SBIR Phase II: Development of an Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project proposes to develop an innovative x-ray fluorescence (XFi) imaging spectrometer with the following important attributes: (1) element specific imaging for nearly all elements in the periodic table, (2) high resolution: 30nm resolution after successful completion of the phase II project, (3) parallel (full field) imaging and thus high throughput: up to a million pixels imaged simultaneously, (4) non-destructive: little or no sample preparation is required. The proposed spectrometer can be used to substantially enhance the performance of electron microscopes, which are widely deployed in the R&D and manufacturing environment, and to enable monitoring, diagnosis, and characterization of manufacturing processes in advanced semiconductor production lines. The proposed XFi spectrometer addresses current and emerging needs for nondestructive, high-resolution, elemental analysis, imaging, and characterization in a broad range of applications, especially for the nanotechnology and semiconductor industries. Development of advanced diagnostic and characterization tools with nanometer scale resolution is critical to enable rapid development and commercialization of nanotechnology. The combination of nanotechnology based products with the products from the semiconductor industry constitutes a significant part of the national economy.