Directed fabrication of ceramic nanostructures on fragile substrates using soft-electron beam lithography (soft-eBL)

Suresh Donthu; Nasim Alem; Zixiao Pan; Shu You Li; Gajendra Shekhawat; Vinayak Dravid; Kurt D. Benkstein; Steve Semancik

doi:10.1109/TNANO.2008.917793

Directed fabrication of ceramic nanostructures on fragile substrates using soft-electron beam lithography (soft-eBL)

Suresh Donthu^*, Nasim Alem, Zixiao Pan, Shu You Li, Gajendra Shekhawat, Vinayak Dravid, Kurt D. Benkstein, Steve Semancik

^*Corresponding author for this work

Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

We demonstrate the use of a facile nanopatterning scheme known as soft electron beam lithography (soft-eBL) to fabricate and site specifically position a variety of functional ceramic nanostructures onto two fragile substrates: a 75-nm-thick electron-transparent silicon nitride membrane and suspended microhotplates with embedded heaters. The patterned nanostructures on nitride membranes can be readily probed with a variety of characterization tools without any postfabrication sample preparation, allowing observation of the nanostructures in near-pristine condition. We demonstrate this by characterizing the structural, chemical, and optical properties of several ceramic nanostructures patterned on membranes using electron microscopy and surface scanning probe tools such as atomic force microscopy and near-field scanning optical microscopy. We further demonstrate that such nanostructures, upon integration with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microhotplate platforms, can function as gas-sensing elements; we evaluate their sensing performance at micromoles per mole target analyte concentration levels.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	4444999
Pages (from-to)	338-343
Number of pages	6
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology
Volume	7
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TNANO.2008.917793
State	Published - May 2008

Funding

The authors acknowledge the technical assistance of Chip Montgomery in preparing the microhotplate devices for deposition and testing. This research was performed in the Electron Probe Instrumentation Center (EPIC)/Nanoscale Integrated Fabrication, Testing, and Instrumentation (NIFTI)/Keck-II facilities of the Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center (NUANCE) Center at Northwestern University. The NUANCE Center is supported by National Science Foundation (NSF)-Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC), NSF-Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), the State of Illinois, and North-western University. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation. Manuscript received August 28, 2007; revised November 16, 2007. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation-Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSF-NSEC), NSF-Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and Department of Engineering (DOE)-Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (DE-PS02-07ER01-01) programs at Northwestern University. The review of this paper was arranged by Associate Editor J. Rogers.

Keywords

Ceramic nanopatterns
Gas sensors
Micro-hotplates
Nitride membranes
Soft-electron beam lithography (soft-eBL)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Computer Science Applications
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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10.1109/TNANO.2008.917793

Cite this

@article{fb199c5b83f54df7bd11e4a83019e7fd,

title = "Directed fabrication of ceramic nanostructures on fragile substrates using soft-electron beam lithography (soft-eBL)",

abstract = "We demonstrate the use of a facile nanopatterning scheme known as soft electron beam lithography (soft-eBL) to fabricate and site specifically position a variety of functional ceramic nanostructures onto two fragile substrates: a 75-nm-thick electron-transparent silicon nitride membrane and suspended microhotplates with embedded heaters. The patterned nanostructures on nitride membranes can be readily probed with a variety of characterization tools without any postfabrication sample preparation, allowing observation of the nanostructures in near-pristine condition. We demonstrate this by characterizing the structural, chemical, and optical properties of several ceramic nanostructures patterned on membranes using electron microscopy and surface scanning probe tools such as atomic force microscopy and near-field scanning optical microscopy. We further demonstrate that such nanostructures, upon integration with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microhotplate platforms, can function as gas-sensing elements; we evaluate their sensing performance at micromoles per mole target analyte concentration levels.",

keywords = "Ceramic nanopatterns, Gas sensors, Micro-hotplates, Nitride membranes, Soft-electron beam lithography (soft-eBL)",

author = "Suresh Donthu and Nasim Alem and Zixiao Pan and Li, {Shu You} and Gajendra Shekhawat and Vinayak Dravid and Benkstein, {Kurt D.} and Steve Semancik",

