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

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project involves the development of a diagnostic and characterization tool with a spatial resolution at a nanometer scale that is critical to enable rapid commercialization of nanotechnology. The research involves developing an innovative x-ray imaging spectrometer that will provide powerful element specific imaging capability with the following important attributes: (1) high resolution: sub-50 nm resolution in the Phase I project and sub-25 nm in the Phase II project; (2) parallel (full field) imaging and thus high throughput: up to a million pixels can be imaged simultaneously; and (3) nondestructive: little or no sample preparation is required. The proposed instrument can be developed as a standalone system or as an attachment to a scanning electron microscope, which is widely deployed in R&D laboratories and manufacturing environment. In addition to nanotechnology, it is anticipated that the proposed instrument will find important applications in advanced semiconductor manufacturing where device feature size is already well below 100 nm scale, and biomedical applications where it will bridge the resolution gap between optical and electron microscopes. The proposed x-ray imaging spectrometer addresses an emerging need of the nanotechnology and semiconductor industries for non-destructive high resolution imaging analysis and characterization.