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The UK National Quantum Technology Programme was launched in 2017 and was the first example of a nationally coordinated initiative bringing together academia, industry and government to accelerate development and commercialisation of quantum technologies. The programme, now in its second phase and worth £1B (~$1.25B), has also inspired the creation of other national initiatives across the globe, including the $1.2B US National Quantum Initiative. According to the latest statistics available, between 2017 and 2018 companies active in quantum technology raised more than $450M in private equity funding. This amount of investment and the burgeoning activity in this field is expected to produce game-changing technology, but the question remains: when and where will this happen first? Join us to hear expert perspectives from those at the frontiers of quantum technology and its commercialization, as well as informed commentary on the trends emerging in this fast-changing arena. Learn how industry leaders are addressing the challenges of this exciting new arena and identifying opportunities to grow their business.

Current resist materials cannot simultaneously meet the sensitivity, resolution and line width roughness (LWR) requirements set out by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) for the 32nm node and beyond. Here we present a fullerene-based, chemically amplified resist system, which demonstrates the potential to fulfill these requirements for next generation lithography. A chemically amplified fullerene resist was prepared, consisting of the derivative MF07-01, an epoxide crosslinker, and a photoacid generator, such as triarylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate. The sensitivity of this resist was shown to be between 5 and 10 μC cm -2 at 20 keV for various combinations of post-application bake and post-exposure bake conditions. Using 30 keV electron beam exposure, sparse patterns with 15 nm resolution were demonstrated, whilst for dense patterns a half-pitch of 25 nm could be achieved. The LWR for the densely patterned features is ∼4 nm. The etch durability of the fullerene CA system was shown to be comparable to that of SAL601, a common novolac-based commercial resist, at almost four times that of silicon.

In just a few years, exploring nanostructured materials has become a new theme common to many disciplines of science and engineering. Recent surge of interest in these nanostructured systems stems from the remarkable effects that may arise from the critical size reduction. Structured materials on the nanometre scale can lead to improved and sometimes novel properties with emerging applications ranging from novel highly functional devices to advanced chemical and biological sensors. Significant advances made in nanomaterials research, together with improved lithographic fabrication strategies have led to dramatic enhancements in the creation of complex and well-defined nanostructures on surfaces. This article reviews the status of research and development in nanostructured materials, with particular focus on the recent advances on nanolithographic techniques. Finally, perspectives and future challenges in this emerging field of research are also discussed.

The self-organization of citrate- and acrylate-stabilized gold nanoparticles onto SiO2/hydroxyl-, amino- and nitro-terminated surfaces was investigated as a function of pH. Bare clean Si/SiO2 substrates were used as the SiO2/hydroxyl-terminated surfaces and self-assembled monolayers (SAM) of (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS) and 3-(4-nitrophenoxy)-propyltrimethoxysilane (NPPTMS) on Si/SiO2 were employed as the amino- and nitro-terminated surfaces, respectively. All the surfaces were fully characterized by contact angle, atomic force microscopy (AFM), ellipsometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Citrate- and acrylate-stabilized gold nanoparticle stability was also investigated as a function of pH by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy and Z-potentiometry. The gold nanoparticle surface coverage of the substrates was independently estimated by AFM and XPS. The results show that colloid deposition on bare SiO2/OH surfaces and on NPPTMS monolayers is negligible with the exception of acrylate-s...

Exposure of thiol-stabilized gold nanoparticles supported on silicon wafers to UV light leads to oxidation of the thiol molecules and coagulation of the nanoparticles, forming densified structures that are resistant to removal by solvent exposure. Unoxidized particles may, in contrast, readily be removed leaving gold structures behind at the surface. This process provides a convenient and simple route for the fabrication of gold structures with dimensions ranging from micrometers to nanometers. The use of masks enables micrometer-scale structures to be fabricated rapidly. Exposure of nanoparticles to light from a near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) leads to the formation of gold nanowires. The dimensions of these nanowires depend on the method of preparation of the film: for spin-cast films, a width of 200 nm was achieved. However, this was reduced significantly, to 60 nm, for Langmuir-Schaeffer films.

