Acquisition of a Photolithography Suite for the University of Washington's Bioeng

描述（申请人提供）：。我们要求获得一套光刻系统，这是一套设备，可以使用UV光和掩膜在表面上产生光刻胶的微图案。（我们已经获得了项目官员马乔里·廷格尔博士的许可，要求提供一套仪器，而不是一套，因为这些仪器总是一起使用的——没有彼此，它们就毫无用处。）该套件包括1)接触式掩模对准器（将掩模对准并压紧表面，并通过掩模将表面暴露于准直的紫外光下），2)光刻胶旋转器（允许在表面高速旋转时将光刻胶分配到表面上，从而形成薄而均匀的光刻胶薄膜）；3)湿工作站（曝光后显影光刻胶）；4)热板和烤箱（需要在曝光前蒸发光刻胶中的溶剂，并在曝光后完成光化学反应）。光版印刷套件将主要供生物工程系和西雅图华盛顿大学校园内的生物学家使用，并将位于新生物工程大楼（Foege大楼，2006年3月落成）的hepa过滤室中。该房间已准备好搬入设备，并配备了HEPA过滤器，真空出口，排烟，电源线和以太网线路。该部门有效地分担了成本，因为它已经投资了保留和调节hepa过滤的房间，以用作最终的光刻设施。附HEPA房间平面图。已经安装了一个化学药品通风柜。鉴于微工程在生物工程和生物学研究中扮演着越来越重要的角色（包括微流体“芯片实验室”和细胞培养系统，微图案衬底，微电极等），使用光刻设备的小规模方法对于促进创新，加速研究和降低成本至关重要。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant):.We are requesting the acquisition of a photolithography system, a "suite" of pieces of equipment that altogether allow for producing micropatterns of photoresist on surfaces using UV light and photomasks. (We have obtained permission from the Program Official Dr. Marjorie Tingle to request a set of instruments, rather than a single one, because the instruments always go together - they are useless without each other.) The suite includes 1) a contact mask aligner (which aligns and presses the mask against a surface, and exposes the surface through the mask to collimated UV light), 2) a photoresist spinner (which allows for dispensing photoresist onto a surface while the surface is being spun at high speed, so as to form a thin, homogeneous film of photoresist); 3) a wet station (to develop the photoresist after exposure); and 4) hot plates and ovens (needed to evaporate the solvent from the photoresist prior to exposure and to complete the photochemical reaction after exposure). The photolithography suite will be primarily for use by the Bioengineering Department and in general for biologists on campus at the University of Washington in Seattle, and will be located in a HEPA-filtered room of the new Bioengineering Building (Foege Building, inaugurated March 2006). The room is ready to move the equipment in, being equipped with HEPA filters, vacuum outlets, fume exhaust, power lines, and Ethernet lines. The department is effectively cost-sharing in that it hasalready invested in reserving and conditioning the HEPA-filtered room for use as an eventual photolithography facility. A floor plan of the HEPA room is attached. A vented cabinet for chemicals is already built in. Relevance Given the growing role that microengineering plays in Bioengineering and Biology research (including microfluidic "Lab on a Chip" and cell culture systems, micropatterned substrates, microelectrodes, etc.), a small-scale approach to the use of photolithography facilities is critical for fostering innovation, speeding research, and reducing costs.