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https://github.com/ssomnath/smart_litho

Vector graphics based nanolithography tool for Asylum Research AFMs
https://github.com/ssomnath/smart_litho

asylum atomic-force-microscopy graphics igor lithography microangelo nanolithography pro probe scanning vector

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Vector graphics based nanolithography tool for Asylum Research AFMs

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README 

        
Smart Litho Art Suite

=====================



**Suhas Somnath**



University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign



Last Updated: 2/13/2011 (v.1.7)



Introduction

--------------



The software provided by Asylum Research to control their atomic force microscopes (AFMs) comes with a ``Microangelo``

suite for performon nanolithography. While it is capable of simple tasks, it was (as of 2010 - 2014) not capable of 

vector graphics. This capability is especially important for tip based nanofabrication (TBN) wherein the AFM tip is 

dragged along the surface to create nanostructures either by creating a trench (scratch lithography) or depositing

material onto the surface (dip pen nanolithography (DPN)). For example, the basic ``Microangelo`` software could not

resize, move, replicate, rotate objects or even draw a set of straight lines of the same length! 



These capabilities become very important when researchers want to characterize their lithography technique. 

For example studying the width of the fabricated lines as a function of pressure or angle, etc.

Another situation when these features are important is if one is interested in fabricating complex features

such as the eiffel tower or write the name of the university of sponsor, etc.



This ``Smart Litho`` suite offers basic vector graphics capabilities that are / were lacking in ``Microangelo``.

As an analogy, ``Smart Litho`` is like Microsoft Powerpoint or Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape while ``Microangelo`` is like

Microsoft Paint. The following sections will illustrate this point.



Journal papers using this software

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Somnath, Suhas, Hoe Joon Kim, Huan Hu, and William P. King. "Parallel nanoimaging and nanolithography using a heated microcantilever array." Nanotechnology 25, no. 1 (2013): 014001.



**Disclaimer** : Note that this software was written from 2009 - 2011 and it may or may not work now.



Installing

-----------

The software consists of two procedure files containing the source code

named ``Alphabets.ipf`` and ``SmartLitho.ipf`` as well as this help file.

Currently, the user is required to follow these instructions to use the

software each time the Asylum Research software is opened up:



a) Start up the Asylum Research software.



b) Double click to open both the procedure files: ``Alphabets.ipf`` and

   ``SmartLitho.ipf``. Two windows showing the code within each file should

   open up in Igor Pro.



c) The code needs to be compiled to enable its use. There are two ways

   to do this:



   i.  Click on the ``Macros`` menu button next to ``File``, ``Edit``, and

       ``Data``. Next select ``Compile``.



   ii. Another way to do this is to click the "compile" button in the

       bottom left corner of either of the windows that have popped up.



d) To start up ``SmartLitho`` click on ``Macros`` menu button, select ``UIUC

   Lithography``, and then choose ``Smart Litho Art Suite``



Smart Litho Art Suite

========================



The Smart Litho Arte Suite consists of four main components:



a. Lines Tab

b. Text Tab

c. General Functions

d. Layers Tab



Lines

------



This tab lets the user draw multiple parallel lines of arbitrary length,

orientation and spacing. The following steps need to be followed to draw

a pattern of lines:



a) ``Borders`` for the scan area are first entered in the four input

   boxes that enable the user to confine the positioning of the pattern.

   The default border is set to 1 micron from the edges of the scan

   area.



b) Basic ``Line Parameters`` are then specified with the number of

   parallel lines, orientation, length and spacing.



c) Additional constraining parameters can be specified using the

   ``Advanced Controls``:



   iii. ``Direction``: By default, the lines will be drawn with the same

        vector direction. The two additional options include **Switch

        All** that switches the vector direction of all the lines.

        The last option ``Switch Alternate`` allows the user to

        switch the orientation of every alternate line.



   iv.  ``Length``: By default, lines extending outside the border will

        automatically ``truncated``. However, by setting this option

        to ``Exact`` it is possible to force the program to draw

        lines of the exact specified length in the basic line

        parameters.



   v.   ``Show Direction Arrows``: This is borrowed from the

        ``Microangelo`` suite. On checking this option, the user is

        shown the direction of the lines being drawn.



d) The lines are finally drawn by clicking on the ``Draw New`` button.



|image0|



**Figure 1**. Lines Tab - 7 out of 10 lines that the program attempted

to draw. A shows the maximum length of 15 microns. B shows the

counter-clockwise angle of 45 degrees of each line. C shows the

perpendicular spacing of 4 microns between adjacent lines. D shows the

direction of the lines that were drawn. E shows that truncated lines

were drawn within the specified boundary.



