Ionic liquids for subtractive and additive nanomanufacturing

用于减材和增材纳米制造的离子液体

• 批准号: MR/Y034376/1
• 负责人: Carla Perez Martinez
• 金额: $ 75.79万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FY034376%2F1
• 关键词: Ionic; liquids; subtractive; additive; nanomanufacturing

I propose investigating the use of ionic liquids for materials treatment, specifically in nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter at molecular scales close to one billionth of a meter. Progress in manufacturing at this scale has enabled the fabrication of modern electronic and biomedical technologies. However, more advanced processes are required to manufacture even faster computers, better drug delivery systems, and many other future technologies. In this project, ionic liquids will be used to access new options for these manufacturing processes. These exciting new liquids have been developed over the last two decades for a range of chemistry and energy storage applications. Ionic liquids consist entirely of charged complex molecules (ions) at room temperature, which allows for a new approach to nanotechnology manufacturing with a device known as an Ionic Liquid Ion Source (ILIS). In an ILIS, the ionic liquid covers a sharp needle. By applying a high voltage to this needle, it is possible to produce a beam of ions from the liquid. This spray can be directed towards a material for treatment. Different ion combinations would be available for various materials processing applications, as ionic liquids have been extensively studied, and hundreds of stable compositions have been discovered. For example, the beam can contain reactive ions, and can be used to remove material from silicon, a common material used in microprocessors. Varying the beam conditions and composition can allow for both the erosion of material (subtractive method) and the deposition of a thin film on the surface or to create a structure (additive method). I will explore the interactions of the ILIS beam with different materials, study the use of ILIS for material removal and deposition, and investigate the possibility of focusing the beam of ILIS for careful processing of materials at the nanoscale. In the first stage of this fellowship (2020-2024) a vacuum chamber was constructed; this chamber is being used for detailed characterization of emission from different ionic liquids. ILIS beams are comprised of several different ion types, and so a filter is being used to separate these components. The separate ion types are being fired towards a variety of materials to understand how specific ions react with different targets. These fundamental studies are being complemented by experiments that use an ILIS to remove material and create a nanoscale pattern. Additional experiments can be performed with an array of ILIS devices, in order to achieve higher throughput. The possibility of depositing thin films of ionic liquids from an ILIS beam is also under study. The fellowship is developing a focused ion beam (FIB) from an ILIS; FIB machines take the beam of particles from an ion source and focus the particles onto a nanometre sized-spot on a target, thus allowing localized modifications to a sample. Computer simulations are being used to design a bespoke focusing setup in which the ILIS is being installed.In the renewal stage of the fellowship (2024-2027), experiments will be undertaken to quantify how well the ILIS-FIB beam is focused, using different ionic liquids and different operating conditions in the focusing setup. The ILIS-FIB platform will be used in several applications, for instance microscopy or precise milling at the nanoscale. Another avenue of research will be to study the possibility of creating three-dimensional nanostructures by depositing material with the focused ion beam of ionic liquid particles.

我建议研究离子液体在材料处理中的应用，特别是在纳米技术中。纳米技术是在接近十亿分之一米的分子尺度上操纵物质。这种规模的制造进步使得现代电子和生物医学技术的制造成为可能。然而，需要更先进的工艺来制造更快的计算机、更好的药物输送系统和许多其他未来技术。在该项目中，离子液体将用于为这些制造工艺提供新的选择。这些令人兴奋的新型液体是在过去二十年中开发出来的，用于一系列化学和能源存储应用。离子液体在室温下完全由带电复杂分子（离子）组成，这使得使用称为离子液体离子源（ILIS）的设备实现纳米技术制造的新方法成为可能。在 ILIS 中，离子液体覆盖着锋利的针。通过向该针施加高电压，可以从液体中产生离子束。该喷雾可以直接射向待处理的材料。不同的离子组合可用于各种材料加工应用，因为离子液体已被广泛研究，并且已经发现了数百种稳定的组合物。例如，光束可以包含反应离子，并且可以用于从硅（微处理器中使用的常见材料）中去除材料。改变光束条件和成分可以腐蚀材料（减法）并在表面沉积薄膜或创建结构（加法）。我将探索 ILIS 光束与不同材料的相互作用，研究使用 ILIS 进行材料去除和沉积，并研究聚焦 ILIS 光束以在纳米级仔细加工材料的可能性。在该奖学金的第一阶段（2020-2024）建造了一个真空室；该室用于详细表征不同离子液体的发射。 ILIS 光束由几种不同的离子类型组成，因此使用过滤器来分离这些成分。不同的离子类型被发射到各种材料上，以了解特定离子如何与不同目标发生反应。这些基础研究得到了使用 ILIS 去除材料并创建纳米级图案的实验的补充。可以使用一系列 ILIS 设备进行额外的实验，以实现更高的吞吐量。利用 ILIS 光束沉积离子液体薄膜的可能性也在研究中。该奖学金正在开发一种来自 ILIS 的聚焦离子束 (FIB)； FIB 机器从离子源获取粒子束，并将粒子聚焦到目标上的纳米大小的点上，从而允许对样品进行局部修改。计算机模拟用于设计安装 ILIS 的定制聚焦装置。在奖学金更新阶段（2024-2027 年），将进行实验来量化 ILIS-FIB 光束的聚焦效果，使用不同的离子液体和聚焦装置中的不同操作条件。 ILIS-FIB 平台将用于多种应用，例如纳米级显微镜或精密铣削。另一种研究途径是研究通过离子液体粒子的聚焦离子束沉积材料来创建三维纳米结构的可能性。