Peter R. Krauss

Bio: Peter R. Krauss is an academic researcher from University of Minnesota. The author has contributed to research in topics: Lithography & Nanolithography. The author has an hindex of 13, co-authored 19 publications receiving 8052 citations. Previous affiliations of Peter R. Krauss include Seagate Technology.

Imprint of sub-25 nm vias and trenches in polymers

Abstract: A nanoimprint process that presses a mold into a thin thermoplastic polymer film on a substrate to create vias and trenches with a minimum size of 25 nm and a depth of 100 nm in the polymer has been demonstrated. Furthermore, the imprint process has been used as a lithography process to fabricate sub‐25 nm diameter metal dot arrays of a 100 nm period in a lift‐off process. It was found that the nanostructures imprinted in the polymers conform completely with the geometry of the mold. At present, the imprinted size is limited by the size of the mold being used; with a suitable mold, the imprint process should mold sub‐10 nm structures with a high aspect ratio in polymers. The nanoimprint process offers a low cost method for mass producing sub‐25 nm structures and has the potential to become a key nanolithography method for future manufacturing of integrated circuits and integrated optics.

Imprint Lithography with 25-Nanometer Resolution

Abstract: A high-throughput lithographic method with 25-nanometer resolution and smooth vertical sidewalls is proposed and demonstrated. The technique uses compression molding to create a thickness contrast pattern in a thin resist film carried on a substrate, followed by anisotropic etching to transfer the pattern through the entire resist thickness. Metal patterns with a feature size of 25 nanometers and a period of 70 nanometers were fabricated with the use of resist templates created by imprint lithography in combination with a lift-off process. With further development, imprint lithography should allow fabrication of sub-10-nanometer structures and may become a commercially viable technique for manufacturing integrated circuits and other nanodevices.

Sub-10 nm imprint lithography and applications

Abstract: New developments, further details, and applications of imprint lithography are presented. Arrays of 10 nm diameter and 40 nm period holes were imprinted not only in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) on silicon, but also in PMMA on gold substrates. The smallest hole diameter imprinted in PMMA is 6 nm. All the PMMA patterns were transferred to a metal using a liftoff. In addition, PMMA mesa’s of a size from 45 nm to 50 μm were obtained in a single imprint. Moreover, imprint lithography was used to fabricate the silicon quantum dot, wire, and ring transistors, which showed the same behavior as those fabricated using electron (e)-beam lithography. Finally, imprint lithography was used to fabricate nanocompact disks with 10 nm features and 400 Gbits/in.2 data density—near three orders of magnitude higher than current critical dimensions (CDs). A silicon scanning probe was used to read back the data successfully. The study of wear indicates that due to the ultrasmall force in tapping mode, both the nano-CD and the ...

Sub-10 nm imprint lithography and applications

Abstract: Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a new lithography paradigm that is based on deformation of a resist by compression molding rather than altering its chemical structure by radiation, and is designed to fabricate nanostructures inexpensively with high throughput. In this paper, we present significant new developments in achieving holes and dots with 6 nm feature size, 40 nm period on silicon, and 10 nm feature size, 40 nm period on a Au substrate. Moreover, we present an application of NIL to the fabrication of nanoscale compact disks (NanoCDs) of 400 Gbits/in/sup 2/ data density.

Electronics using hybrid-molecular and mono-molecular devices

Abstract: The semiconductor industry has seen a remarkable miniaturization trend, driven by many scientific and technological innovations. But if this trend is to continue, and provide ever faster and cheaper computers, the size of microelectronic circuit components will soon need to reach the scale of atoms or molecules—a goal that will require conceptually new device structures. The idea that a few molecules, or even a single molecule, could be embedded between electrodes and perform the basic functions of digital electronics—rectification, amplification and storage—was first put forward in the mid-1970s. The concept is now realized for individual components, but the economic fabrication of complete circuits at the molecular level remains challenging because of the difficulty of connecting molecules to one another. A possible solution to this problem is ‘mono-molecular’ electronics, in which a single molecule will integrate the elementary functions and interconnections required for computation.

