The NMDC occupies the first floor of the Optics building at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Primary laboratories include a variety of different clean room conditions designed to meet the specific needs of processes performed within. Photolithography and LPVCD processes reside in a class 1000 cleanroom. Plating and dicing, which are often considered dirty processes, are performed in unmonitored environments. Teaching labs, device testing, wet chemistry and thin film deposition operate in a class 10,000 cleanroom. Independent laboratory testing and polishing are performed in a class 100,000 environment. Particle count, temperature, and humidity are monitored routinely.

View the Cleanroom Safety and Training Course

Thin Film Deposition

Etching

  • STS Multiplex ASE ICP RIE (Fluorine chemistry)
  • Wet etch/strip of metals

Lithography

  • AB-M LS 68 500W contact aligner (Near UV, Mid UV, Deep UV) - Facility Manual
  • OAI J500/VIS contact aligner (Near UV)

  • Ultratech XLS i-line stepper
  • LEO 1550 SEM with e-beam write and EDAX options
  • Bransen 1510 ultrasonic cleaner
  • YES image reversal oven
  • Thermolyne 12000 high temperature furnace
  • 2 programmable vacuum ovens
  • 3 convection ovens

Metrology and Test Equipment

  • KLA - Tencor P-10 Profilometer
  • Stress measurement tool
  • Kulicke and Soffa 4123 Wire Bonder
  • Micromanipulator 6200 probe station
  • Newport Auto-align system
  • PM Fiber Fusion Splicers
  • Agilent Network Impedance Analyzer

Plating and Polishing

  • Engis Hyprez 15" Lapping tool

Computing (Academic Use Only)

  • Dual quad core Xeon chipset w/ 32 GB Ram, 750 MB Nvidia graphics card
  • Ansoft HFSS
  • COMSOL Multiphysics
  • Solidworks
  • Autodesk
  • Matlab

Become Partners with the NMDC!

Be sure to visit our Partners page to learn what the NMDC can do for you!