础和应用科学研究的重要而强大的工具，包括但不限于实现紧凑电池，改进的微电子机械设备，更高质量的量子传感器和新型超导电路设备。该仪器消除了与口罩订购、验证、打印和运输相关的延迟，使UMD的研究人员能够在不到一天的时间内从设计到设备。由此产生的快速制造周期时间大大扩展了可以探索的器件几何形状的范围，促进了对新设计概念的探索，否则这些设计概念将无法实现，并提高了UMD微系统和纳米系统研究的整体敏捷性。此外，该工具补充了现有的掩模对准器，因为它可以用于生产最终设计的永久掩模，然后可以使用传统的掩模对准器以更高的产量生产，将掩模生产从缓慢昂贵的过程转变为快速和通用的内部过程。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。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of a Heidelberg Maskless Aligner photolithography tool (MLA150) to enhance micro/nanofabrication initiatives at the University of Maryland College Park (UMD) and its surrounding institutions. Photolithography – a process of defining micrometer-scale patterns by using ultraviolet light to selectively expose mask patterns in a coating of light-sensitive polymer – is a ubiquitous process which underlies modern electronic devices from microcontrollers and processor chips to novel battery designs, biomedical devices, and even developing quantum-computer technologies. The MLA150 instrument allows researchers to laser-print lithography patterns without the need for mask, greatly reducing the expense and cost of improving and developing new device designs. The instrument supports various research projects in materials science, nanoscience, energy science, and quantum science and students training at UMD. The proposed MLA150 system is an essential yet powerful tool to promote a wide range of both fundamental and applied science studies, including but not limited to realization of compact battery cells, improved micro-electron-mechanical devices, higher-quality quantum sensors, and novel superconducting-circuit devices. The instrument eliminates delays associated with mask ordering, validation, printing, and shipping, allowing researchers at UMD to move from design to device in a less than one day. The resulting rapid fabrication cycle times greatly expands the range of device geometries that can be explored, promote the exploration of new design concepts that would otherwise be impractical to implement, and improve the overall agility of microsystems and nanosystems research at UMD. Furthermore, the tool complements to the existing mask aligners as it can be used to produce permanent masks for finalized designs, which can then be made with higher through-put using conventional mask aligners, turning mask production from a slow expensive process to a rapid and versatile in-house one.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.