Instrument order furthers R&D for Nano-Imprint Lithography
A US$700,000 grant awarded to the University of Massachusetts Amherst by the US National Science Foundation will fund a Nano-Imprint Lithography laboratory to further research capabilities in nanoscale device manufacturing. Delivery and installation of the new equipment is expected by spring 2006.
The laboratory will aid in the study of nanotechnology and the development of new technologies such as chemical sensors, faster and more stable computer chips, and power management devices for electric vehicles.
According to Alfred Crosby, a polymer scientist affiliated with the university's MassNanoTech Institute, the new equipment provides an important research asset for one of UMass Amherst's priorities: creating manufacturable nano-scale devices for diverse product applications. “Adding nano-imprint and plasma etch tools at UMass makes a lot of sense at this time, when our nanotechnology research community has a number of research projects that need to carry out prototyping studies on new devices,” Crosby says. “We're also very interested in integrating these techniques with some of our other processes such as polymer-based nanopatterning.” Currently, UMass is one of the few universities in the Northeast using a step-and-flash nano-imprint lithographic system for research.
