IG20129 - INnovative DIgital COntrol for 3D Nanoprinting (INDICO)

The fabrication of nanometer-sized devices is the major goal of the nanotechnology industry due to the unique electronic, magnetic, mechanical and optical properties that emerge at the nanoscale. However, the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) nanostructures in a highly controllable manner (3D-nanoprinting) remains a considerable scientific and technological challenge.

Focused electron and ion beams (FEB, FIB) are powerful tools for the fabrication, characterisation and modification of materials down to the nanoscale. 3D-nanofabrication of nanostructures using FEB and FIB can be performed using a conventional scanning electron microscope (SEM) (either stand-alone or with an additional FIB column) with a mounted gas injection system to introduce gaseous precursor molecules into the SEM vacuum chamber.

In recent years, significant advances in the field of 3D nanofabrication have been made through the combination of experimental studies, technological development and computational modelling. An important milestone towards controlled 3D-nanofabrication has been the development of pattern generator software tools, which navigate the electron beam of a SEM to produce 3D nanostructures with predefined target geometries. A recent breakthrough achieved within the COST Action CA20129 MultIChem concerns the practical realisation of computational Multiscale Modelling (MM) of Focused Electron/Ion Beam Induced Deposition (FEBID, FIBID) processes at the spatial and temporal scales relevant to the needs of 3D-nanofabrication.

The CIG project INDICO aims to develop an INnovative tool for DIgital COntrol for 3D nanoprinting, which will provide the functional link between the pattern generation software currently used for FEBID & FIBID and MM-based knowledge of these processes in order to allow the controlled computer-guided 3D-nanoprinting and to demonstrate the potential of this technology for the fabrication of nanostructures with specific electronic, optical, magnetic and thermomechanical properties.

The developed tool will be validated by comparison with dedicated FEBID & FIBID experiments leading to 3D-nanoprinting of specific systems relevant for industrial applications. The outcomes of this work will be demonstrated to stakeholders and different target user groups of the INDICO tool.
To achieve these goals, the INDICO CIG project brings together the knowledge and expertise of leading European partners (both academic and industrial) in FEB/FIB-based nanofabrication and materials processing, as well as experts in the development and utilisation of advanced software tools for MM.
The widespread use of the developed INDICO tool will enable 3D-nanoprinting with significantly upgraded level of control at thousands of current generation SEMs by a large number of corresponding target user groups. This will provide a paradigm shift in the use of FEB & FIB as a commercial method for the construction of nanostructures for industrially viable applications.