Acquisition of an Electron Beam Lithography System for a Nanotechnology Research and Education Facility at UC Irvine

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award from the Major Research Instrumentation Program supports the acquisition an ultra-high resolution electron beam nanolithography system for research and education programs led by a multi-disciplinary team of investigators from physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, materials science, and biomedical engineering at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). The instrumentation will further enhance current research activities at UCI's Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility (INRF), currently serving over 100 academic users in collaboration with over 50 companies (25 of whom are users) in order to support research in the nascent fields of nano-electronics, nano-fluidics, molecular electronics, nano-mechanics, and nano-biotechnology. The system will offer a unique capability to university, industry, and community researchers to (among other things) design and process novel materials and devices at the nanoscale such as molecular wires and devices, carbon nanotubes, and single-electron transistors, to investigate single-molecule chemistry, to investigate the use of nano-electronic devices with the preparation of nano-biological polymer materials, and to accomplish nano-bio tasks such as cell membrane signal transduction characterization and protein and DNA analysis and sequencing. This MRI grant will support the acquisition an ultra-high resolution electron beam nanolithography system for research and education programs led by a multi-disciplinary team of investigators from physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, materials science, and biomedical engineering at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). The instrumentation will further enhance current research activities at UCI's Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility (INRF), currently serving over 100 academic users in collaboration with over 50 companies (25 of whom are users) in order to support research in the nascent fields of nano-electronics, nano-fluidics, molecular electronics, nano-mechanics, and nano-biotechnology. The system will offer a unique capability to the university, industry, and community researchers to (among other things) design and process novel materials and devices at the nanoscale such as molecular wires and devices, carbon nanotubes, and single-electron transistors, to investigate single-molecule chemistry, to investigate the use of nano-electronic devices with the preparation of nano-biological polymer materials, and to accomplish nano-bio tasks such as cell membrane signal transduction characterization and protein and DNA analysis and sequencing.