520/530/580.495 

Microfabrication Laboratory

This laboratory course is an introduction to the principles of microfabrication for  sensors, MEMS, and  microsystems with applications in medicine and biology. Course comprises of laboratory work and accompanying lectures that cover silicon oxidation, photolithography, thin film deposition,  etching, electrochemical deposition (plating) and packaging. The course also introduces analysis and  design CAD tools, SUPREM and Photolith.

 

Fall 2003

Hydrodynamic focusing: flow cytometer project (Fall 2003)

Click here for video clip (3Mb)

Staff
Professor Andreas G. Andreou, 120 Stieff Building, 410-516-8361
Professor Jeff Tza-Huei Wang, 108 Latrobe Hall, 410-516-7086
Mr. Huy Vo, Lab manager, Clark Hall
 
Teaching Assistants
David Goldberg, 120 Stieff Building, 410-516-0258
Ed Choi, Laboratory Assistant, 120 Stieff Building, 410-516-0258
Francisco Tejada, Laboratory Assistant, 120 Stieff Building, 410-516-0258
Barun Maskara, Laboratory Assistant, 703 Traylor Building, 410-955-9603

Course Logistics

Course Ethics

Homework and pre-laboratory assignments: In a laboratory course, you have ample opportunities for collaboration. Developing the ability to work within a group is certainly one of the objectives for this course. However, homework assignments, pre-lab write-ups and examinations must be done on your own. Please read here what you are supposed to do alone and how much you are allowed to collaborate.

Laboratory safety and environment awareness: When working in the lab you must follow all proper procedures to avoid injuring yourself or anyone else that works with you. When disposing chemical waste it is important that you follow proper laboratory procedures to assure that our environment stays clean and free from contaminants. Please read the Laboratory Safety handout, and revisit it periodically to refresh yourself and especially when in doubt about a particular process or procedure. After  reading the Laboratory Safety handout please download, print and sign the pledge to be a good lab citizen and follow all safety rules and regulations. The signed pledge must be handed in with the first homework assignment.

Textbook

 

Fundamentals of Semiconductor Fabrication
Gary S. May, Simon M. Sze
ISBN: 0-471-23279-3, Hardcover, 320 pages, Wiley Publishers,  April 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

 
Schedule and Syllabus

To accommodate the large number of students enrolled in this course, two lab projects will be run in parallel. The two projects are: optical waveguides and the flow cytometer. These have similar process flows but are staggered in such a way to avoid conflicts with major equipment and instrumentation. In the laboratory schedule shown in the table below,  Lab #X_WG refers to the  optical waveguides and  Lab #X_CY to the  flow cytometer.

 

Week

Lecture topics

Laboratory session

1

Organizational meeting; (September 4th, 2003)

No laboratory session

2

Handout  #1a (Introduction to Microfabrication)

Handout #1b (Clean room training)

Review of safety and clean room procedures

Reading: Chapter 1

 Lab #1 

Laboratory orientation and instrumentation

3

Handout  #2a (Projects Summary)

Handout  #2b (Flow Cytometer on a Chip)

Handout  #2c  (Optical Waveguides in Silicon)

Reading: Chapter 2.1.1, 2.1.1, 2.4, 2.5, Handout #2b and Handout #2c

 Laboratory sessions cancelled because of hurricane Isabel.

4

 Handout  #3a (Photolithography I)

Reading: Chapter Chapter 4.1, Chapter 2 in Jaeger (Handout #3b); password  given in class.

Lab #2_FC (Lithography I)

Lab #2_WG (Oxidation I)

5

 Handout  #4 (Photolithography II) Lab #3_FC (KOH Etch)

Seidel Paper

Lab #3_WG (Lithography I)

6

 Handout #5 (Thermal Oxidation) Lab #4_FC (Oxidation II)

Lab #4_WG (KOH Etch)

7

 Handout  #6a, Handout  #6b, Handout  #6c (Wet Etching) Lab #5_FC (Aluminum Evaporation)

Lab #5_WG (Oxidation II)

8

 Handout #7

(Thin Film Deposition)

Reading: Chapter 8.1., 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.3, 8.3.1, 8.5, 8.5.1, 8.5.2, 8.5.3, 8.5.4, Appendix H

 Lab #6_FC (Lithography II; Metal Patterning)

Lab #6_WG (Shadow Mask Aluminum Evaporation)

9

 Handout #8

(Dry Etching)

 Lab #7_FC (Lithography III; Oxide Removal)

Lab #7_WG (SU-8 deposition)

10

 Handout #9a, Handout #9b

(Packaging)

 Lab #8_FC (Anoding Bonding)

Lab #8_WG (Wafer Dicing)

11

 Handout #10

(MEMS and CMOS)

 Lab #10_FC (Testing)

Lab #10_WG (Testing)

12

 Self-assembly

Prof. David Gracias (Guest Lecturer)

  More Testing

13

Project presentation and discussion

  

 

Equipment Use Guide

uFab Lab Kiosk: prepared by La Vida Cooper (2002). Please send comments to the lab manager Mr. Huy Vo.

