OTHER ELECTRONICS & NANOTECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY UPDATE
March 2015
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Picosun,
NCTU invest in New ALD Facility in Taiwan
Germany
Opens Photonic Production Research Campus
George
Washington University Opens Science and Engineering Hall
Audi
Opens Lab for Advanced Lighting Designs
Nanotechnology Facility planned in Lund, Sweden
The National Chiao Tung University
(NCTU), Taiwan and Picosun, provider of Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) solutions,
partner to build a research laboratory for next generation of micro- and
optoelectronics using ALD technology. The Joint Industrial ALD Research
Laboratory will be located at the X-Photonics Interdisciplinary Centre in the
NCTU premises.
With this collaboration, NCTU and Picosun will develop a wide
range of technology solutions for applications such as microelectronic devices
for 7nm technology node, high-brightness light emitting diodes (HBLED), and high
electron mobility transistors (HEMT). The ALD research laboratory will be geared
at conducting fundamental research and advanced device fabrication for
industrial applications.
"It's obvious that Picosun, with their world-leading
experience in ALD system design and process knowhow, has been chosen as our ALD
technology provider. We are happy and excited to start this collaboration to
realize a whole new generation of micro- and optoelectronic products," said
Professor Hao-Chung Kuo, associate VP of NCTU, and both IEEE and OSA fellow.
"Taiwan is one of the world's leading semiconductor
manufacturing hubs. Picosun's state-of-the-art ALD technology is a key enabler
for advanced micro- and optoelectronics fabrication. Establishing a partnership
and a joint research laboratory with NCTU will provide our existing and future
industry customers not only local access to our technology for their
applications, but also stronger collaboration ties for future generation
products enabled by our ALD technology. This is further supported by our newest
subsidiary, Picosun Taiwan, which was established two months ago," said Dr.
Wei-Min Li, CEO of Picosun Asia and Applications director of Picosun Group.
Aachen campus to become home to new collaboration between
science and industry
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
has opened a new Digital Photonic Production (DPP) research campus at the RWTH
Aachen University. This is one of nine such research campuses across Germany
that BMBF will fund to the tune of 2 million euros per year for up to 15 years.
The plan is for the RWTH Aachen DPP research campus to become
the home to a new kind of collaboration between science and industry. "Aachen is
Germany's only university location to feature two research campuses funded by
our ministry," explained Thomas Rachel, parliamentary state secretary at the
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), at the DPP opening
event held at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in January this
year.
BMBF-funded work at Aachen falls into two categories: While
the Flexible Electrical Networks Consortium (FEN) is developing new ways of
transporting energy using direct current, the DPP research campus will focus on
the basic physical effects of light as well as on new methods of using laser in
the industrial production of tomorrow.
Alongside additive manufacturing methods (direct photonic
production), work at the DPP research campus will also harness manufacturing
techniques that use ultrafast lasers (femto photonic production) as well as new
kinds of VCSEL beam sources - for example to selectively functionalize nano-scale
layers (nano photonic production).
Among the 20 industry partners are small and medium-sized
enterprises as well as large companies such as Siemens AG.
In opening the hall—the largest academic building dedicated to
science and engineering in the nation's capital—the university also announced an
in-kind grant of software licenses from Siemens, with a commercial value of $30
million, to enhance programs in the School of Engineering and Applied Science
(SEAS) and strengthen a long-standing partnership between the technology company
and the university.
During the last decade, GW's research funding has grown 80
percent, increasing the need for modern labs to further faculty members'
cutting-edge experiments. Inside SEH, a nanofabrication lab allows researchers
to build and work with devices that measure billionths of a meter in an
intensely clean environment that ensures the room is free of contaminants as
seemingly harmless as dust. An imaging suite shows researchers samples, such as
minuscule cells, magnified by 1 million times, and can create 3-D
reconstructions of them. And at three stories tall, a "high bay" provides enough
height and concrete strength to test large structures and inform how buildings
and bridges can be built to be more earthquake resistant.
SEH doubles the existing space for science and engineering
disciplines on the university's Foggy Bottom Campus, and is now home to
thousands of students and roughly 140 faculty members.
"Investing in the infrastructure to support science and
engineering learning and research is critical, particularly given the fact that
science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers are projected to
increase substantially," said Nelson Carbonell, chairman of the GW Board of
Trustees, who received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at GW.
"Our faculty now have more resources to perform their groundbreaking research,
and our students will be prepared to become leaders in STEM fields."
With SEH, students and faculty have even greater opportunity
to pursue their passions for changing the world. Research conducted in SEH will
advance human health, expand society's understanding of nature and create new
solutions through technological innovation.
