Optical near-field technologies such as solid immersion lenses and hyperlenses are candidate solutions for high resolution and high throughput wafer inspection and metrology for the next technology nodes. Besides sub-diffraction limited optical performance, these concepts share the necessity of extreme proximity to the sample at distances that are measured in tens of nanometers. For the instrument this poses two major challenges: 1) how to measure the distance to the sample? and 2) how to position accurately and at high speed? For the first challenge near-field thermal radiation is proposed as a mechanism for an integrated distance sensor (patent pending). This sensor is realized by making a sensitive calorimeter (accuracy of 2:31nW root sum squared). When used for distance measurement an equivalent uncertainty of 1nm can be achieved for distances smaller than 100 nm. By scanning the distance sensor over the sample, thermal profilometry is realized, which can be used to inspect surfaces in a non-intrusive and non-contact way. This reduces wear of the probe and minimizes the likelihood of damaging the sample.
The maximum amount of repulsive force applied to the surface plays a very important role in damage of tip or sample in Atomic Force Microscopy(AFM). So far, many investigations have focused on peak repulsive forces in tapping mode AFM in steady state conditions. However, it is known that AFM could be more damaging in transient conditions. In high-speed scanning, and in presence of 3D nano structures (such as FinFET), the changes in topography appear in time intervals shorter than the response time of the cantilever. In this case, the tip may crush into the sample by exerting much higher forces than for the same cantilever-sample distance in steady state situations. In this study the effects of steep upward steps in topography on the tip-sample interactions have been investigated, and it has been found that the order(s) of magnitude higher forces can be applied. The information on the worst case scenario obtained by this method can be used for selection of operation parameters and probe design to minimize damage in high-speed imaging. The numerically obtained results have been verified with the previous works in steady state regime. Based on this investigation the maximum safe scanning speed has been obtained for a case study.
Digital Micromirror Device (DMD)-based grayscale lithography is a promising tool for three dimensional (3D) microstructuring of thick-film photoresist since it is a maskless process, provides possibility for the free-form of 3D microstructures, and therefore rapid and cost-effective microfabrication. However, process parameter determination lacks efficient optimization tool, and thus conventional look-up table (indicating the relationship between development depth and exposure dose value under a fixed development time) approach with manual try-and-error adjustment is still gold standard. In this paper, we firstly present a complete “input target-output parameters” single exposure optimization method for 3D microstructuring utilizing DMD-based grayscale lithography. This numerical optimization based on lithography simulation and sensitivity analysis can automatically optimize a combination of three process parameters for target microstructure; exposure dose pattern, a focal position, and development time. Through a series of experiments using a 20 μm thick positive photoresist, validity of the proposed optimization approach has been successfully verified. Secondly, with the purpose of further advancing accuracy and improve the uniformity of precision for the target area, a multiple exposure optimization method is proposed. The simulated results proved that the multiple exposure optimization method is a promising strategy to further improve precision for thicker photoresist structure.
In this paper, we propose a novel design-for-manufacture strategy for integrated photonics which specifically addresses the commonly encountered scenario in which probability distributions of the manufacturing variations are not available, however their bounds are known. The best design point for the device, in the presence of these uncertainties, can be found by applying robust optimization. This is performed by minimizing the maximum realizable value of the objective with respect to the uncertainty set so that an optimum is found whose performance is relatively immune to fabrication variations. Instead of applying robust optimization directly on a computationally expensive simulation model of the integrated photonic device, we construct a cheap surrogate model by uniformly sampling the simulated device at different values of the design variables and interpolating the resulting objective using a Kriging metamodel. By applying robust optimization on the constructed surrogate, the global robust optimum can be found at low computational cost. As an illustration of the method's general applicability, we apply the robust optimization approach on a 2x2 multimode interference (MMI) coupler. We robustly minimize the imbalance in the presence of uncertainties arising from variations in the fabricated design geometry. For this example device, we also study the influence of the number of sample points on the quality of the metamodel and on the robust optimization process.
In this paper we present an algorithm that maps a reference diffracting structure along an arbitrarily curved boundary. The proposed algorithm produces deformed photonic crystal lattice patches with minimal angular distortion of its unit cells, thus realizing a discrete quasi-conformal transformation of the dielectric map. We then investigate the field confinement characteristics of some curved waveguide devices realized by such structures.
In this paper, we illustrate and study the opportunities of resonant ring type structures as wing actuation
mechanisms for a flapping wing Micro Air Vehicle (MAV). Various design alternatives are presented and studied
based on computational and physical models.
Insects provide an excellent source of inspiration for the development of the wing actuation mechanisms
for flapping wing MAVs. The insect thorax is a structure which in essence provides a mechanism to couple
the wing muscles to the wings while offering weight reduction through application of resonance, using tailored
elasticity. The resonant properties of the thorax are a very effective way to reducing the power expenditure
of wing movement. The wing movement itself is fairly complex and is guided by a set of control muscles and
thoracic structures which are present in proximity of the wing root.
The development of flapping wing MAVs requires a move away from classical structures and actuators. The
use of gears and rotational electric motors is hard to justify at the small scale. Resonant structures provide
a large design freedom whilst also providing various options for actuation. The move away from deterministic
mechanisms offers possibilities for mass reduction.
This paper presents an overview of a new type of thermal
micro-actuators using thermally expandable polymers with embedded skeletons. Embedding a stiff skeleton enhances the actuation capability of the thermally expandable polymer. Consequently, the skeleton-reinforced polymers feature a large maximum actuation stress
(often above 100 MPa) and a moderate maximum strain (often above 1%) besides a faster thermal response. In addition, the present composite design has room for performance improvement by tuning the volume fraction of the polymeric expander or selecting a proper expander material. Furthermore, the micro-actuators can be taylored for different motion characteristics, using various skeleton shapes. Finally, we discussed the possible applications using the present actuators.
Submicron cantilever structures have been demonstrated to be extremely versatile sensors and have potential applications
in physics, chemistry and biology. The basic principle in submicron cantilever sensors is the measurement of the
resonance frequency shift due to the added mass of the molecules bound to the cantilever surface.
This paper presents a theoretical model to predict the resonance frequency shift due to molecular adsorption on
submicron cantilevers. The influence of the mechanical properties of the adsorbed molecules bound to the upper and
lower surface on the resonance frequency has been studied. For various materials, the ratio between the thicknesses of
the adsorbed layer and the cantilever where either stiffness or added mass is dominant will be determined. The critical
ratio (which contribution of effect cancel each others) between the thickness of the adsorbed layer and the cantilever and
ratio between stiffness and density of adsorbed layer and cantilever have been determined. The calculations show the
added mass and stiffness how contribute to the resonant behavior. This model gives insight into the decoupling of both
opposite effects and is expected to be useful for the optimal design of resonators with high sensitivity to molecular
adsorption based on either stiffness or mass effects.
This article illustrates the opportunities that combining computational modeling and systematic design optimization
techniques offer to facilitate the design process of shape memory alloy (SMA) structures. Focus is on
shape memory behavior due to the R-phase transformation in Ni-Ti, for which a dedicated constitutive model is
formulated. In this paper, efficient topology and shape optimization procedures for the design of SMA devices are
described. In order to achieve fast convergence to optimized designs, sensitivity information is computed to allow
the use of gradient-based optimization algorithms. The effectiveness of the various optimization procedures is
illustrated by numerical examples, including the design of a miniature SMA gripper and a steerable SMA active
catheter. It is shown that design optimization enables designers of SMA structures to systematically enhance
the performance of SMA devices for a variety of applications.
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