Text 

-----



This tab allows the user to write alphanumeric characters using lines.

The rules regarding borders apply to this tab as well. The text is drawn

by clicking on the Draw New button.



|image1|



**Figure 2**. Text Tab - Text "Smart Litho" written using the software.

``H``, ``W``, and ``S`` are the height, width and the spacing between each

character.



General Functions

----------------------



|image2|



**Figure 3.** General Functions



Fig. 3 The red box delineates the general functions available:



a) ``Draw New`` - Valid only for the text and lines tabs, on clicking

   this button, a set of parallel lines or text is drawn freshly on the

   screen. Any previous graphics is discarded. You can use the ``Undo``

   button to go back.



b) ``Undo`` - Displays the graphics prior to any change made. Note -

   this will allow the user to go back only one step.



c) ``Append`` - Valid only for the text and lines tabs, Adds a pattern

   of lines or text to the existing artwork as a new ``layer`` of

   artwork.



d) ``Load New`` - Loads a saved pattern from memory. This will erase

   anything else that was drawn. Borrowed from the ``Microangelo`` suite



e) ``Clear`` - Deletes all patterns. Borrowed from the ``Kill All`` button

   in the ``Microangelo`` suite



f) ``Save`` - Saves all the patterns as a single pattern to memory. Also

   the same as the ``Save`` button in the ``Microangelo`` suite. Note - This

   only saves to memory. In case the Asylum software is restarted, this

   will most likely be erased from memory. To save the patterns to disk

   use the ``Save to Disk`` button.



g) ``Append Saved`` - Similar to ``Load New`` but this doesn't erase the

   existing patterns. The appended pattern is loaded as a new layer.



h) ``Load from Disk`` - This loads a saved pattern from a \* .txt file

   on disk to memory. Note - the loaded pattern will NOT be displayed on

   the screen. The ``Append Saved`` or the ``Load New`` buttons must be

   used to load the pattern from memory.



i) ``Save To Disk`` - Saves all displayed patterns to a specified \*.txt

   file on the disk.



Layers

--------



|image3|



**Figure 4.** Layers Tab



The artwork produced in the Smart Litho suite is stored as a set of

layers in memory. The Layers tab shown in Fig. 4 allows the user to

perform the following vector based graphics operations on individual

layers:



a) ``Select Layer`` - The pull down menu can be used to select the layer

   of artwork to perform operations on.



b) ``Show / Show all`` - The Asylum Lithography program is only aware of

   the patterns visible on the scan panel. It is possible to show / hide

   individual layers for performing Lithography



c) ``Select / Select All`` - Features currently under construction



d) ``Delete`` - This button enables the user to delete the particular

   layer of artwork. Note - All subsequent layers are moved up in the

   layers list to fill the void left by the deleted layer.



e) ``Move`` - The selected pattern may be moved within the specified

   boundary using the ``Right (um)`` and the ``Up (um)`` parameters.



f) ``Rotate`` - The rotate button can be used to rotate the selected

   pattern using the ``Rotate ccw (deg)`` box to specify the

   counter-clockwise rotation in degrees. Note - Currently, this feature

   causes the rotated feature to be repositioned at the top left of the

   boundary. Appropriate boundaries should be specified to make it easy

   to perform this operation.



g) ``Scale`` - This allows the pattern to be scaled according to the

   specified parameter. Note - Similar to the rotate operation, the

   scaled pattern will be repositioned according to the border settings

   to the top left of the bounded area.



h) ``Flip`` - The specified layer can be mirrored vertically or

   horizontally depending on the enabled checkboxes after clicking the

   ``Flip`` button.



.. |image0| image:: docs/lines_tab.png

   :width: 6.5in

   :height: 4.56875in

.. |image1| image:: docs/text_tab.png

   :width: 6.5in

   :height: 4.56875in

.. |image2| image:: docs/general_section.png

   :width: 3.22431in

   :height: 5.18958in

.. |image3| image:: docs/layers_tab.png

   :width: 6.5in

   :height: 4.86181in