Students and faculty now will have access to Siemens' product
lifecycle management (PLM) software, which is used throughout the global
manufacturing industry to design, develop and manufacture some of the world's
most sophisticated products in a variety of industries, including aerospace,
automotive, medical, machinery and high-tech electronics. The PLM software will
support student course work and research related to computer-aided design,
engineering simulation, creative engineering design, digital manufacturing and
manufacturing management.
Researchers at GW also have the advantage of working closely
with other partners at influential scientific and technical organizations in the
Washington, D.C., region, including the National Institutes of Health, NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center and Smithsonian Institution, among others. As GW's
faculty members look for ways to improve everything from tissue regeneration and
drug delivery to robotics and sustainable ecosystems, the work researchers
conduct at SEH will have an impact beyond its walls.
"We are excited that our Foggy Bottom neighbors are dedicating
this state-of-the-art building to science and engineering, and that they are
doing so in a way designed to encourage multidisciplinary research, which is so
critical to solving today's complex challenges," National Academy of Sciences
President Ralph J. Cicerone said. "Washington, D.C., has a long history of being
at the forefront of scientific discovery so it is entirely fitting and
appropriate that such a cutting-edge facility be located in the heart of our
nation's capital."
Among the spaces in the building is a "teaching tower," made
up of 1,000-square-foot teaching labs that are stacked at the center of the
building from the third to eighth floors. Enclosed by glass on three sides, the
tower includes labs for software engineering, circuitry and robotics. Specialty
teaching spaces elsewhere in the building include labs for molecular genetics,
biomedical engineering and environmental engineering. Outside of the building,
students can connect lessons in instructional labs with real-world research at
some of the most important scientific organizations in the nation's capital, a
hallmark of GW's STEM education. A new career center housed within SEAS on SEH's
second floor ensures that over the next decade, as STEM-related careers increase
by 9 million, GW students are well positioned to be leaders in their fields.
In addition to providing space for SEAS and the Columbian
College of Arts and Sciences, faculty and students from the Milken Institute
School of Public Health and School of Medicine and Health Sciences will also
move in as the seventh and eighth floors of the building are completed.
The
Georgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology
The Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) is one
of the founding NSF interdisciplinary academic research centers dedicated to
nanotechnology discovery and development. The IEN evolved from its original
focus as a NSF Microelectronics Research Center (founded in 1981) at Georgia
Tech’s Atlanta campus. In 2009, the name was changed to the Nanotechnology
Research Center (NRC) to reflect its physical expansion into the Marcus
Nanotechnology Building (MNB) and research expansion into the growing realm of
nanotechnologies applications.
More recently, as part of Georgia Tech’s (GT) push to
consolidate capital-intensive research, the NRC was combined with
similarly-themed research centers (including NSF-funded graphene research, the
Packaging Research Center, and the Georgia Electronic Design Center) to form an
interdisciplinary research hub on campus, the IEN. Over the years, Georgia Tech
has used these centers and their associated facilities to become the one of the
world leaders in nanoscale science and engineering, with research programs
spanning biomedicine, materials, electronics, photonics/optics, and energy. The
IEN is comprised of multiple academic electronics and nanotechnology research
centers, each offering a unique intellectual focus ranging from basic discovery
and innovation to systems integration. The IEN has approximately 115 GT faculty
users and more than 500 GT student users as well as nearly 200 users from other
academic institutions and industries. Through the NSF’s National Nanotechnology
Infrastructure Network (NNIN), IEN facilities are accessible to all U.S.
academic users at the same price afforded by campus-based faculty.
Marcus Building’s inorganic cleanroom. The IEN runs one of the
largest university cleanroom complexes in North America. The IEN’s core mission
is to provide exceptionally high value, fee-based open user access to research
cleanrooms and laboratories at its core facilities. The IEN cleanroom has two
on-campus locations: the Pettit Microelectronics Building (PMB), opened in 1988;
and the Marcus Nanotechnology Building (MNB), opened in 2009. Together, these
two facilities provide fully integrated electronics/materials cleanrooms;
separate biological cleanroom space; a state-of-the-art characterization and
microscopy suite housed in a vibrationally and acoustically shielded space; and
supporting labs, equipment, and technical expertise. The expanded space enables
Georgia Tech faculty, students, and non-GT users from academia, state and
federal labs, and industry to carry out pioneering nanoscale research. Both the
Pettit and Marcus facilities include significant laboratory space that house
faculty research labs immediately proximate to the cleanroom and microscopy
facilities.
