Nobel prize device made in the Microlab

Before the NanoLab, there was the Microlab in Cory Hall. Back in 1984-1985, graduate student John Martinis etched the Josephson Junctions used in his Nobel Prize winning research! From FinFETS to Nobel Laureates and a lot of MEMS, photonics, bio and much more in between, discoveries are made here! Over his career, Professor John Clarke, John Martinis’ advisor, had 60 students work in the Microlab.

Lam cluster tool update

The Lam installation is still underway. As we have learned, never underestimate what it takes to fit a production-ready 200 mm cluster tool into a university laboratory! The Lam is big, really big, and our building feels smaller by the day. All this is to say, we are a bit behind the ambitious schedule I sent out in July. The Tier 1 hardware start by Lam installation technicians will be in mid/late November and take 4-6 weeks. After that, Lam will start bringing up processes in the chambers.

Lab member meeting updates

Thanks to all of you that packed the room last week! Meeting minutes can be found under member information. Some notable updates are

• 8” ASML conversion went smoothly, demonstrating we can convert back and forth between 6” and 8” wafers. The next 8” conversion will coincide with process qualification for the Lam etcher. We will likely be alternating between 6” and 8” configurations for a few months as lab members convert processes over to 8” or learn to use the MESC carrier wafers.

• 6” MESC wafers show no increase in registration errors when used with 4” wafers

• BARC will soon be available on Picotrack for 6” and 8” wafers

• Kudos to lab members for 660 trainings and 345 qualifications April-October

• Thanks for a successful Cleansweep! Your help puts the clean in cleanroom

• Fast Ru ALD! Talk to staff about some new precursors they tested

In the works - lots more 8” upgrades coming right after Lam

• A new SRD stack and retrofits for an existing SRD stack will give us 8” SRD at msink6, msink8, and msink1. Inserts will support 4” and 3” wafer carriers.

• CMP installation: 2 new CMPs and a cleaner are ready to install

• Labware and hotplates will start to show up in the lab

Planned and 8” upgrades in process

• We are working on an 8” contact aligner to round out our 8” litho capabilities

• We are sending a dual chamber PR descum and stripper tool for 8” upgrades next week, be patient, it’s a 4-6 month process

The NanoLab's yearly "cleansweep" event is coming up, from Monday Aug 25 - Thursday August 28. This yearly event serves to clean the NanoLab, including tabletops, wet sinks, and chemical cabinets, and also as a community building event.

Please sign up on the sheets in the gowning room, or online.

We truly appreciate your participation and support, and are excited to come together to add that clean and sparkle to the lab. To make this event a success, the more lab members that sign up, the better. Snacks and cold beverages will be provided the day of your shift, and appreciation swag will be given to participants.

We've updated the Qualification Progress system to make it easier to plan your training.

What's new?

• You can now add any tool to your qualification list at any time, even if you haven't completed the prerequisites.

• The system will automatically add the required prerequisites to your list.

This means you can now see your entire training path for any tool, right from the beginning. We hope this helps you plan your work more effectively.

If you have any questions, please let us know.