SBIR-STTR Award

Nanotechnology has yet to live up to its promise of exploiting properties which emerge at the nanoscale because of the lack of manufacturing precision to control the nanoscale dimensions, thus denying society many energy saving materials and applications. This project targets a key component of an Atomically Precise Manufacturing system: a high-speed sub-nm-precision manufacturing platform for atomic precision patterning and hierarchical assembly using arrays of MEMS actuators. The overall objective of this project is to devise a platform for Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)-based high-speed and high-throughput imaging and lithography. This will be done by designing the requisite hardware, software and control algorithms which comprise such a system. Our approach uses novel control systems and later, local digital control to enable large arrays. We will: (1) Design and build a high-speed 2Degrees Of Freedom atomic-precision nanopositioner for STM-based imaging and lithography. This nanopositioner will enable accurate positioning of the STM heads over the atomic lattice with an accuracy of ±1Å. It will be equipped with feedback control loops to guarantee stability, robustness and repeatability of operation; (2) Design and build an array of on-chip Si On Insulator-MEMS STMs. Each device will have full STM functionality and will comprise a high-bandwidth 1 Degree Of Freedom MEMS nanopositioner that moves in the vertical direction to servo the gap between the tip and sample. These MEMS devices can be stacked in close proximity to one another so that they may be used collectively to image a large area or write a single large pattern; and (3) Design a feedback control system that ensures high-bandwidth parallel operation of the STM heads, and increases the tip lifetime during imaging and lithography.

Nanotechnology has failed to live up to its promise of exploiting the emerging properties at the nanoscale because of the lack of manufacturing precision thus denying society many energy saving materials and applications. There is therefore a strong need to realize the promise of complex nanosystems by developing atomically precise manufacturing (APM). This project targets a key component of an Atomically Precise Manufacturing system: a high-speed sub-nanometer precision manufacturing platform stage for atomic precision patterning and hierarchical assembly. The overall objective is to devise a platform based on Micro-Electrical Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology comprising hardware, software and control algorithms for Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)-based high-speed imaging and high-throughput lithography. We will develop xyz nanopositioners using MEMS technology with sub-Ångstrom accuracy, and use them to develop an STM, which will not suffer from many of the limitations of piezoelectric scanners. Secondly, the use of MEMS technology will enable the possibility of developing an STM with multiple tips scanning simultaneously, so as to scale the overall throughput of a lithography system. A MEMS-based Z actuator is being built and tested in air and in a ultra-high vacuum (UHV) STM system at Zyvex Labs. The design for the 2DOF XY nanopositioner was completed. Task 1: Build 2D xy scanner, based on design from Phase I. Use 1DOF actuator for z axis. Mount onto a UHV STM system at Zyvex Labs for testing as a single-probe MEMS-based STM. Task 2: Design and build array of z-axis actuators, and mount onto 2D xy scanner to make multitip STM. Requires coarse tip approach motors. Task 3: Design control system for multitip STM, to allow for automatic landing of the probes, and planarization of the array onto the surface. Implement into ZyVector controller. Task 4: Develop a means to prepare atomically-sharp STM tips suitable for imaging and lithography on the z-axis MEMS actuators, and to repair or replace these tips as necessary. Task 5: Commercialize products as appropriate in collaboration with our existing partners. The first candidate is the high-bandwidth 1DOF z-axis actuator as an enhancement to a standard STM. Commercial Applications and Other

Benefits:
Zyvex, which has a history of commercializing innovative nanotechnology products, will introduce these high-speed, ultra-high precision stages to first address the STM imaging research market at universities, national labs and commercial research companies, and move one to develop research tools for nano-manufacturing development, then metrology and inspection tools for advanced high precision manufacturing, and finally will enable Atomically Precise Manufacturing as a platform both for parallel atomic precision patterning and parallel hierarchical assembly. Atomically Precise Manufacturing will produce unprecedented energy efficient products across a wide range of applications. It will also enable materials with engineered properties including extremely high specific strength for additional energy efficiency from abundant materials.