Nanophotonics Systems Fabrication Facility

User Facility Operating Rules, Fees, & Equipment

The CREOL Nano-Fabrication facility is open to internal and external users. The facility contains a range of nanofabrication tools and related instrumentation, including an electron-beam lithography system (Leica EPBG 5000+), and various etching and deposition tools. Usage fees for internal (on-campus) users are specified below. External users should contact James Ross for more information. Industrial Affiliates are given priority external access.

Cleanroom usage fees

Fees for cleanroom use include a one-time startup fee, a cleanroom access fee, and instrument usage fee if applicable, as described below. These fees help cover the costs for training, facility and tool maintenance and repairs, general purpose chemicals, cleaning, etching, gowns, gloves, and a range of incidental costs associated with tool and room usage.

Startup fee

Research groups that require access pay a one-time fee of $250 to cover cleanroom gowns.

Access fees

Cleanroom access fees are paid on a per-user basis, with the exception of one-year access which provides cleanroom access to an entire research group. Cleanroom access fees are not charged to users that exclusively need access to the electron beam lithography system. For internal (on-campus) users, the following rates apply:

• one day: $200
• one month: $2000
• six months: $5400
• one year, group access: $6000

These rates allow free unlimited use of most of the available tools by trained and approved users, as specified below.

Equipment List and Usage Fees

Fee based equipment:

• Temescal metallization, $50 per run + consumables
• STS PECVD deposition, $20 per run
• Shuttleline ICP-RIE (Unaxis III-V etc.), $40 per run
• Leica e-beam lithography system, $150 initial fee per job + $3 per minute run time ($180/hr), with a $1000/24hr fee cap. Download full fee listing.

Free usage:

• Karl Suss UV aligner
• Veeco Surface profilometer
• RTP 600S annealer
• Flip-Chip bonder
• Wire bonder
• Wafer scriber and cleaver
• Atomic force microscope
• Optical Microscope
• Plasma de-scum
• Si Tube furnace
• III-V oxidation furnace
• Leybold dielectric thin film deposition

Clean room user qualification and equipment training:

Clean room users will undergo a safety course before admission to the clean room, and must be trained and demonstrate proficiency on the equipment they will use. Oversight on training and equipment operation will be conducted by clean room technical support personnel and by super-users on each tool. For more information about training, contact James Ross.

Contribution of equipment to the cleanroom

In some cases individual faculty members may wish to place equipment they have purchased from other sources for in the clean room for general usage. If the equipment is accepted by the committee, the faculty member providing the equipment will be credited a portion of the equipment cost in user fees in exchange for use of the equipment by clean room users. For more information, contact James Ross.