note = "Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the technical assistance of Chip Montgomery in preparing the microhotplate devices for deposition and testing. This research was performed in the Electron Probe Instrumentation Center (EPIC)/Nanoscale Integrated Fabrication, Testing, and Instrumentation (NIFTI)/Keck-II facilities of the Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center (NUANCE) Center at Northwestern University. The NUANCE Center is supported by National Science Foundation (NSF)-Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC), NSF-Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), the State of Illinois, and North-western University. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation. Funding Information: Manuscript received August 28, 2007; revised November 16, 2007. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation-Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSF-NSEC), NSF-Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and Department of Engineering (DOE)-Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (DE-PS02-07ER01-01) programs at Northwestern University. The review of this paper was arranged by Associate Editor J. Rogers.",

year = "2008",

month = may,

doi = "10.1109/TNANO.2008.917793",

language = "English (US)",

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AU - Donthu, Suresh

AU - Alem, Nasim

AU - Pan, Zixiao

AU - Li, Shu You

AU - Shekhawat, Gajendra

AU - Dravid, Vinayak

AU - Benkstein, Kurt D.

AU - Semancik, Steve

N1 - Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the technical assistance of Chip Montgomery in preparing the microhotplate devices for deposition and testing. This research was performed in the Electron Probe Instrumentation Center (EPIC)/Nanoscale Integrated Fabrication, Testing, and Instrumentation (NIFTI)/Keck-II facilities of the Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center (NUANCE) Center at Northwestern University. The NUANCE Center is supported by National Science Foundation (NSF)-Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC), NSF-Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), the State of Illinois, and North-western University. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation. Funding Information: Manuscript received August 28, 2007; revised November 16, 2007. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation-Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSF-NSEC), NSF-Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and Department of Engineering (DOE)-Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (DE-PS02-07ER01-01) programs at Northwestern University. The review of this paper was arranged by Associate Editor J. Rogers.

PY - 2008/5

Y1 - 2008/5

N2 - We demonstrate the use of a facile nanopatterning scheme known as soft electron beam lithography (soft-eBL) to fabricate and site specifically position a variety of functional ceramic nanostructures onto two fragile substrates: a 75-nm-thick electron-transparent silicon nitride membrane and suspended microhotplates with embedded heaters. The patterned nanostructures on nitride membranes can be readily probed with a variety of characterization tools without any postfabrication sample preparation, allowing observation of the nanostructures in near-pristine condition. We demonstrate this by characterizing the structural, chemical, and optical properties of several ceramic nanostructures patterned on membranes using electron microscopy and surface scanning probe tools such as atomic force microscopy and near-field scanning optical microscopy. We further demonstrate that such nanostructures, upon integration with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microhotplate platforms, can function as gas-sensing elements; we evaluate their sensing performance at micromoles per mole target analyte concentration levels.

AB - We demonstrate the use of a facile nanopatterning scheme known as soft electron beam lithography (soft-eBL) to fabricate and site specifically position a variety of functional ceramic nanostructures onto two fragile substrates: a 75-nm-thick electron-transparent silicon nitride membrane and suspended microhotplates with embedded heaters. The patterned nanostructures on nitride membranes can be readily probed with a variety of characterization tools without any postfabrication sample preparation, allowing observation of the nanostructures in near-pristine condition. We demonstrate this by characterizing the structural, chemical, and optical properties of several ceramic nanostructures patterned on membranes using electron microscopy and surface scanning probe tools such as atomic force microscopy and near-field scanning optical microscopy. We further demonstrate that such nanostructures, upon integration with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microhotplate platforms, can function as gas-sensing elements; we evaluate their sensing performance at micromoles per mole target analyte concentration levels.

KW - Ceramic nanopatterns

KW - Gas sensors

KW - Micro-hotplates

KW - Nitride membranes

KW - Soft-electron beam lithography (soft-eBL)

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JO - IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology

JF - IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology

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ER -

Directed fabrication of ceramic nanostructures on fragile substrates using soft-electron beam lithography (soft-eBL)

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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