Equipment

Current Equipment Status

(last update: June 24, 2025)

Wet Chemistry/Wetbench SOP

Reservation

Optical lithography

SBQMI nanofab is equipped for both contact (physical glass-mask) and maskless (software mask) photolithography. The former is supported by a Neutronix-Quintel model NXQ4006 mask-aligner with a 350W high-pressure mercury lamp, housed in the Class ISO-6 yellow room within the recently renovated cleanroom space, and the latter is supported by the industry-standard Heidelberg model MLA150 maskless tool with laser UV source, housed in the Class ISO-5 yellow room. An extracted wet bench, hot-plates and spinners, situated within the Class ISO-6 yellow cleanroom are also dedicated to photolithography. A wide range of positive and negative resists are supported, including SU-8. The facility has been also recently equipped with two Nikon optical microscopes with camera and metrology capability used for inspection that can be found in the cleanroom.

JEOL JBX-8100FS Electron-beam lithography system

JBX-8100FS 100kV EBL tool capable of writing features as small as 5nm on wafers up to 200mm.

Location: Brim65 (basement of new wing)

MLA150 Heidelberg maskless lithography system

Location: ISO-5 yellow room

The Heidelberg MLA150 maskless lithography system allows fast direct writing of patterns as precise as 1 micron.  It can write on samples as small as 1×1 cm and up to 200 mm wafers.

NxQ4006: 100 mm mask (currently single side) aligner

Location: ISO-6 yellow room

This mask aligner is a mostly manual system that accepts pieces as small as 7x7mm and wafers up to 100mm diameter.  It accepts mask plates 5″x5″ (125x125mm) with the main mask holder but has a holder that can accept mask plates as small as 3″x3″ (75x75mm).  It’s optics delivers both 365nm and 405nm light.  It is very easy to use for alignment.  Although expandable to allow double-side alignment, it does not currently have the adapter to allow it.

Vanguard Photonic Wirebonder

Location: ISO 6 Yellow room

This tool allows 3D, 2 photon lithography. It’s main purpose is to create waveguides to mate different photonic circuits together.

HEADWAY PWM50: 200mm resist spinner

Thin Film Deposition

AJA UHV Ebeam and Sputter Evaporator

AJA UHV Hybrid Evaporator

Location: ISO-6 white room

The SBQMI Nanofabrication Facility has an AJA load-locked, ultra-high-vacuum (UHV), hybrid deposition system. It is dedicated to high-purity evaporation of non-magnetic materials.

DEEDIRECTORS2015: 8 source load-lock electron beam evaporator

Location: Brim449

This is a high vacuum system expected to come online sometime in 2014. In this system, up to six various materials can be evaporated in a single process.  A load-lock will allows samples to be loaded without exposing the main chamber to air thus greatly reducing pumpdown time.  The film thickness is controlled during evaporation with a thickness monitor.

POS Labcoter: Parylene Coater

Plasma & Dry Etching

Oxford COBRA: ICP plasma etcher

Location: ISO-6 white room

This system uses C4F8, O2, SF6 and Ar chemistries. It is dedicated to shallow silicon etching.

Samco RIE 10-NR

Location: ISO-6 white room

This system uses CF4, CHF3, O2, SF6 and Ar chemistries. It is dedicated to etching of superconducting metals. Other materials may be allowed in the system upon discussion with ANF staff.

PLASMAQUEST: ECR plasma etcher

Location: Brim449

This system uses CF4, CHF3, O2 and Ar chemistries. It is used extensively to etch SOI and GaAs based photonic nanocrystals, GaAs based VCSELs as well as various other materials.

Plasma-Etch PE-50: Plasma etcher

Location: ISO-6 white room

The system uses Ar and O2 gases. It can be used for descum, or total removal of photoresist.

XACTIX: XeF2 etcher

Location: ISO-6 white room

This is a dry etching system.  It uses Xenon Difluoride for isotropic Silicon etch.

TRION: RIE/PECVD system

Location: ISO-6 white room

This system uses di-ethyl silane (DES), NH₃, N₂, N₂O and has been optimized for the PECVD deposition of Si₃N₄ and SiO₂.  However, it can also be used as an RIE etcher for these materials with CF₄/O₂ chemistry as well as for O₂ ashing/descum.

Thermal treatment

Annealsys AS-ONE RTP system

Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) system capable of ramping T up to 1200C under various atmospheres: air, nitrogen, argon or forming gas.

KSL 1100X: Box Furnace

Box (muffle) furnace used for bonding or other thermal treatments. In room 449.

Metrology

FILMETRIX F40: Thin film thickness measurement system

Location: ISO-6 yellow room

This instrument is used to measure the thickness of transparent and semi-transparent thin films via reflection or transmission spectroscopy.  Films as thin as a few tens of nm can be measured when the UV light is turned on.  An SOP will be coming soon.

Nikon: Microscopes with CCD camera

Location: 1 in each of the yellow rooms

This microscope can image in bright/dark fields. It can be used for simple imaging and also does Nomarski microscopy. Image capture is via a CCD camera.

ZEISS: Microscope with CCD camera

Location: ISO-6 white room

This microscope can image in bright/dark fields. It can be used for simple imaging and also does Nomarski microscopy. Image capture is via a CCD camera.

DEKTAK XT: Profilometer with 3D capability

Location: ISO-6 white room

This semiautomatic profilometer can be used for single and multiple scans. It provides data on a film thickness, or on a surface roughness and also allows 3D visualization of the scanned structures.  It can moreover be used to measure stress of thin films.

EverBeing SR-4, Sheet Resistivity, 4-Point Probe

Location: ISO-6 white room

This 4 point probe can be used to measure the resistivity of various films.

Easy Scan 2 Atomic Force Microscope

Location: ISO-6 white room

This student level AFM microscope is easy to use and generates nice images. It currently has tips for tapping mode measurements but other tips can be purchased.

Packaging

Tresky Die Bonder

Location: Brim 449, ISO-7 cleanroom

This tool allows bonding of small die onto a chip or carrier.  It is currently used to attach laser diodes to silicon photonic chips.

TPT Wirebonder

Location: Brim 449, ISO-7 cleanroom

This tool allows wirebonding of die and chips onto carriers.

Disco DAD3240 Dicing Saw

Location: Brim 449 normal room

This tool allows dicing of wafers into small die for further packaging. This dicing saw is able to dice wafers up to 200 mm diameter. It can dice several materials ranging from semiconductor wafers to ceramics and other substrates. Discuss with ANF staff to determine if it can server your needs.

Work is performed by ANF operators with exceptions allowable for heavy users.

CNC microdrill

Location: AMPEL/SBQMI machine shop
Currently offline but located in SBQMI machine shop. This drill was used in the past to drill small holes into glass slides to serve as access to microfluidics chips.