Enabling hybrid process metrology in roll-to-roll nanomanufacturing: design of a tip-based tool for topographic sampling on flexible substrates

This work seeks to demonstrate the efficacy of a novel approach for topography measurement of nano-scale structures fabricated on a flexible substrate in a roll-to-roll (R2R) fashion. R2R manufactured products can be extremely cost competitive compared to more traditional, silicon wafer or glass panel based nanofabrication solutions, in addition to the unique and often desirable mechanical properties inherent to flexible substrates. As such, flexible nanomanufacturing is an area of immense research interest. However, despite the significant potential of these products for a variety of applications, developing manufacturing systems from lab-scale prototypes to pilot- or high volume manufacturing (HVM) has often proven both difficult and infeasibly expensive as research investment and achievable process yield limit advancement. One of the most significant capability gaps in current art, and roadblocks on the path towards adoption of R2R nanomanufacturing, is the lack of high-throughput, nanometer-scale metrology for process development, real-time control, and yield enhancement. This dissertation presents the design of a tip-based measurement tool implementing atomic force microscope (AFM) probes manufactured with a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) approach to the challenge of sub-micron topography measurement which is also compatible with R2R manufacturing on flexible substrates. A proof-of-concept prototype tool with subsystems to regulate a flexible web, isolate and position the atomic force microscope probe, and measure features on the substrate, all coordinated by a real-time embedded control system, was designed and fabricated. The positioning subsystem was evaluated dynamically to ensure initial design requirements were met, and stationery, step-and-scan results were presented. However, to wholly meet this extent need for in-line R2R metrology, a system capable of atomic force microscope scanning despite a continuous, non-zero substrate velocity is required - any regular stoppage of the web in a R2R process all but dooms economically viable production throughput. Refinement and redesign of the proof-of-concept tool was driven by new system requirements to meet this goal, in addition to lessons learned from the initial prototype. Improvements focused on upgrading the web handling spindle design and mechatronics, tool power electronics, moving structures, and control algorithms used for high-speed synchronous positioning of the atomic force microscope and web. The culmination of this work will serve to introduce a new measurement framework which may be used to accelerate and enable future research in R2R manufacturing of nanofeatured products.Mechanical Engineerin

Colloidal inorganic nanocrystal based nanocomposites: Functional materials for micro and nanofabrication

The unique size- and shape-dependent electronic properties of nanocrystals (NCs) make them extremely attractive as novel structural building blocks for constructing a new generation of innovative materials and solid-state devices. Recent advances in material chemistry has allowed the synthesis of colloidal NCs with a wide range of compositions, with a precise control on size, shape and uniformity as well as specific surface chemistry. By incorporating such nanostructures in polymers, mesoscopic materials can be achieved and their properties engineered by choosing NCs differing in size and/or composition, properly tuning the interaction between NCs and surrounding environment. In this contribution, different approaches will be presented as effective opportunities for conveying colloidal NC properties to nanocomposite materials for micro and nanofabrication. Patterning of such nanocomposites either by conventional lithographic techniques and emerging patterning tools, such as ink jet printing and nanoimprint lithography, will be illustrated, pointing out their technological impact on developing new optoelectronic and sensing devices. © 2010 by the authors

Nanoscale Architecture for Site-controlled Epitaxy and Antireflective Coatings

The deployment of novel nanofabrication and -characterization techniques has paved the way for tunable functionalities of materials by engineering the size of the structures at the nanoscale. The key concepts in this thesis are the exploitation of quantum mechanical properties in nanostructures and sub-wavelength optical materials. This thesis covers nanoimprint lithography based fabrication techniques for the realization of quantum dot based semiconductor devices and the formation of sub-wavelength antireflection coatings for high efficiency solar cells. Both types of patterning processes were developed aiming for the integration with molecular beam epitaxy, which was used for the material fabrication. The structural and optical properties of the quantum dots fabricated by this new method indicated excellent suitability of the fabrication process for large scale quantum dot based devices. The increasing demand of renewable energy sources has led to rapid development in the field of photovoltaics. In addition to the significant improvements in the preparation of active materials, the performance of a solar cell is directly increased by carefully designing the antireflection coating on the surface of the cell. The reflectivity of the solar cell surface has to be minimized in order to transfer the maximum amount of solar energy into the cell to be converted into electricity. In this thesis, a novel nanostructured antireflection coating was developed. The antireflective properties of the coating were outstanding within a broad spectral range and a clear increase in the solar cell performance was achieved