The minimum lithographic feature size for microelectronic fabrication continues to shrink, and resist properties are beginning to dominate the achievable resolution. There is a strong need for a high resolution, high sensitivity resist for future nodes that is not met by conventional polymeric resists at this time. Molecular resists, such as fullerene derivatives have the potential for lower LWR and improved resolution, but have typically been insufficiently sensitive to irradiation. Here we present a fullerene based three component chemically amplified resist system with high resolution and sensitivity, and wide process latitude. The sensitivity of this resist is between 5 and 10 μC/cm2 at 20 keV for various combinations of post application bake and post exposure bake conditions. Using 30 keV electron beam exposure, sparse patterns with 12 nm resolution were demonstrated, at a line dose of 300 pC/cm, whilst dense patterns with half-pitch 20 nm were achieved at 200 pC/cm. The LWR for the densely patterned resist (measured at 20 nm half pitch) is ~ 4.4 nm, whilst for the 12 nm sparse feature the measured LWR is ~ 2.5 nm. The etch durability is comparable with commercial novolac resists

Current resist materials are unable to simultaneously meet the resolution, sensitivity and line width roughness specifications of the 32nm node. Molecular resists have small carbon rich molecules and have generated significant recent interest with their potential for high resolution and etch durability and lower linewidth roughness than conventional polymeric materials. A chemically amplified fullerene derivative based resist is presented here. The resist consisted of the fullerene derivative MF07-01, an epoxide crosslinker and a photoacid generator. The sensitivity of this resist was shown to be between 5 and 10µC/cm2 at 20keV. Using 30keV electron beam exposure sparse patterns with 12nm resolution were demonstrated, whilst for dense patterns a half-pitch of 20nm could be achieved. Linewidth roughness values of between 2.4 and 6nm were seen, dependent on the exposure dose and feature size. The etch durability of the fullerene CA system was shown to be comparable to that of SAL601, a common novolac based commercial resist. Significantly the process latitude of this resist system is very wide. The dense line and space patterns were achieved whilst varying the post application bake between 75 and 125?C for 10min, the post exposure bake between 90 and 130?C for 1.5-9min, and the exposure dose between 120 and 300pC/cm (and up to 500pC/cm for sparse features).

The increasing exploitation of nanomaterials into many consumer and other products is raising concerns as these nanomaterials are likely to be released into the environment. Due to our lack of knowledge about the environmental chemistry, transport and ecotoxicology of nanomaterials, it is of paramount importance to study how natural aquatic colloids can interact with manufactured gold nanoparticles as these interactions will determine their environmental fate and behaviour. In this context, our work aims to quantify the effect of naturally occurring riverine macromolecules--International Humic Substances Society (IHSS) Suwannee River Humic Acid Standard (SRHA)--on citrate- and acrylate-stabilized gold nanoparticles. The influence of SRHA on the stability of the gold colloids was studied as a function of pH by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). At high ionic strengths (0.1 M), extensive and rapid aggregation occurred, while more subtle effects were observed at lower ionic strength values. Evidence was found that SRHA enhances particle stability at extreme pH values (ionic strength0.01 M) by substituting and/or over-coating the original stabilizer on the gold nanoparticle surface, thus affecting surface charge and chemistry. These findings have important implications for the fate and behaviour of nanoparticles in the environment and their ecotoxicity.

The self-organisation of citrate- and magnesium oleate-stabilised gold nanoparticles on SiO2/Si substrates was investigated. In drop deposition, nucleation of citrate-stabilised gold nanoparticles was observed at the rim of the droplet, symmetric or multibranched dendroid gold structures were found in the area between the rim and the central part of the droplet, depending on the drying temperature. Homogeneous submonolayer nanoparticle coverage was obtained by immersion of amine-terminated SiO2/Si surfaces into a citrate-stabilised colloidal gold acidic solution. Drop deposition of magnesium oleate-stabilised gold nanoparticles onto the SiO2/Si surfaces resulted in the formation of uniformly close-packed nanoparticle arrays. Under electron beam irradiation, no apparent changes were found for monolayer films of citrate-stabilized particles, but sintering of the nanoparticles was observed in multilayer films. In contrast, coalescence of magnesium oleate-stabilised gold nanoparticle occurred in monolayer films after electron irradiation.

A series of Ru(bpy)(2)-dioxolene complexes 1-4 (bpy = 2,2'- bipyridine) and corresponding Ru(dcb)(2)-dioxolene complexes 5-8 (dcbH(2) = 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid) have been prepared, and their spectroelectrochemical behavior in solution has been investigated. The complexes show reversible electrochemical behavior accompanied by a strong NIR absorption in their semiquinone forms due to a Ru(dpi) --sq(pi) MLCT band. Complete quenching of the NIR absorption occurs both upon oxidation (to the quinone form) and upon reduction (to the catechol form) very close to 0 V. The color of the systems can be tuned by using a wide range of ligands. The complexes 5-8 can be anchored onto nanocrystalline inorganic semiconductors allowing incorporation into potential electrochromic devices. As a proof of principle, compound 8 has been adsorbed on nanocrystalline Sb-doped SnO(2) supported on FTO glass, and it displays reversibly switchable electrochromic behavior in the NIR.