Vistec’s advanced EBPG5200 electron beam lithography system ordered by Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK & WATERVLIET, USA: Vistec Lithography Inc., a leader in electron beam lithography, has announced a major order with the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, for one of Vistec’s EBPG5200 electron beam lithography systems.

The instrument will become part of the National Science Foundation's National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network to support advanced nanotechnology research across the nation.

The Vistec EBPG5200 will allow fabrication of a diverse set of devices supporting fundamental and applied research for emerging nanotechnology applications. With the acquisition of the lithography system and its unique nanoscale patterning capabilities, the Penn State Nanofabrication Laboratory will have one of the most advanced electron beam lithography systems for nanotechnology R&D.

Through the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), the EBPG5200 will also be available to other academic institutes, industries and government entities desiring high performance electron beam lithography and nanotechnology fabrication services.

The EBPG5200 system will be installed in the University's new Millennium Science Complex and will be a cornerstone for current and future Penn State nanotechnology research. The system is a result of an NSF Major Research Instrumentation award under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Additional funding comes from Penn State and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The Vistec EBPG5200 is the latest version of the highly successful EBPG5000plus electron beam lithography system technology. The EBPG52000 system with both 50 and 100 keV accelerating voltages, 50 MHZ pattern generator and full 20 bit address technology has the demonstrated ability to routinely pattern to 6-8 nm, address field sizes to 1mm, and accommodate varying substrates sizes from piece parts of a few millimeters to full patterning across a 200 millimeter diameter.

The EBPG5200 electron optics and column design provides not only high resolution, but also delivers high beam currents resulting in very high throughput, high resolution patterning. Further, the EBPG5200 system that will be installed at Penn State has been designed with a unique z-axis feature allowing it to accommodate thick or curved substrates and making it ideal for emerging nanotechnology applications.

Coupled with its extremely flexible Linux based software and associated GUI’s, it is ideal for multiuser, university applications. The various features of EBPG series have made it a leader for university, research institute and industry environments where ease of use, high resolution, throughput and system reliability are required.

“The Vistec team is extremely proud to have been selected by Penn State and to be associated with the Materials Research Institute and the Penn State Nanofabrication Laboratory. We are looking forward to our relationship and to further advance the EBPG5200 system and its capabilities for Penn State’s advanced nanotechnology research”, said Rainer Schmid, General Manager of Vistec Lithography Inc., Watervliet, NY, where the system will be fabricated.

“Vistec has been a partner with Penn State over many years. We welcome the opportunity to have Penn State as a customer and to be associated with its nanotechnoloy research, its faculty and students.”

“We are very excited about our NSF Instrumentation award and the acquisition of the Vistec EBPG5200", said Theresa S. Mayer, Professor of electrical engineering and Director of the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility.

"The instrument is the perfect match for our demanding and unique research needs. It will provide us with a flexible, user friendly, state-of-the-art patterning capability to explore many new avenues of nanotechnology research and development using electron beam lithography. We are very pleased to be partnering with Vistec and look forward to our continued interactions."