Dendrimers as Dopant Atom Carriers

Properties of modern semiconducting transistors and future electron or quantum devices are essentially determined by single dopant atoms. How to precisely control the individual dopant position is one of the key factors to advance these technologies. In this chapter, we first briefly introduce the research progress in single dopant devices. To fabricate single dopant devices at large scale, we then overview our previous propose to control the locations of single dopants by self-assembly of large molecules (polyglycerols) with each carrying one dopant atom. The synthesis process, doping properties, and challenges of the molecular doping technique will be thoroughly elaborated before we conclude this chapter

Silicon nanowire based sensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of ammonia

The precise determination of the type and concentration of gases is of increasing importance in numerous applications. Despite the diverse operating principles of today´s gas sensors, technological trends can be summarized with the keyword miniaturization, because of the resulting benefits such as integrability and energy efficiency. This work deals with the development and fabrication of novel nanowire based gas sensors, which in comparison to conventional devices have an advantageous combination of high sensitivity and selectivity with low power consumption and small size. On the basis of grown silicon nanowires, sensors based on the functional principle of classical Schottky barrier field effect transistors with abrupt metal-semiconductor contacts are fabricated. The sensing performance of the devices is investigated with respect to the detection of ammonia. Ammonia concentrations down to 170 ppb are measured with a sensor response of more than 160 % and a theoretical limit of detection of 20 ppb is determined. Selectivity investigations show that no cross sensitivity to most common solvents occurring in living spaces exists. Moisture influences on the device are studied and reveal that the sensor responds within seconds, making it potentially suitable as humidity sensor. Moreover, it is shown that a higher relative humidity and higher temperatures decrease the sensor sensitivity. In terms of possible applications, it is a great advantage that the maximum sensitivity is achieved at 25 °C. With respect to sensitivity and selectivity an enhancement is demonstrated compared to most nanosensors known from the literature. Hence, the technology offers the potential to complement conventional measurement systems in future sensor technology especially in portable applications.Die präzise Bestimmung der Art und Konzentration von Gasen erlangt in zahlreichen Anwendungsgebieten zunehmend an Bedeutung. Trotz der vielfältigen Wirkprinzipien heutiger Gassensoren lassen sich die technologischen Trends mit dem Schlagwort Miniaturisierung zusammenfassen, da sich daraus entscheidende Vorteile wie Integrierbarkeit und Energieeffizienz ergeben. Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Entwicklung und Herstellung neuartiger nanodrahtbasierter Gassensoren, welche im Vergleich zu klassischen Sensoren eine vorteilhafte Kombination von hoher Sensitivität und Selektivität bei geringem Stromverbrauch und geringer Größe aufweisen. Auf der Grundlage gewachsener Silizium-Nanodrähte werden Sensoren mit abrupten Metall-Halbleiter-Kontakten hergestellt, welche auf dem Funktionsprinzip klassischer Schottkybarrieren-Feldeffekttransistoren beruhen. Die Eignung der Sensoren wird in Bezug auf die Detektion von Ammoniak untersucht. Dabei kann eine minimale Ammoniakkonzentration von 170 ppb mit einer Signaländerung von mehr als 160 % gemessen werden, wobei die theoretische Nachweisgrenze mit 20 ppb ermittelt wird. Selektivitätsuntersuchungen zeigen, dass keine Querempfindlichkeit gegenüber den am häufigsten in Wohnräumen vorkommenden Lösungsmitteln besteht. Feuchtigkeitseinflüsse auf den Sensor werden untersucht und es wird nachgewiesen, dass der Sensor Ansprechzeiten im Sekundenbereich besitzt, was ihn zu einem potenziell geeigneten Feuchtigkeitssensor macht. Darüber hinaus wird gezeigt, dass eine höhere relative Luftfeuchtigkeit und höhere Umgebungstemperaturen die Sensorsensitivität verringern. In Bezug auf mögliche Einsatzgebiete stellt die maximale Empfindlichkeit bei 25 °C einen großen Vorteil da. Bezogen auf Sensitivität und Selektivität wird somit eine Verbesserung im Vergleich zu den meisten aus der Literatur bekannten Nanosensoren demonstriert. Damit bietet die Technologie das Potential, konventionelle Messsysteme in zukünftiger Sensorik vor allem in portablen Anwendungen zu ergänzen

Development of a precision hot embossing machine with in-process sensing

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2013.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-123).Microuidic technologies show great promise in simplifying and speeding biological, medical, and fluidic tasks, but transitioning these technologies from a laboratory environment to a production environment has proven difficult. This work focuses on hot embossing as a process suitable to produce these devices. In this work, a precision micro-embossing machine capable of maintaining precise setpoints in force and temperature input as well as displaying highly linear, repeatable motion and force application is developed and characterized. Additionally, this equipment is then outfitted with additional sensors that allow for three measurements relevant to process physics and product quality to be captured: initial substrate geometry; substrate bulk deformation; and glass transition temperature of the material. These measurements can be captured in-process without modifying the production cycle. The end goal is to incorporate this precision micro-embossing machine into a micro-factory cell and to implement closed-loop cycle-to-cycle process control.by Maia R. Bageant.S.M

