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Lab Capabilities

Current Capabilities of the CNSE Nanofabrication Facility

Operational Overview

The UCR Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering Nanofabrication Facility (CNSENF) has been designed and built to enhance the research capabilities of a diverse set of researchers engaged in multidisciplinary nanotechnology research. The laboratory space occupies approximately 2,000 sq. ft. and includes the environmental controls necessary to provide clean areas of Class 1,000 and Class 100 specifications. The tools described in this overview are located within this controlled environment and provide the committed users a convenient, safe and technologically advanced laboratory within which to conduct research in Nanoscale science and engineering.

The majority of the research within the CNSEF involves fundamental materials investigation in the areas of silicon-based CMOS, FET transistors and MEMS devices or variants of these or other devices with novel materials such as Graphene and process sequence development. These samples and experimental substrates form the basic platform for research that may take any form or direction. In addition, the facility includes Electron Beam lithography and Focused Ion Beam (FIB) instruments that provide state-of-the-art nanofabrication capabilities - the FIB is located outside the clean room envelope to facilitate access by a variety of researchers.

Fabrication Processes

Some of the fabrication process steps required to perform this research include the standard suite of capabilities available in clean room operations: Surface preparation, Thermal gate oxidation, Low Pressure and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition, Photolithography and associated wet chemical processing, Electron-beam Pattern Generation, Reactive Ion Etching, Plasma Etching, Atomic Layer Deposition, Thermal and Electron-beam Evaporation of various metals and materials, Metal Sputtering and Rapid Thermal Annealing.

Metrology Capabilities

The processes and research capabilities also require a suite of metrology tools with material and surface analysis capability that includes: Oxide metrology for oxide/nitride measurements, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Energy dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD), Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM), Thin-film profiling for photo resist and metal layer thickness, C/V Stress measurement to ensure gate oxide process integrity, I/V Probe for electrical parametric control, Digital camera display optical and Confocal Microscopes for surface inspection and 3D surface analysis.