NANOMETER LITHOGRAPHY USING SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY

THE ARMY SEEKS APPLICATIONS OF SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY TO PERFORM LITHOGRAPHY ON MICROELECTRONICS DEVICES. THE EMERGING TECHNOLOGY OF SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY (STM) IS CAPABLE OF IMAGING SURFACES TO ATOMIC RESOLUTION. QUAN-SCAN PROPOSES TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF APPLYING STM TECHNOLOGY TO ACHIEVE NANOMETER SURFACE ITHOGRAPHY AND DETERMINE WHETHER THE TECHNIQUES CAN PROVE USEFUL FOR FABRICATION OR REPAIR OF 100-ANGSTROM SIZED STRUCTURES. THE EFFORT WILL INVOLVE INVESTIGATING ALTERNATIVE CHEMICAL SYSTEMS FOR DOING LITHOGRAPHIC PROCESSES, DETERMINING THE INSTRUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DOING LITHOGRAPHY, AND EXAMINING POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF THE TECHNIQUES TO MICROELECTRONICS DEVICES.