Fabricating Cost-Effective Nanostructures for Biomedical Applications

In this thesis we described inexpensive alternatives to fabricate nanostructures on planar substrates and provided example applications to discuss the efficiency of fabricated nanostructures. The first method we described is forming large area systematically changing multi-shape nanoscale structures on a chip by laser interference lithography. We analyzed the fabricated structures at different substrate positions with respect to exposure time, exposure angle and associated light intensity profile. We presented experimental details related to the fabrication of symmetric and biaxial periodic nanostructures on photoresist, silicon surfaces, and ion-milled glass substrates. Behavior of osteoblasts and osteoclasts on the nanostructures was investigated. These results suggest that laser interference lithography is an easy and inexpensive method to fabricate systematically changing nanostructures for cell adhesion studies. We also used laser interference lithography to fabricate plasmonic structures. Fabrication details of gold nanodisk arrays were described. Experimental and simulation results show that those structures are suitable to develop highly sensitive plasmonic sensors. As a second fabrication method we described the growth of surface immobilized gold nanoparticles with organometallic chemical vapor deposition (OMCVD) on amine terminated surfaces. Samples fabricated using different deposition times were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Particle stability on the samples was tested by washing and rinsing treatments with various organic solvents. The size, interparticle distance, and shape of the gold nanoparticles demonstrated that OMCVD is a simple, economical, and fast way to fabricate surface-bonded and stable gold nanoparticles. The plasmonic properties, the stability of the particles and the biotin-streptavidin test showed that these OMCVD-grown gold nanoparticles are suitable for reproducible, low noise and highly sensitive biosensing applications. We further investigated the similar-to-real-life biosensing capabilities of the OMCVD-grown nanoparticles. Conventional antibody immobilization methods using biotin-streptavidin affinity, introduces additional chemistry and distance between the surface and the recognition sites and decreases the sensitivity. With the new recognition chemistry, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody recognition sites were directly immobilized on AuNP surfaces to decrease the distance between the sensor surface and the recognition sites for detecting EGFR antigens. In comparison with the literature, we obtained increased signal response with further optimization possibilities

Mechanocapillary Forming of Filamentary Materials.

The hierarchical structure and organization of filaments within natural materials determine their collective chemical and physical functionalities. Synthetic nanoscale filaments such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are known for their outstanding properties including high stiffness and strength at low density, and high electrical conductivity and current carrying capacity. Ordered assemblies of densely packed CNTs are therefore expected to enable the synthesis of new materials having outstanding multifunctional performance. However, current methods of CNT synthesis have inadequate control of quality, density and order. In pursuit of these needs, a new technique called capillary forming is used to manipulate vertically aligned (VA-) CNTs, and to enable their integration in applications ranging from microsystems to macroscale functional films. Capillary forming relies on shape-directed capillary rise during solvent condensation; followed by evaporation-induced shrinkage. Three-dimensional geometric transformations result from the heterogeneous strain distribution within the microstructures during the vapor-liquid-solid interface shrinkage. A portfolio of microscale CNT assemblies with highly ordered internal structure and freeform geometries including straight, bent, folded and helical profiles, are fabricated using this technique. The mechanical stiffness and electrical conductivity of capillary formed CNT micropillars are 5 GPa and 104 S/m respectively. These values are at least hundred-fold higher than as-grown CNT properties, and exceed the properties of typical microfabrication polymers. Responsive CNT-hydrogel composites are prototyped by combining isotropic moisture-induced swelling of the hydrogel with the anisotropic stiffness of CNTs to induce reversible self-directed shape changes of up to 30% stroke. Centimeter scale sheets are fabricated by mechanical rolling and capillary assisted joining of CNTs. The mechanical stiffness, strength and electrical conductivity of CNT sheets are comparable to those of continuous CNT microstructures; and can be tuned by engineering the morphology of the CNT joints. Finally, the applicability of mechanocapillary forming to other nanoscale filaments is demonstrated using silicon nanowires synthesized by metal assisted chemical etching. Further work using the methods developed in this dissertation could enable applications such as directional liquid transport, adhesives, and biosensors; toward an end goal of creating multifunctional surfaces having arbitrary structural, interfacial, and optical responsiveness.Ph.D.Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91466/1/stawfick_1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91466/2/stawfick_2.pd