Controlling the synthesis and assembly of silver nanostructures for plasmonic applications

Abstract: Coinage metals, such as Au, Ag, and Cu, have been important materials throughout history.1 While in ancient cultures they were admired primarily for their ability to reflect light, their applications have become far more sophisticated with our increased understanding and control of the atomic world. Today, these metals are widely used in electronics, catalysis, and as structural materials, but when they are fashioned into structures with nanometer-sized dimensions, they also become enablers for a completely different set of applications that involve light. These new applications go far beyond merely reflecting light, and have renewed our interest in maneuvering the interactions between metals and light in a field known as plasmonics.2–6 In plasmonics, the metal nanostructures can serve as antennas to convert light into localized electric fields (E-fields) or as waveguides to route light to desired locations with nanometer precision. These applications are made possible through a strong interaction between incident light and free electrons in the nanostructures. With a tight control over the nanostructures in terms of size and shape, light can be effectively manipulated and controlled with unprecedented accuracy.3,7 While many new technologies stand to be realized from plasmonics, with notable examples including superlenses,8 invisible cloaks,9 and quantum computing,10,11 conventional technologies like microprocessors and photovoltaic devices could also be made significantly faster and more efficient with the integration of plasmonic nanostructures.12–15 Of the metals, Ag has probably played the most important role in the development of plasmonics, and its unique properties make it well-suited for most of the next-generation plasmonic technologies.16–18 1.1. What is Plasmonics? Plasmonics is related to the localization, guiding, and manipulation of electromagnetic waves beyond the diffraction limit and down to the nanometer length scale.4,6 The key component of plasmonics is a metal, because it supports surface plasmon polariton modes (indicated as surface plasmons or SPs throughout this review), which are electromagnetic waves coupled to the collective oscillations of free electrons in the metal. While there are a rich variety of plasmonic metal nanostructures, they can be differentiated based on the plasmonic modes they support: localized surface plasmons (LSPs) or propagating surface plasmons (PSPs).5,19 In LSPs, the time-varying electric field associated with the light (Eo) exerts a force on the gas of negatively charged electrons in the conduction band of the metal and drives them to oscillate collectively. At a certain excitation frequency (w), this oscillation will be in resonance with the incident light, resulting in a strong oscillation of the surface electrons, commonly known as a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) mode.20 This phenomenon is illustrated in Figure 1A. Structures that support LSPRs experience a uniform Eo when excited by light as their dimensions are much smaller than the wavelength of the light. Figure 1 Schematic illustration of the two types of plasmonic nanostructures discussed in this article as excited by the electric field (Eo) of incident light with wavevector (k). In (A) the nanostructure is smaller than the wavelength of light and the free electrons ... In contrast, PSPs are supported by structures that have at least one dimension that approaches the excitation wavelength, as shown in Figure 1B.4 In this case, the Eo is not uniform across the structure and other effects must be considered. In such a structure, like a nanowire for example, SPs propagate back and forth between the ends of the structure. This can be described as a Fabry-Perot resonator with resonance condition l=nλsp, where l is the length of the nanowire, n is an integer, and λsp is the wavelength of the PSP mode.21,22 Reflection from the ends of the structure must also be considered, which can change the phase and resonant length. Propagation lengths can be in the tens of micrometers (for nanowires) and the PSP waves can be manipulated by controlling the geometrical parameters of the structure.23

Molecular ruler for scaling down nanostructures

Abstract: The present invention is a method and apparatus relating to manufacturing nanostructure patterns and components using molecular science. The method includes overlaying a multilayer organic molecule resist on at least a portion of a parent structure selectively deposited on a substrate, depositing a layer over the parent structure and in contact with at least a portion of the multilayer organic resist, and removing the multilayer organic molecule resist to leave a residual structure.

Nanostructured plasmonic sensors.

Abstract: Surface plasmons (SPs) are coherent oscillations of conduction electrons on a metal surface excited by electromagnetic radiation at a metal -dielectric interface. The growing field of research on such light -metal interactions is known as ‘plasmonics’. 1-3 This branch of research has attracted much attention due to its potential applications in miniaturized optical devices, sensors, and photonic circuits as well as in medical diagnostics and therapeutics. 4-8

Soft lithography for micro- and nanoscale patterning

Abstract: This protocol provides an introduction to soft lithography--a collection of techniques based on printing, molding and embossing with an elastomeric stamp. Soft lithography provides access to three-dimensional and curved structures, tolerates a wide variety of materials, generates well-defined and controllable surface chemistries, and is generally compatible with biological applications. It is also low in cost, experimentally convenient and has emerged as a technology useful for a number of applications that include cell biology, microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip, microelectromechanical systems and flexible electronics/photonics. As examples, here we focus on three of the commonly used soft lithographic techniques: (i) microcontact printing of alkanethiols and proteins on gold-coated and glass substrates; (ii) replica molding for fabrication of microfluidic devices in poly(dimethyl siloxane), and of nanostructures in polyurethane or epoxy; and (iii) solvent-assisted micromolding of nanostructures in poly(methyl methacrylate).