SBIR Phase I: Defect-Free Nano-Scale Printing: An Enabling Technology for Nanofabrication

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a compact, table top, high-throughput nano-photolithography tool capable to print arrays of periodic features of arbitrary shape with sub-50 nm feature size defect-free. The innovative printing tool makes use of the Talbot effect, in which a coherently illuminated periodic diffractive structure (the Talbot mask) self-images by diffraction at planes known as Talbot planes without the use of any optics. Coherent illumination with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) laser light allows replication of masks containing nano-scale patterns onto photoresist. The method is non-contact and it is defect-free as any defect in the mask is averaged over the entire imaging field. The method uses a high average power, highly coherent table-top EUV laser commercialized by XUV Lasers Inc. The proposed compact tool will bring cost-effective nano-patterning capabilities to small size companies and university laboratories. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is in its ability to simplify the printing of periodic arrays of nanostructures. The table-top nano-printing EUV system will significantly enhance the capabilities to fabricate nanostructures in an affordable and versatile way. Its main attributes are that it offers defect-free printing, high through-put, and cost-effectiveness in the printing of nanostructures. These capabilities could have a broad impact in various disciplines, including material science, advanced optical component manufacturing, nanoelectronics, biology and medicine. The nano-printing tool is aimed at markets that require the printing of templates for nanostructure growth, chemical micro-sensors, gas separation membranes, and the fabrication of high density diffraction gratings, short wavelength light polarizers, and plasmonic structures.