ECE 544 - Microfabrication

The purpose of this laboratory is to provide a valuable hands-on laboratory cleanroom experience in the areas of microfabrication and MEMS technology. During the semester, a MEMS device will be designed, fabricated, packaged and tested using the MNTC’s resources.

All students are required to undergo Safety Training to ensure a safe environment for all cleanroom users as well as pass the Safety Quiz before they are admitted to the cleanroom.

Please reference the ECE 544 Syllabus[PDF] to become familiar with the lab.

This course will instruct new researchers in proper cleanroom protocol and will teach them how to create pop-up structures[PDF].

For reference you can also download and use a template process traveler[XLXS] to guide you through class processes.

Lithography is one of the most fundamental processes microfabrication.  Here you will learn how to transfer a microfabrication design from a photomask and onto a process wafer.

Lab 1 instruction [PDF]

In the deposition lab we will learn how to deposit a metal layer on top of our temporary photoresist layer.  From there we will dissolve the photoresist which will remove the metal layer above it, leaving us with only metal in the parts of the wafer that the photoresist did not protect.

Lab 2 instruction [PDF]

In this lab we will return to the concept of Lithography with the added wrinkle of having metal features on our wafer instead of a blank slate.  This time we will need to learn about alignment to be sure our micro-structures are properly built

Lab 3 instruction [PDF]

In this lab we will learn about the two forms of etching: wet and dry.  Wet etching uses a liquid chemical etchant to remove material while dry etching uses a high energy plasma with reactive gasses.  This will allow us to free up our pop-up structures and finally see them pop out of the wafer.

Lab 4 instruction [PDF] and Dicing overview [PDF]

Now that our structures are released we will be able to examine them in a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and learn about packaging and wire bonding to take it from the wafer to a potential real-world application.

Lab 5 instruction [PDF] and Packaging Overview [PDF]