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Microfabrication clean room facility
Our mission is to investigate and apply methods and processes that support the fabrication of devices with specific commercial and scientific applications. We have over 20 years of experience making micro-sensors and our microfabrication facility is well suited to those in industry or research who would like to get into this area but lack the equipment or background.
There are, presently, two commercial companies working in the clean-room plus ongoing research work by IRL scientists covering a wide range of areas. We are able to make micro-fluidic channels, micro-machined Piezoceramics, quartz and silicon etched devices and other three-dimensional structures with electrical connections.
Examples of process equipment
Thin film coatings: We have an e-beam evaporator for coating gold, silver, titanium, chrome and have recently installed a second evaporator for indium tin oxide and other optical films. Film thicknesses range from a few angstroms to a few microns.
Patterning: A ‘yellow’ room houses equipment for making and applying masks to all type of substrates. Included are photo-resist spinners, mask aligner, and inspection and measuring tools.
Photo-lithography: A pattern generator and stepper is used to create photo-lithographic masters from a computer aided design layout with minimum line width of 1 micron. A laser direct writer is being installed shortly so that patterns can be written directly onto a substrate.
The plant is also furnished with de-ionised water, air filtering and process gases. Rooms are under positive air pressure so that contaminating particles are swept away .
Other equipment includes:
- a three-tube furnace
- ellipsometer
- resistance bridge
- ovens
- probe station
- Dektac profiler
- washer driers
- plasma cleaners
- wet room for chemical etching.
In addition, we have a cutting, grinding and polishing room outside the clean-room where substrates can be processed to accurate thickness and parallelism. A wafer saw allows cuts down to widths of 20 microns in a variety of materials including glass, silicon and ceramics.