The feasibility of developing polyimide precursors which canbe directly imaged by electron-beams will be investigated. these dielectrics will have all of the advantages of polyimides, and save process steps because they will be directly imagable. integrated circuit process tests which include… More

Semiconducting organic materials will be tested for their processability in integrated circuit manufacturing. the materials to be tested include polyphenylene, polyphthalocyanines, polyacrylonitriles, tetrathiafulvene halides, and polysilastyrene. these materials, when properly doped, have good… More

This project is a study of the effects of polymeric physical properties on neat resin mechanical properties. the polymer chosen for this study is a polyimide sulfone formed from benzophenone tetracarboxylic hianhydride (btda) and 3,3'-diaminodiphenylsulfone (dds). during phase i, samples of… More

Synthetic hydrogels are not strong enough to serve in many therapeutic and prosthetic applications. one potential way of increasing their strength, but without seriously reducingtheir water uptake, is to form the gel network from two polymer species. one polymer component would be chosen to give… More

Recent advances in the area of semiconducting polymers have made available a new class of materials which have conductivities in the proper range for synaptic connections for neural networks. this study will investigate this technology in four tasks: determination of spin-coating parameters,… More

As switching time requirements and chip sizes decrease, submicron geometries will be an inevitable trend in the integrated circuit industry in the 1990s. in order to achieve the required small geometries and high yields, stringent demands will be made on resist technology. although there are many… More

A key step in the fabrication of free-standing micromechanical devices is often the removal of a sacrificial oxide layer with hydrofluoric acid. as a result, this powerful technique is limited to use on polysilicon and a few hf-resistant metals. the goal of this work is to demonstrate that… More

There is a stated need for low-temperature processes for thedeposition of semiconductor devices on top of insulators. in particular, nonlinear devices are needed in the liquid crystal display industry in active matrix liquid crystal displays. the maximum size of displays is limited in part by the… More

Deep uv and i-line lithography will be used extensively throughout the 1990's to build submicron integrated circuits. recent studies with commercial deep uv and i-linephotoresists have shown that their performance falls dramatically when printing over reflective substrates such as polysilicon and… More

Light signals pass through optical processors via an interconnecting system of wave guide structures. fluorinated polymers, because of their outstanding properties, are logical materials for use in fabricating these structures. fluoropolymers can be paired with other plastics or ceramics of higher… More

Color filter fabrication is one of the most expensive steps in the manufacture of color lcd displays. color filter formation is usually accomplished by a photolithographic process which requires a number of steps. the yield is low and labor and material costs are relatively high. in addition, the… More

Waveguides are used to transmit light through optical processors. combining the resolution potential of deep-uv photolithography and the extreme sensitivity/high contrast of chemically amplified positive acting (camp) resists offers a potentially simple method for fabricating highly resolved,… More

Piezoresistive properties of materials form the basis of many types of sensors, including strain gauges, micromachined accelerometers and pressure sensors, tactile sensors, and flow sensors. as greater demands are placed on devices from the stand-point of size and cost per controlled point, easier… More

The inability to deposit copper directly onto aluminum is a longstanding problem in microelectronic manufacturing. Presently, aluminum must be coated with a barrier layer such as TiN to promote copper adhesion and provide good electrical contact between the two metals. This work will demonstrate… More

As IC manufacturers pursue larger wafer sizes and smaller device features (0.25 um), the interlayer dielectric material becomes critical . Current interlayer dielectric materials, inorganic oxides and spin-coated polymeric materials, have serious deficiencies (e.g.,k >3, water absorption, and spin… More

The inability to deposit copper directly onto aluminum is a longstanding problem in microelectronic manufacturing. Presently, aluminum must be coated with a barrier layer such as TiN to promote copper adhesion and provide good electrical contact between the two metals. This work will demonstrate… More

A long-standing trend in the integrated circuit industry is to reduce pattern geometries on semiconductor substrates. To continue this trend, the next exposure wavelength after on-going deep-ultraviolet (248 nm) will be 193 nm. This SBIR Phase I program will identify and develop thermosetting bottom… More

Ion-implanted, thin polymer films exhibit a large temperature coefficient of resistance which suggests their application in microbolometer arrays used for infrared ( IR) imaging and temperature mapping. Compared to current microbolometer designs which require a series of difficult deposition steps,… More

This SBIR Phase I will develop novel chemistry platforms for 157nm bottom anti-reflective coatings (BARC's). Recent improvements in BARC's, photoresist's, and optical processes at deep ultra-violet have enabled resolution targets approaching 0.12 microns.The semiconductor industry technology… More

Ion implanted, thin polymer films exhibit a large temperature coefficient ofresistance which suggest their application in microbolometer arrays used for infrared(IR) imaging and temperature mapping. Compared to current microbolometer designswhich require a series of difficult deposition steps, an… More

"Acute competitive pressures to produce ever faster and more complex integrated circuits at diminishing costs continually drive IC manufacturers to find new, improved materials and processes without investing in new equipment sets. Currently in themicroelectronic industry, most equipment sets… More

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop bottom anti-reflective coatings (BARCs) for production of advanced semiconductor devices by 157 nm lithography . The NSF Phase I technical objectives are to demonstrate the feasibility of potential technical approaches to workable… More

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I research project aims to develop an innovative high speed IR-transparent flexible thin-film transistor (TFT) technology for application to conformal IR invisible electronics by using unique electronic-grade carbon nanotube (CNT) solutions that… More

In this Phase I SBIR program, Brewer Science, Inc. (BSI), a leader in innovative microelectronic materials, and our pioneering additive manufacturing partner will develop and demonstrate a cost-effective materials production process for fabricating high-performance thin-film transistors (TFTs) using… More

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project focuses on developing a commercially viable process for producing a versatile passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. … More