NSF Award
2320641
Lithography is the most expensive and most critical step in the fabrication of semiconductor electronic and optical integrated circuits. The ability to reproduce millions of identical copies has advantages in manufacturing but in an R&D/educational setting we typically only need a handful of prototype copies. The current method of chip prototyping requires outsourced manufacturing of photomasks for each lithography step. The proposed laser lithography capability will eliminate the photomask step and enable researchers to directly print lithography patterns on a chip or wafer, thereby significantly accelerating research progress and reducing development cost. The difference in technique and corresponding advantages is analogous to mold replication vs 3D printing. Just like advances in electronics, mechanics and software have enabled high-quality 3D printing, recent advances in UV lasers, focusing optics and mechanical positioning accuracy have enabled direct-write photolithography. This project brings together a diverse group of researchers from Engineering and Science to make advances in several areas such as semiconductor materials, photonic and biotechnology chips, imaging science and advanced lithography process development. This tool is also ideal for incorporating hands-on experience for graduate and undergraduate students studying semiconductor manufacturing. This capability will become an integral training module for our semiconductor manufacturing workforce development initiatives and will augment our successful and on-going relationships with community colleges and minority-serving institutions in the region.<br/><br/>The Raith PicoMaster 150 direct-write laser beam lithography (LBL) system will enable rapid prototyping of complex devices in hours instead of weeks with significantly lower cost by circumventing the need for the intermediate photomask step. With the ability to achieve feature sizes down to 300 nm, this equipment will help advance our current education, research, and industry partnerships in integrated photonics and electronics. This project brings together a diverse group of researchers from the Departments of Electro-Optics & Photonics, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Technology, Physics and Biology. Specific research activities that will immediately benefit from this tool include nano-patterned phase change materials (PCM), photonic integrated circuits (PIC), wide bandgap electronics, soft/wearable electronics, novel spectroscopic imaging, and lab-on-a-chip biomedical devices. Additionally, we will collaborate with Raith to explore resolution enhancement techniques such as self-aligned double patterning (SADP), which could enhance the optical resolution of the tool down to 100 nm. The proposed lithography capability will enable fast turnaround of designs made by students for immediate fabrication in our cleanroom. It will allow devices such as MOSFETs and photodetectors to be designed and fabricated during a single semester course. This will enhance the experiential learning of our graduate and undergraduate students, which was not previously possible due to the lengthy lead-times and costs associated with the photomask-based lithography process.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
