Nano-patterning and visualization engine for a focused ion beam system

这项提案寻求资金，为渥太华大学的核心纳米制造设施CRPuO Nanofab增加一个工具。该纳米工厂可广泛使用，并由渥太华大学光子学研究中心(CRPuO)管理，该中心拥有24名教授，指导200多名研究人员和学生。该设施可供几个内部和外部用户访问--目前为59名PDF和研究生--以制造光子学、微流体、MEMS(微电子机械系统)和电子学方面感兴趣的设备和结构，用于生物医学工程、生物物理学、替代能源以及信息和通信技术等不同领域的应用。这是渥太华地区唯一一个非封闭的可进入的纳米制造设施--其用户群主要由私人投资人员、学生和博士后研究员组成，横跨该地区，一直延伸到蒙特利尔。来自渥太华大学、卡尔顿大学和国家研究委员会的几个部门的研究人员在他们工作的关键方面都依赖于这个设施。该设施还支持几个国际研究项目和大学-行业研究伙伴关系。*所需设备包括用于我们的蔡司猎户座纳米晶He/Ga聚焦离子束(FIB)系统的纳米粒子和可视化引擎。SEEED纳米刻蚀和可视化引擎提供了一种全面且用户友好的方法来定义、执行和观察Ga或He FIB系统上的纳米刻蚀操作。该引擎是一个强大的工具，将复杂的离子束控制与实时可视化相结合。这种组合极大地增加了成功的可能性，并使复杂纳米结构的加工成为可能。这一组合对于样品被大量修改的应用是必不可少的，特别是在一段时间内，这是使用气体的FIB操作的典型情况(我们有Three-W、TEOS和XeF2)。此外，该组合功能还支持测量终端条件，以便根据视觉和图形反馈实时精确停止或更改图案制作过程。*我们的FIB是我们设施中使用率最高的工具之一--它每天针对我们的PI的内部项目运行，并且越来越多地运行在行业收费服务合同上。氦离子通过检测二次电子发射产生最好的图像--它们比扫描电子显微镜的图像具有更好的分辨率。此外，强流氦束可以通过烧蚀材料(沉积的或块状的)来加工小到5纳米的特征，使特征和光子学达到10纳米以下的规模。这种成像和加工能力对我们的工业合作伙伴和我们的许多超表面、超材料、等离子和硅纳米光子结构PI至关重要。*

This proposal seeks funding to add a tool to the CRPuO Nanofab, a core nanofabrication facility at the University of Ottawa. The Nanofab is broadly accessible and under the management of the Centre for Research in Photonics at uOttawa (CRPuO), which has a membership of 24 professors directing over 200 research personnel and students. The facility is accessed by several internal and external users - currently 59 PDFs and graduate students - to fabricate devices and structures of interest in photonics, microfluidics, MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) and electronics for applications across varied fields such as biomedical engineering, biophysics, alternative energy, and information and communications technologies. This is the only non-captive accessible nanofabrication facility in the Ottawa region - its user base, which consists mostly of PIs, students and post-doctoral fellows, spans the region, reaching into Montreal. Researchers from several departments within the University of Ottawa, from Carleton Universities, and from the National Research Council depend on this facility for critical aspects of their work. The facility also supports several international research projects and university-industry research partnerships.*** The equipment requested consists of a nanopatterning and visualisation engine for our Zeiss Orion Nanofab He/Ga focussed ion beam (FIB) system. The nanopatterning and visualization engine sought provides a comprehensive and user-friendly means to define, execute and observe nanopatterning operations on a Ga or He FIB system. The engine is a powerful tool, combining complex ion beam control with real-time visualisation. This combination greatly increases the likelihood of success and enables the machining of complex nanostructures. The combination is essential for applications where the sample is substantially modified, particularly over a period of time, as is typically the case for FIB operations using gases (we have three – W, TEOS and XeF2). Furthermore, the combined capability enables gauging of endpoint conditions in order to precisely stop or alter the patterning process based on visual and graphical feedback in real time.*** Our FIB is among our facility's most heavily used tools - it runs daily on internal projects for our PIs, and increasingly, on industrial fee-for-service contracts. He ions produce the best images available by detection of secondary electron emission - they are of better resolution than SEM images. Additionally, high-current He beams can machine features as small as 5 nm by ablation of materials (deposited or bulk), enabling features and photonics at the sub 10 nm scale. This imaging and machining capability is of critical importance to our industrial partners and many of our PIs for metasurface, metamaterial, plasmonic and silicon nanophotonic nanostructures.*****