Demolding ENGR 1182 03 Pre Lab MicroNanotechnology Tools

Demolding ENGR 1182. 03 Pre Lab

Micro/Nanotechnology Tools One of the challenges of nanotechnology is the limitation of tools available to allow us to “see” into this microscopic world.

Wavelengths vs. Features Size The wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave — the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. The smaller the wavelength of the wave the higher the energy of the wave. 100 10 10 -2 10 -4 10 -6 Nanotechnology 10 -8 10 -10 10 -12 Wavelength in meters

Microscopes ¡An optical microscope that uses visible light through lenses can magnify up to 1, 500 times! ¡ A microscope that uses a beam of electrons instead of light can “magnify” millions of times! ¡Why the difference?

Resolution ¡The resolution of an image is limited by the effects of diffraction (Bending of Light). ¡A good rule of thumb: an imaging system is able to resolve features to approximately half the wavelength of “wave” used ¡Therefore, the smaller the wavelength the higher the resolution of the microscope

Microscopy using non-light wavelengths To obtain higher resolution than optical microscopes, imaging devices using other types of waves have been developed such as electron beam.

Scanning Electron Microscope Focusing Scanning An electron beam is focused and scanned across a specimen and then scattered electrons are detected. Those scattered electrons carry the image information. Resolution is ~ 5 nm Scattered electrons

Cecropia Moth

A close-up of the Cecropia Moth scale using a Scanning Electron Microscope – Note scale of 1 micron

Scanning Probe Microscopes ¡The family of scanning probe microscopes uses no lenses, but rather a probe that “interacts” with the sample surface. ¡Some examples are: ¡Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) ¡Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)

Learning Objectives of Lab ¡Expose students to a lab-on-a-chip fabrication technique of demolding PDMS lid from the petridish.