Pettit houses an 8,500 sq. ft. cleanroom (Class 10-100), while
the Marcus building includes 10,000 sq. ft. of inorganic fabrication cleanroom
space (Class 100) as well as 5,000 sq. ft. of biological cleanroom space (Class
1000), including Biosafety Level 1 and 2 labs. The inorganic and organic
cleanrooms are adjacent so that researchers can transfer their samples without
exposing them to a non-cleanroom environment. This novel design enables a
seamless fusion of traditional, top-down microfabrication approaches (e.g.
optical and electronbeam lithography) and various types of bottom-up
self-assembly approaches (typical biologically-derived) to nanotechnology
research at Georgia Tech. The Marcus building also houses a newly-completed
3,300 sq. ft. imaging and characterization suite that offers comprehensive
microscopy and imaging services, as well as X-ray and ion-based
characterization, for a wide variety of materials and devices.
The IEN cleanrooms and labs accommodate over two hundred
individual pieces of equipment, which enable users to run an extensive variety
of materials growth and fabrication processes in a single facility. These
processes include traditional microfabrication processes such as
photolithography and mask generation; thin film deposition; plasma etching and
wet chemistry; and packaging. Electron beam lithography and nano-imprinting
services offer the ability to quickly prototype nanoscale devices on different
substrates. Traditional chemical vapor deposition (CVD) materials growth,
including atomic layer deposition as well as non-traditional process such as
soft lithography, are also available. IEN cleanroom users come from numerous
different academic departments within Georgia Tech’s Colleges of Engineering and
Science, as well as the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).
Users need to clean up any items that will be brought inside
the cleanroom. Users also help to clean up cleanroom floors and walls. Users
also help to clean up cleanroom floors and walls. The mission of the IEN is to
maintain these current resources while also growing our capabilities through the
acquisition of new high-tech tools; train users on safe and proper operation of
the equipment; and provide the highest caliber technical expertise to enable
users to achieve their desired results. These facilities, along with a skilled
and experienced staff, has enabled Georgia Tech to be the hub of nanotechnology
research in the southeast and competitive with the best U.S. national university
facilities.
Fundamentally, having a fully controlled environment is
crucial in nanotechnology research and development. Particle levels,
temperature, humidity, pressure, light, ultrapure water, and process gases all
play important roles in achieving the conditions needed to conduct successful
research.
One of the challenges of user-centered facilities is that most
new users do not have experience working in a cleanroom and lack familiarity
with the unique operational conditions that come with this environment. To
assist with acclimation, the IEN provides mandatory orientation programs to
educate new users about cleanroom operation, safety, regulations, training, and
protocols. Before being granted unsupervised access to any specific piece of
equipment, users are required to attend training and pass a hands-on check-off
test by facility staff. The IEN also offers seminars, workshops, forums, and
staff office hours to assist users with process or engineering.
Particle contamination is the biggest concern for maintaining
a controlled cleanroom environment. Cleanroom suits must be worn at all times to
avoid cleanroom users’ skin and hair generating particulate contamination. Every
item that users bring into the cleanroom must be cleanroom compatible
(especially with regard to particle contamination) and fully decontaminated
before entering to maintain the required cleanroom conditions. Non-cleanroom
designed paper, notebooks, and cardboard containers are not allowed inside, and
any chemical bottles, plastic boxes, or other instruments need to be wiped
completely prior to taking inside the cleanroom. Before a new piece of equipment
can be installed in the facility, it must be decontaminated multiple times in a
dedicated cleaning area. Any particle producing process must be conducted in a
well-ventilated area. The cleanroom staff checks particle levels on a regular
basis to monitor any changes in airborne contamination.
Cleanroom staff measures particle counts inside the cleanroom.
In the Pettit cleanroom, process equipment is located in bays separated by
chases which contain supporting items such as pumps, chilled water, gas
cabinets, exhaust scrubbers, power supplies, and other support equipment. These
supporting systems do not need to be in the highly controlled environment, so
isolating them in the chases reduces the amount of expensive cleanroom space one
has to construct. In addition, allowable particle levels are controlled
separately from bay to bay. For example, the photolithography bay has a Class 10
environment while the metallization bay is Class 1,000. In contrast, the Marcus
inorganic cleanroom is a flow-through, ballroom design where all equipment is
located within the same 10,000 sq. ft. open area. The challenge of maintaining
low particle counts throughout the facility is addressed by maintaining a higher
flow rate on the clean air return to those cleanroom sections that require it.
With this approach, we have been successful in keeping these low particle count
sections of the cleanroom at Class 100 level.
Many of the fabrication processes are sensitive not only to
particle levels, but also to other environmental parameters such as temperature,
humidity, and vibration. The IEN cleanroom has a network of sensors monitoring
the variation in these parameters, and the data can be directly read in real
time via a web interface, along with historical data covering longer periods of
times to identify trends. Many of the warnings and alarms from the sensor
network are sent immediately to cleanroom staff on their mobile devices so they
can rapidly identify problems and fix them.