Homework Assignments and Solutions

Homework #1: Due 9/18/2003 Solutions to Homework #1
Homework # 2: Due 10/2/2003 Solutions to Homework #2
Homework # 3: Due 10/9/2003 Solutions to Homework #3 
Homework # 4: Due 10/16/2003 Solutions to Homework #4
Homework # 5: Due 10/23/2003 Solutions to Homework #5
Midterm Exam  10/23/2003   5.00 p.m.

Due 10/30/2003 11.00 a.m.

 Solutions to Midterm
Homework #6: Due 11/06/2003 Solutions to Homework #6

Final Project assignment: 11/06/2003

Absolutely no extensions!

 Written final project report (Part I): Due: 5.00 p.m. Monday 12/8/2003; ECE office,  Barton Hall 105

In class presentation (Part II):

Graduate groups: Dec. 4, 11:00am, in Hodson 311 (both undergraduate and undergraduate need to attend it)

Groups in Thursday session: Dec. 4, 2:30pm, in Clark 110

Groups in Friday morning: Dec. 5, 9:00am, in Clark 110 ; rescheduled for 10.30!

Groups in Friday afternoon: Dec. 5, 1:00 pm, in Clark 110
Unless requested otherwise, hardcopy submission of homework is due at the end of the Thursday lecture (12 noon). Electronic submission  will not be accepted without permission.

Solutions will be posted for a period of one week and they are password protected.

 

CAD Tools

Computer aided design is playing an important role in the development of the microelectronics industry. Sophisticated programs are necessary to do mask layout, to simulate the fabrication process, as well as the devices and circuits. At the system level CAD tools are also employed in high level synthesis of complex systems such as modern day microprocessors and graphics chips. For more information see our CAD tools page.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Reading References

1. Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication, 2nd Edition, Richard C. Jaeger, Volume V;  Modular Series on Solid State Devices , G. W. Neudeck and R.F. Pierret eds., Prentice Hall, 2002.

2. Fundamentals of Microfabrication : The Science of Miniaturization, Marc J. Madou, CRC Press, 2nd edition, 2002.

3. Fundamentals of Microsystems Packaging, Rao R. Tummala, McGraw-Hill, 2001.

4. Silicon as Mechanical Material , K. E. Petersen, Proceedings of  IEEE, vol. 70, no. 5, pp. 420-457, May 1982 (pdf).

5. The 1.7 Kilogram Microchip: Energy and Material Use in The Production of Semiconductor Devices, E. D. Williams, R.U. Ayres, and M. Heller (pdf). Supplementary information (pdf) and Nature editorial on this article (pdf).

Related JHU Links

Andreou Lab

Wang Lab

Gracias Lab

Whitaker Lithography and Fabrication Lab

520.773 Advanced Topics in Fabrication and Microengineering

520/530.487 Introduction to Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)

540.440/540.640 Chemical Engineering for Micro and Nano Technology

Bibliography

A collection of articles from previous years

Lithography Processing Packaging/Assembly CAD Testing MEMS Nano

 

Microfabrication, MEMS and Soft-Lithography Links

MEMS clearing house (MOSIS) CRONUS foundry MEMS Exchange UC Irvine
MIT U.C. Berkeley University of Michigan Caltech
George Washington      
U.C. Davis University of Washington Loughborough University Whitesides Group

Equipment and Supplies Links

MOSIS MICROCHEM Corp (SU-8 photoresist supplier) SOTEC Microsystems (SU-8 photoresist supplier)
Transene (etching, plating, cleaning solutions) Small Parts (tubing, solder and alloys) Technic Inc (plating solutions)
ExpressPCB (printed circuit board software and manufacturing) Wafer World (small diameter wafers for silicon and other compounds) R.D Mathis (Evaporator supplies, boats, materials)
Valley Design (dicing, lapping polishing)    

 

Acknowledgements

This course is supported by a Whitaker Foundation Development grant and by Kenan grants from the Whiting School of Engineering. 
Page maintained by A.G. Andreou, andreou@jhu.edu , Last update: Thursday, October 04, 2007