High-resolution Electron Beam Lithography Critical Mass Grant

纳米技术在国家和国际两级都是一项重要的促进研究活动。与材料在纳米尺度上的操纵和排列有关，这一领域对物理、生物和医学及其相关的工业和临床应用具有巨大的变革可能性。利兹大学、约克大学和谢菲尔德大学在纳米技术研究和以研究为导向的教学方面拥有异常强劲的国际记录，代表着英国在该领域的强大地区重点。许多研究是在资源充足和可持续管理的设施中以协作和跨学科的方式进行的。然而，尽管这些现有活动很强大，但显然，如果我们要在未来十年继续在这一领域提供具有国际竞争力的研究，某些能力显然需要紧急和实质性的转变。具体地说，也是这项提议的目标，迫切需要建立一种最先进的电子束光刻机，用于制造分辨率为10 nm、具有高度可重复性缝合和覆盖精度&20 nm的结构。拟议中的设施不仅在该地区将是独一无二的，而且在英国和国际上也将处于领先地位。它将满足未来十年及以后研究人员的未来需求，使我们能够利用以前的投资，从各种来源增加研究收入，吸引和留住英国最高素质的员工，并建立一种能力，为雄心勃勃、冒险和变革性的研究和开发开发技能。此外，它将成为该地区的一个焦点，吸引来自工业界和其他大学的研究人员参与合作项目。这种与工业界的直接接触将为进一步投资和开发新的科学技术开辟道路。广泛的研究将受益，许多是跨学科的；直接的范例，借鉴调查人员已证实的跟踪记录，包括对纳米磁学、自旋电子学、生物纳米技术、纳米电子学、单分子器件和高频电子学等方面的研究。在该计划期间，该设施将用于支持一系列现有的赠款，并支持未来的赠款，其中许多是在没有计划的能力增强的情况下无法考虑的。利兹大学(新设施将设在那里)、约克郡前进(区域开发机构)和电子束光刻仪器制造商为该项目提供了重大贡献(占项目总价值的41%)。后两项捐款将结合起来，为10名博士生提供资金，以帮助从该地区的研究人员那里吸收该仪器，使泵启动试验研究得以进行，吸引业界参与该项目，并增加世界领先水平的熟练人员的可用性，以促进高科技发展。国际公司(如日立、英特尔、希捷、东芝)和当地中小企业(如Aptuscan)提供的意向书证明了业界对该计划的大力支持。

Nanotechnology is a significant enabling research activity at both a national and international level. Concerned with the manipulation and arrangement of material on the nanometre-scale, the transformative possibilities of this field are immense for the physical, biological and medical sciences and their allied industrial and clinical applications. The universities of Leeds, York and Sheffield have an exceptionally strong international record of research and research-led teaching in nanotechnology and represent a strong regional focus in the UK in this field. Much research is carried out collaboratively and inter-disciplinarily in well-resourced and sustainably managed facilities.However, despite the strength of such existing activities, it is clear that certain capabilities require an urgent and substantial transformation if we are to continue to offer internationally competitive research in this field over the next decade. Specifically - and the objective of this proposal - there is a pressing need to establish a state-of-the-art electron-beam lithography machine for fabrication of structures with a <10 nm resolution, with highly reproducible stitching and overlay accuracy <20 nm. The proposed facility would not only be unique in the region, but will also be leading both in the UK and internationally. It will meet the future needs of researchers over the next decade and beyond, allow us to capitalise on previous investments, grow research income from a wide variety of sources, attract and retain the highest calibre staff in the UK, and build a capability to develop a skill-set for ambitious, adventurous and transformative research, and exploitation. Furthermore, it will act as a focus in the region, drawing in researchers from industry and other universities for collaborative programmes. Such direct engagement with industry will open up routes for further investment as well as exploitation of new science and technology. A wide range of research will benefit, much cross-disciplinary; immediate exemplars, drawing upon proven track records of the investigators, include research into nanomagnetism, spintronics, bio-nanotechnology, nanoelectronics, single-molecule devices, and high-frequency electronics, inter alia. During this programme, the facility will be used to support both a range of existing grants, and to underpin future grants, many of which cannot be contemplated without the planned enhancement in capability.Significant contributions to this project (41% of the overall project value) have been secured from the University of Leeds, where the new facility will be based, Yorkshire Forward (the regional development agency), and the electron beam lithography instrument manufacturer. The latter two contributions will be combined to provide funding for 10 PhD studentships to aid uptake of the instrument from researchers across the region, enable pump-priming proving research to be carried out, draw industrial involvement into the project, and increase the availability of skilled personnel at a world leading level to facilitate high technology development. The strong industrial support for this programme is evidenced by letters of intent provided both by international companies (eg Hitachi, Intel, Seagate, Toshiba), and local SMEs (eg Aptuscan).