Profilometer for Controling Etching and Deposition Rates of Materials in Nanofabrication Processes

本提案涉及到用于薄膜表征的接触式轮廓仪的获取。西部大学的纳米制造设施（http://nanofab.uwo.ca）是一个开放的设施，供学术研究团体以及希望制造需要先进微纳米制造技术的设备的工业合作伙伴使用。这些纳米制造设备提供的技术包括电子束光刻、表面蚀刻、金属和聚合物薄膜沉积。该设备位于洁净室环境中，支持在西方和附近机构和行业的60多个研究小组中对大量HQP工作人员进行培训。重要的是，来自化学，物理，工程和医学等不同学科的180多名学生（本科生，研究生，博士后）使用该设施。该校的校友被加拿大渥太华大学（Ottawa University）、波士顿大学（Boston University）和麻省理工学院（MIT）等知名学府或帝国石油（Imperial oil）、IBM、福特（Ford）和通用汽车（General motors）等行业企业聘为学术职位。所要求的轮廓仪是表征薄膜所需的仪器。它能够精确测量薄膜厚度和粗糙度，并可以评估大表面，以测量沉积薄膜的均匀性。在纳米制造设备中，聚合物薄膜每天都在制备。通过自旋镀膜沉积的聚合物薄膜被用作光阻剂以及构建微流体器件（聚二甲基硅氧烷）。此外，金属（例如Au， Ti, Cr, Ag）和金属氧化物（ITO，氧化铝）的沉积每天都在进行，并有助于制造纳米级和微米级器件以及等离子体平台的天线。因此，精确控制沉积材料的厚度以及校准用于沉积材料的方法和仪器是至关重要的。接触式轮廓术易于用户学习，成本合理。它能够精确测量薄膜厚度、粗糙度和均匀性，是所有纳米加工过程中必不可少的。

This proposal concerns the acquisition of a contact profilometer for thin film characterization. The nanofabrication facility at the Western University (http://nanofab.uwo.ca) is an open access facility for academic research groups as well as industrial partners that wish to fabricate devices that need advanced micro- and nano-fabrication techniques. Such techniques offered by the nanofabrication facility include electron beam lithography, surface etching, and metal and polymer deposition as thin films. The equipment is located in a clean room environment and supports the training of a large number of HQP working within more than 60 research groups at Western and nearby institutions and industries. Importantly, more than 180 students (undergrad, graduate, postdoctoral fellow) from different disciplines ranging from chemistry, physics, engineering as well as medical science utilize the facility. Alumni of the facility have been recruited to academic positions at prestigious institutions such as Ottawa University, Boston University and MIT, or industry players such as Imperial oil, IBM, Ford and General motors. The requested profilometer is an instrument needed to characterize thin films. It is capable of precise measurements of film thickness and roughness, and can evaluate large surfaces in order to measure the homogeneity of deposited thin films. In the nanofabrication facility, thin films of polymers are prepared on a daily basis. The polymer thin films deposited by spin coating are used as photoresists as well as for constructing microfluidic devices (polydimethyl siloxane). Furthermore, deposition of metals (e.g. Au, Ti, Cr, Ag) and metal oxydes (ITO, alumina) is performed daily and aides in the fabrication of nanoscale and microscale devices and antennae for plasmonic platforms. It is therefore of critical importance to precisely control the thickness of the deposited materials as well as to calibrate the methods and instruments used to deposit the materials. Contact profilometry is simple for users to learn and reasonable cost. It is capable of precise measures of film thickness, roughness and homogeneity and is a requisite in all nanofabrication processes.