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www.us-tech.com


Designing Sophisticated Microfabrication Labs


By Del Williams M


ore complex, sophisticated cleanrooms have become a virtual necessity for a wide


range of cutting-edge physical sci- ence, material science, and biomed- ical disciplines in order to deal with the increasingly difficult demands of research. Due to the financial investment


required for these facilities, both uni- versity and private R&D laboratories are designed and built to accommo- date the needs of a wide range of re- searchers. This presents a challenge. Few administrators have the experi- ence to select and set up lab equip- ment with the versatility required to serve such a diverse group of users over decades of continually-changing research. A growing number of lab admin-


istrators are optimizing their micro- fabrication equipment, both for cur- rent and future needs, by getting their vendors involved early in the process. This enables expert plan- ning, as well as the selection of stan- dard equipment options that can im- prove safety, usability, and efficien- cy, while cutting cost. “Often, university lab adminis-


trators have never built their own cleanrooms. They hire an architec- tural firm to do the design, but are


JST designs and implements wet processing equipment for R&D cleanrooms and labs.


still a little lost on how to lay out the equipment for all the different poten- tial uses,” says Louise Bertagnolli, president of JST Manufacturing.


Lab Development JST is a nationwide manufac-


turer of manual and automated wet


processing equipment. The compa- ny’s mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineers have many years of experience in the silicon and com- pound semiconductor, MEMS, photo- voltaics, LEDs, flat panel display, and sensor industries. Whether for compound semicon-


ductors, nanotechnology, MEMS, bio- photonics, biomedical electronics, or creating solar power alternatives to traditional silicon wafer construction, much of the advanced research done in labs today requires microfabrication operations. This typically includes wet processing equipment for metal lift- off, stripping, etching, plating/coating, cleaning, and de-bonding. Dennis M. Schweiger, senior di-


rector of infrastructure at the Uni- versity of Michigan’s Lurie Nanofab- rication Facility (LNF), feels that the right combination of user require- ments and assistance from the equip- ment fabricator can make a signifi- cant difference in the design, layout, and operation of a wet processing station. The LNF is a world-class facility


in all areas of semiconductor device and circuit fabrication, integrated mi- crosystems and MEMS technologies, nanotechnology, nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, and nanobiotechnolo- gy. The LNF is an open-use facility with hundreds of users from various UM departments, as well as many other universities and businesses. Schweiger says, “Since we es-


sentially rent lab space and equip- ment to our users, it is important


Continued on page 40


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