Nanochannel glass materials
Encyclopedia
Nanochannel glass materials are an experimental mask
technology that is an alternate method for fabricating nanostructures, although optical lithography is the predominant patterning technique.
Nanochannel glass materials are complex glass structures containing large numbers of parallel hollow channels. In its simplest form, the hollow channels are arranged in geometric arrays with packing densities as great as 1011 channels/cm2. Channel dimensions are controllable from micrometers to tens of nanometers, while retaining excellent channel uniformity. Exact replicas of the channel glass can be made from a variety of materials. This is a low cost method for creating identical structures with nanoscale features in large numbers.
, unidirectional conductors, Microchannel plate
and nonlinear optical devices. Other uses are as masks for semiconductor
development, including ion implantation, optical lithography, and reactive ion etching
.
Photomask
A photomask is an opaque plate with holes or transparencies that allow light to shine through in a defined pattern. They are commonly used in photolithography.-Overview:...
technology that is an alternate method for fabricating nanostructures, although optical lithography is the predominant patterning technique.
Nanochannel glass materials are complex glass structures containing large numbers of parallel hollow channels. In its simplest form, the hollow channels are arranged in geometric arrays with packing densities as great as 1011 channels/cm2. Channel dimensions are controllable from micrometers to tens of nanometers, while retaining excellent channel uniformity. Exact replicas of the channel glass can be made from a variety of materials. This is a low cost method for creating identical structures with nanoscale features in large numbers.
Characteristics
These materials have high density of uniform channels with diameters from 15 micrometres to 15 nanometers. These are rigid structures with serviceable temperatures to at least 300 degrees Celsius, with potential up to 1000 degrees Celsius. Furthermore these are optically transparent photonic structures with high degree of reproducibility.Applications
These can be used as a material for chromatographic columnsChromatography
Chromatography is the collective term for a set of laboratory techniques for the separation of mixtures....
, unidirectional conductors, Microchannel plate
Microchannel plate detector
A micro-channel plate is a planar component used for detection of particles and impinging radiation . It is closely related to an electron multiplier, as both intensify single particles or photons by the multiplication of electrons via secondary emission...
and nonlinear optical devices. Other uses are as masks for semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
development, including ion implantation, optical lithography, and reactive ion etching
Reactive ion etching
Reactive-ion etching is an etching technology used in microfabrication. It uses chemically reactive plasma to remove material deposited on wafers. The plasma is generated under low pressure by an electromagnetic field...
.
See also
- E-beam lithography
- Ion beam lithographyIon beam lithographyIon beam lithography is the practice of scanning a focused beam of ions in a patterned fashion across a surface in order to create very small structures such as integrated circuits or other nanostructures....
- Maskless lithographyMaskless lithographyIn maskless lithography, the radiation that is used to expose a photosensitive emulsion is not projected from, or transmitted through, a photomask. Instead, most commonly, the radiation is focused to a narrow beam. The beam is then used to directly write the image into the photoresist, one or more...
- NanolithographyNanolithographyNanolithography is the branch of nanotechnology concerned with the study and application of fabricating nanometer-scale structures, meaning patterns with at least one lateral dimension between the size of an individual atom and approximately 100 nm...
- PhotolithographyPhotolithographyPhotolithography is a process used in microfabrication to selectively remove parts of a thin film or the bulk of a substrate. It uses light to transfer a geometric pattern from a photomask to a light-sensitive chemical "photoresist", or simply "resist," on the substrate...
- Porous glassPorous glassPorous glass is glass that includes pores, usually in the nm- or µm-range, commonly prepared by one of the following processes: through metastable phase separation in borosilicate glasses , followed by liquid extraction of one of the formed phases; through the sol-gel process; or simply by...