Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

This proposal concerns the acquisition of a contact profilometer for thin film characterization. The nanofabrication facility at the Western University (http://nanofab.uwo.ca) is an open access facility for academic research groups as well as industrial partners that wish to fabricate devices that need advanced micro- and nano-fabrication techniques. Such techniques offered by the nanofabrication facility include electron beam lithography, surface etching, and metal and polymer deposition as thin films. The equipment is located in a clean room environment and supports the training of a large number of HQP working within more than 60 research groups at Western and nearby institutions and industries. Importantly, more than 180 students (undergrad, graduate, postdoctoral fellow) from different disciplines ranging from chemistry, physics, engineering as well as medical science utilize the facility. Alumni of the facility have been recruited to academic positions at prestigious institutions such as Ottawa University, Boston University and MIT, or industry players such as Imperial oil, IBM, Ford and General motors. The requested profilometer is an instrument needed to characterize thin films. It is capable of precise measurements of film thickness and roughness, and can evaluate large surfaces in order to measure the homogeneity of deposited thin films. In the nanofabrication facility, thin films of polymers are prepared on a daily basis. The polymer thin films deposited by spin coating are used as photoresists as well as for constructing microfluidic devices (polydimethyl siloxane). Furthermore, deposition of metals (e.g. Au, Ti, Cr, Ag) and metal oxydes (ITO, alumina) is performed daily and aides in the fabrication of nanoscale and microscale devices and antennae for plasmonic platforms. It is therefore of critical importance to precisely control the thickness of the deposited materials as well as to calibrate the methods and instruments used to deposit the materials. Contact profilometry is simple for users to learn and reasonable cost. It is capable of precise measures of film thickness, roughness and homogeneity and is a requisite in all nanofabrication processes.