Ultimately, maintaining the appropriate controlled environment
relies upon collaboration between staff and users. Users report to staff any
problems or concerns about the cleanroom environment, and they also help staff
to identify potential problems, warn other users of improper behavior, and do
some routine housekeeping work. Everyone who uses and benefits from the
cleanroom has the responsibility of keeping the facility safe.
The product of a well-controlled environment is high quality
research. Supported by the IEN cleanroom, Georgia Tech faculty, students, and
research staff, as well as our research affiliates from other universities and
companies, have published journal articles, presented at conferences, and filed
patents based on discoveries realized within the IEN facilities. In addition,
this research has led to a number of successful startup companies founded by GT
faculty and students.
Carmaker Audi launched the new Lighting Assistance Centre
(LAC) at its headquarters in Ingolstadt. LAC is a development and test center
for advanced lighting designs, which include the functions of the high-beam and
camera-based lighting assistance systems. It also boasts of a 120m drivable
light tunnel.
Core element of the lighting competence center is the biggest
lighting tunnel for vehicles in Europe. The Audi engineers there cooperate
closely with the designers so that new ideas can be put onto the road faster.
Their motorsport colleagues also often deliver valuable stimulus from the
world's toughest test bench: the racetrack.
With the double function of light as an aesthetic brand
message and as an element of safety and comfort, the engineers are experimenting
with a range of future technologies from LED to OLED, laser and light guides.
One of the next steps for the carmaker will be matrix laser headlights.
Audi's approach is somewhat different from other next-gen
lighting designs from carmakers like BMW and Daimler: A chip fitted with
hundreds of thousands of individually controlled micro-mirrors (much like the
projectors used to visualize PowerPoint presentations) divides the laser beam
into tiny pixels. Applied to exterior lighting of a car, this makes it possible
to adapt the lighting pattern to any driving situation—or even to project
graphical information onto the road.
Innovation also in the taillight: Audi plans to enhance
lighting functions to become a communications medium. For example, a laser
taillight could assume the shape of a warning triangle in fog or rain
conditions, effectively keeping trailing vehicles at a safe distance; the
company sketched its vision of the future.
In addition, OLEDs not only at the rear but also at the flanks
could enable novel functions that indicate to other traffic participants the
intentions of the driver in front of them. An example that Audi already
demonstrated at another opportunity is lights that flow quickly forward,
augmenting the brake light at the back of the car.
The carmaker experiments with innovative materials—even though
a striking application is not yet in sight, it might be one of the lighting
ideas of the future.
At the opportunity of the LAC opening, the company provided
insights into studies and developments for future lighting designs.
A production facility for start-ups in the field of
nanotechnology may be built in the Science Village in Lund, a world-class
research and innovation village that is also home to ESS, the European
Spallation Source.
The project originates from the successful research into
nanowires at Lund University, which has resulted in nanotechnology companies
like Glo AB and Sol Voltaics AB. Glo was forced to move to Silicon Valley,
however, to launch large-scale mass production.
The infrastructure would be intended for companies and
researchers in the whole of Sweden who want to develop products with industry
standards without needing to invest in expensive equipment themselves.
Samuelson sees more business opportunities for nanowires. In
addition to Glo's light-emitting diodes and Sol Voltaics' solar cells, Lars
Samuelson believes there is potential for new companies focused on applications
within electronics, UV light-emitting diodes and biomedicine.
Alongside this project, Lund University is working to extend
the Lund Nano Lab which is a pure research laboratory for research on nanowires.
This is run by Lund University, whereas the industrial facility is a project
outside the University. Together, these two initiatives constitute a way of
generating the whole value chain from research to market.
The preliminary study into the facility, funded by Vinnova and
Region Skåne and initiated by the Nanometer Structure Consortium at Lund
University, is to result in an estimate of investment requirements and market
potential, as well as a proposal for a business model. The aim is to become
internationally competitive and financially self-sufficient.
A cluster of companies and services, close to the University's
research, is expected to develop around the common equipment for nanoproduction.
The Nanometer Structure Consortium at Lund University was
founded in 1989. Today, it is one of Sweden's Strategic Research Areas, engaging
more than 250 researchers at the Faculties of Engineering, Science and Medicine.
The research focuses on the materials science of nanostructures and its
applications within fundamental science, electronics, optoelectronics, energy
conversion and life sciences. Former start-ups from the Nanometer Structure
Consortium currently employ around 150 people and have attracted private
investments of over one billion Swedish crowns.
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