This award is to the University of Oregon to acquire a thermal field emission scanning electron microscope configured for dedicated electron beam lithography and a nano-imprint lithography system. This highly complementary equipment will be housed in the Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon (CAMCOR), which serves the research community in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The instrumentation will have a broad impact by greatly enhancing the regions infrastructure for the top-down lithographic fabrication of nanostructures. The equipment will immediately impact seven materials-related research groups in chemistry, physics, and engineering departments at the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Portland State University. The research of these groups are addressing fundamental principles underlying molecular motors, charge transport through nanostructures, and the flow of light at the nanometer scale, as well as methods for the fabrication of functional micro- and nanostructures for applications in sensing and distributed energy and chemical systems. These studies will all ultimately contribute to the development of new types of functional materials and devices. The instrumentation will also be used in a number of specialized undergraduate and graduate level programs focused on materials chemistry and physics underlying the operation and fabrication of semiconductor devices.
This award is to the University of Oregon to acquire a thermal field emission scanning electron microscope configured for dedicated electron beam lithography and a nano-imprint lithography system. This equipment is used for the fabrication and reproduction of well defined structures with nanometer scale features. Such structures will be used by researchers throughout the region in their efforts to understand nanoscale matter. The fundamental understanding of such matter will contribute to advancing the state-of-the-art in a variety of applications ranging from new types of electronic and optical devices to efficient chemical manufacturing methods. The equipment made possible by this award will have a substantial impact on educating undergraduate and graduate students at the chemistry, physics, and engineering interface through its use in original scientific research, laboratory-based courses, and undergraduate summer science experiences.
