I-Corps: Software Suite for Quality-Control of Patterned Nanostructures

I-Corps：用于图案化纳米结构质量控制的软件套件

• 批准号: 1456185
• 负责人: Sanjukta Bhanja
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of South Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2016-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1456185&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Software; Suite; Quality; Control

Nanotechnology is one of the premier technologies with vast potential and is progressively changing the frontiers of innovation to create novel applications that impact a broad range of application domains. Nano-research facilities have nanofabrication engineers who fabricate nanostructures for their novel research ideas, and most nanostructures are characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) imaging techniques that are prone to variability between different users, especially as the dimensions of the nanostructures are reduced. There are a few commercially available software solutions to automatically analyze and characterize images of nanostructures to identify magnetization states and fabrication defects, but they lack in providing a quantifiable feedback as to how well the designed fabrication layout meets the intended requirement.The proposed innovation: Software based analysis of Patterned Nanostructures (SPaN), is an automated, image based software suite that provides nanotechnology fabrication engineers the ability to automatically analyze and characterize microscopic images of nanostructures, thereby quickly identifying magnetization states and geometric shape defects for various applications that require patterned nanostructures with very specific geometry and spacing requirements. The proposed software suite will have enhanced value in mass-production of nanoscale electronics and sensors applications. In addition, the proposed innovation will enable customers to analyze images for quality checks and defects in few minutes compared to a few days that an expert user may require to complete the same task. The software also enables users to perform rapid fabrication development iterations with progressively improved fabrication quality by providing relevant feedback on the fabrication quality. This I-Corps team will investigate the viability of a proof-of-concept developed to support accurate patterned nanostructure fabrication following a desired base layout. While current state of the art only uses post-processing and enhanced image quality of post-fabrication characterization, this product SPaN will ensure a comparison with base pattern at a systemic level.

纳米技术是具有巨大潜力的首要技术之一，正在逐步改变创新前沿，创造出影响广泛应用领域的新颖应用。纳米研究设施拥有纳米制造工程师，他们为他们的新颖研究想法制造纳米结构，大多数纳米结构都使用扫描电子显微镜 (SEM)、原子力显微镜 (AFM) 和磁力显微镜 (MFM) 成像技术进行表征，这些技术之间容易存在差异。不同的用户，特别是当纳米结构的尺寸减小时。有一些商用软件解决方案可以自动分析和表征纳米结构的图像，以识别磁化状态和制造缺陷，但它们缺乏提供关于设计的制造布局如何满足预期要求的可量化反馈。拟议的创新：软件基于图案化纳米结构 (SPaN) 的分析，是一种基于图像的自动化软件套件，为纳米技术制造工程师提供自动分析和表征纳米结构微观图像的能力，从而快速识别需要图案化的各种应用的磁化状态和几何形状缺陷具有非常特定的几何形状和间距要求的纳米结构。 拟议的软件套件将在纳米级电子和传感器应用的大规模生产中具有更高的价值。此外，所提出的创新将使客户能够在几分钟内分析图像以进行质量检查和缺陷，而专家用户可能需要几天才能完成相同的任务。该软件还使用户能够通过提供有关制造质量的相关反馈来执行快速制造开发迭代，逐步提高制造质量。 该 I-Corps 团队将研究开发概念验证的可行性，该概念验证旨在支持按照所需的基础布局进行精确的图案化纳米结构制造。虽然目前的技术水平仅使用后处理和增强后制造表征的图像质量，但该产品 SPaN 将确保在系统级别与基本图案进行比较。