- Thermal Evaporators (6)
- Electron-Beam Evaporators (7)
- Ultra-High-Vacuum (UHV) Sputtering Systems for Dielectrics and Metals (3)
- Ultra-High-Vacuum (UHV) Sputtering Systems for Superconducting Materials (2)
- AJA Load-Locked Thermal Co-Evaporator for Broadband IR Bolometer Depositions
- Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) System for Doped and Undoped Amorphous Silicon
- Plasmatherm 790 Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) System for Dielectrics
- Oxford Plasmalab System 100 Advanced Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) 380 High-Density Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (HD PECVD) System for Low-Temperature Dielectric Growths
- Oxford Plasmalab 80 OpAL Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) System with Radical Enhanced Upgrade
- Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) TYSTAR Systems with 6 Tubes for
- Low-Stress Silicon Nitride (2)
- Low-Temperature Oxide — Silicon Dioxide
- Doped and Undoped Polysilicon
- Wet Pyrogenic Oxidation
- Steam Oxidation
- Carbon Nanotube Furnace Systems (2)
- Electroplating Capabilities
- Molecular-Beam Epitaxy (MBE)
- Veeco GEN200 (8-inch) Si MBE for UV CCD Delta Doping (Silicon)
- Veeco Epi GEN III MBE (Antimonide Materials)
- Riber MBE for UV CCD Delta Doping (Silicon)
- Riber Device MBE (GaAs)
- Thomas Swann Metallo-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) System
Equipment
The MDL contains over 130 individual pieces of processing equipment, including systems for ultraviolet (UV) contact and projection lithography, electron-beam lithography, materials growth and deposition, wet and dry etching, thermal processing, and optical, structural, and electronic characterization.
Because the MDL focuses on unique devices for space applications rather than the mass production of commodity chips, production equipment is not always suitable. MDL equipment is often smaller in scale, and may be custom built for specific requirements.
MDL Equipment Complement
- Electron-Beam (E-beam) Lithography: JEOL JBX9300FS E-beam lithography system with a 4 nm spot size, 100,000 volt acceleration voltage, ability to handle wafers up to 12 inches in diameter, and hardware and software modifications to deal with curved substrates having up to 3 mm of sag
- GCA Mann Wafer Stepper with custom stage allowing different sizes and thicknesses of wafers (0.7 µm resolution)
- Canon EX3 Stepper with EX4 Optics (0.25 µm resolution)
- Contact Aligners:
- Karl Suss MJB3
- Karl Suss MJB3 with backside IR
- Suss MA-6 (UV300)
- Suss BA-6 (UV400) with jigging supporting Suss bonder
- Wafer Track/Resist/Developer Dispense Systems:
- Suss Gamma 4 Module Cluster System
- Site Services Spin Developer System
- Yield Engineering System (YES) Reversal Oven
- Ovens, Hotplates, and Manual Spinners
- Commonwealth IBE-80 Ion Mill
- Branson Plasma Ashers
- Tepla PP300SA Microwave Plasma Asher
- Fluorine-Based Plasma Etching Systems:
- STS Deep Trench Reactive Ion Etcher (DRIE) with SOI Upgrade
- Unaxis Shuttleline Load-Locked Fluorine ICP RIE
- Plasmaster RME-1200 Fluorine RIE
- Plasma Tech Fluorine RIE
- STJ RIE for Superconductors
- Custom XeF2 etcher
- Chlorine-based Plasma Etching Systems:
- Unaxis Shuttleline Load-Locked Chlorine ICP RIE
- Plasmaster RME-1200 Chlorine RIE
- ECR 770 Chlorine RIE
- Oxford Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Chlorine RIE
Wet Etching & Sample Preparation
Wet Etching & Sample Preparation
- RCA Acid Wet Bench for 6-inch Wafers
- Solvent Wet Processing Benches (7)
- Rinser/Dryers for Masks and Wafers
- Chemical Hoods (7)
- Acid Wet Processing Benches (8)
- Critical Point Dryer
- Rapid Thermal Processors/Contact Alloyers (2)
- Polishing and Planarization Stations (5)
- Strasbaugh 6EC Chemical Mechanical Polisher
- SET FC-300 Flip-Chip Bump Bonder
- Karl Suss Wafer Bonder
- Electronic Visions Wafer Bonder
- Research Devices Bump Bonder (High Pressure)
- Fynetech Fineplacer 96 “Lambda” Bump Bonder
- Thinning Station and Inspection Systems for CCD Thinning
- Wire Bonding
- DISCO 320 and 321 Wafer Dicers (2)
- Tempress Scriber
- Pick and Place Blue Tape Dispenser System
- Loomis LSD-100 Scriber Breaker
- Profilometers (2)
- FSM 128 Film Stress Measuring System
- Leitz Interferometer
- Sentech SE 850 Multispectral Ellipsometer
- Dimension 5000 Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) with Large Sample Stage
- KLA-Tencor Surfscan 6220 Wafer Particle Monitor
- JEOL JSM-6700 Field Emission SEM with EDX
- Nikon Inspection Microscope with Image Capture
- Confocal Microscopes
- Electrical Probe Stations with Parameter Analyzers (3)
- Photoluminescence Mapping System
- Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy
- PANalytical X’Pert Pro MRD with DHS High-Temperature Stage X-ray Diffraction System
- Surface Science SSX501 X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS) with Thermal Stage
- Custom Ballistic Electron Emission Microscopy (BEEM) System
- Custom UHV Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)
- Nanometrics ECV Pro Profiler
MDL News & Trends
New Amplifier to Study the Universe Featured in the Journal Nature Physics
MDL Continues Research on Extreme Environment Sensors
Lab-On-A-Chip and in the Freezer: Analyzing Titan’s Organic Soup