NEW LITHOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES FOR X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY

THE GOAL OF THE FELLOWSHIP RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A NEW PROCEDURE TO FABRICATE BLAZED REFLECTION GRATINGS WITH AN IDEALIZED GROOVE PROFILE THAT HINGES ON ELECTRON-BEAM LITHOGRAPHY (EBL). PRODUCING THESE GRATINGS WILL PUSH THE STATE-OF-THE-ART OF ADVANCED SPECTROMETERS FOR NEXT-GENERATION X-RAY OBSERVATORIES AND IS DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO THE REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS/SENSORS TECHNOLOGY BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE AS OUTLINED IN THE NASA SPACE TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP. THIS FABRICATION PROCEDURE BASED ON RESEARCH CONDUCTED AT THE PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUTE 1 2 3)INVOLVES PATTERNING THREE-DIMENSIONAL STAIRCASE STRUCTURES IN POLYMERIC PHOTORESIST USING GRAYSCALE EBL AND THERMALLY TREATING THESE STRUCTURES TO PRODUCE SMOOTH BLAZED GROOVE FACETS. THIS IS IN CONTRAST TO THE RECIPE THAT THE RESEARCH GROUP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA IS CURRENTLY PURSUING TO PRODUCE BLAZED REFLECTION GRATINGS WHICH INVOLVES THE FABRICATION OF A PRE-MASTER NANOIMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY AND ANISOTROPIC ETCHING IN CRYSTALLINE SILICON. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS NEW FABRICATION RECIPE UNDER NSTRF WILL AID IN REALIZING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF THE OFF-PLANE GRATING DESIGN AND WILL SERVE AS A MORE COST-EFFECTIVE WAY FOR THE RESEARCH GROUP TO FABRICATE GRATINGS.