OTHER ELECTRONICS & NANOTECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY UPDATE
March
2018
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Georgia Institute of Technology
Robotarium Robotics Laboratory
The University of Washington New
Nanoengineering and Sciences Building
Kemet Expands Manufacturing Presence in
China
Grand Opening Ceremony of The Park Nanoscience
Lab
Dark-Matter Lab Located a Mile Underground in South
Dakota
The CNI Clean Room Is a Nanofabrication and
Characterization Facility
Georgia Institute of Technology
Robotarium Robotics Laboratory
Size: 775 sq. ft.
Project team: HERA (architect), Collaborative
Engineering Solutions (mechanical engineer)
The HERA team worked collaboratively with
Magnus Egerstedt, executive director for the Institute for Robotics and
Intelligent Machines and the Julian T. Hightower Chair Professor in Systems and
Controls at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his team to design the
Robotarium Robotics Laboratory. The lab is located in the heart of the Georgia
Tech campus on the second floor of the Van Leer Building. The Robotarium is a
unique space in which researchers from around the world can run robotics
experiments either in person or remotely.
A 12-foot by 14-foot white rectangular solid
surface serves as the arena, where all the experiments occur. Hidden along the
perimeter of the arena floor are 76 slots that house 152 charging cells where
the robots can dock and charge. Above the arena is a drop-ceiling soffit, which
follows the outline of arena floor below. That soffit frames the audio-visual
track that sits within and supports all the AV equipment such as projectors and
visual and tracking cameras.
The soffit transitions to a curved ceiling,
which rolls down the wall and meets the top of the banquette seating area.
Affectionately nicknamed “The Swoosh,” this wall is accentuated by curved resin
panels in Georgia Tech “old gold,” and placed in a staggered pattern to suggest
a sense of movement.
A theater-like environment helps engage the
entire campus. A window opening into the corridor allows viewing of activities
from outside the room, and the banquette seating allows viewing from the inside.
A control hub consisting of computer workstations and servers within the room
allow faculty and students to instruct the robots on the arena floor, with the
live video feed displayed and projected on two large screens above the
workstation. In the near future videos will be live streamed so they can be seen
by viewers around the world.
Completion date: June 2017
The University of Washington New
Nanoengineering and Sciences Building
The building marks the second phase of a
168,000 sq. ft. complex.
In 2012, the 90,000 sq. ft. Molecular
Engineering and Sciences Building was completed on the University of Washington
Campus. This past summer, the five-story, 78,000 sq. ft.
Nanoengineering and Sciences Building was
completed. The two connected buildings make up a 168,000 sq. ft. complex that
accommodates growth in the molecular engineering and nanoengineering fields,
responds to the evolving interdisciplinary nature of teaching and research, and
fits within a historic, high-density area of the UW campus.
The new $87.8 million, ZGF
Architects-designed nanoengineering building will house the UW Institute for
Nano-Engineered Systems and is specifically equipped for the performance or
organic, inorganic, and biomolecular synthesis. The limestone, aluminum and
glass curtain wall facility can accommodate students and faculty in a variety of
nanoengineering disciplines such as energy, materials science, computation, and
medicine.
Flexibility of space was a driver for both
phases of the complex. Research labs were designed to adapt as the equipment,
research, and faculty change. Overhead service carriers above the lab benches
allow for researchers to “plug and play” in any location. At the end of each lab
there are rooms that can be arranged to house large equipment or specialty
research spaces.
In addition to the labs, the new building
also includes general-purpose classrooms, conference rooms, and collaboration
spaces. Floors two through four are programmed research laboratory spaces. The
first floor includes two highly adaptable classrooms and a shared, informal
learning center.
Because the nanoengineering building has
mainly southern and northern exposures, ZGF needed a strategy to address the
added heat loads to the building due to the different orientation from phase
one. Radiant flooring is used for heating and cooling purposes and chilled sails
are used in the ceilings along the south wall of the office spaces. The units
are ceiling-mounted and flush to the ceiling plane.
The new facility incorporates numerous
sustainability features such as rain gardens and green roofs planted with
vegetation to attract native bees. Stormwater runoff will be directed to the
roof gardens to reduce runoff to additional drainage systems.
One of the more unique sustainable features
is the use of phase-change materials (PCM). PCM is a gel that becomes warm and
liquid during the day and solidifies at night. It is encapsulated in walls and
ceiling panels of the naturally ventilated spaces and reduces temperature as it
changes material states. The PCM is composed of an inorganic material base and
is “charged” at night when windows to office spaces are automatically opened to
provide a flush of cool air. The PCM has been shown to reduce the temperature
around 1.5 to 2 degrees during peek times on the hottest days of the year.
The building team included Hoffman
Construction Company (GC), KPFF (civil engineering, structural engineering), AEI
(MEP), Site Workshop (landscape architecture), Research Facilities Design (lab
planning), and Studio SC (graphics, wayfinding signage).
Kemet Expands Manufacturing Presence
in China
Passive electronic component house Kemet has
announced that it is expanding its presence in China with the formation of a new
joint venture for manufacturing certain film and electrolytic capacitors in the
country.
Kemet Electronics Corp. and Jianghai Film
Capacitor Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Nantong Jianghai Capacitor Co., Ltd. will
form the joint venture with the company being called Kemet Jianghai Electronic
Components Co. Ltd.
The joint venture will manufacture axial
electrolytic capacitors and (H)EV Film DC brick capacitors that will be
distributed by both Kemet and Jianghai. Each company will fund the venture
through an initial capital contribution of $5 million through a combination of
cash and manufacturing equipment.
The JV will utilize Jianghai’s manufacturing
abilities with the film and electrolytic capacitors from Kemet for the
automotive and industrial markets. Kemet says the new JV will not affect its
support of customers in Europe and the Americas as these will be supported
through its locations in Portugal and Sweden.
Grand Opening Ceremony of The Park
Nanoscience Lab
Park Systems, a manufacturer of atomic force
microscopes celebrated the grand opening of their European Headquarters on
February 6, 2018 in Mannheim, Germany.
The new office will serve as a central European AFM research facility,
providing technical sales and service with a fully equipped Atomic Force
Microscopy Nanoscience Lab on site. The ceremony was attended by many around
Europe including from Deutsche Bank (Germany), Schaefer South-East Europe SRL
(Romania), Milexia SAS (France), ST Instruments B.V. (Netherlands),
GambettiKenologiaSrl (Italy), Promenergolab LLC (Russia), Tekno-TIP
AnalitikSistemler Ltd. (Turkey) and Park Systems representatives from Europe, US
and Asia.
“The European scientific community plays a
critical role in expanding cutting-edge science and research across many
industries, particularly at the nanoscale,” commented Ludger Weisser, the
General Manager of Park Systems Europe at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “The new
Park Systems Nanoscience Lab in Europeis a landmark opportunity to provide the
best-in-class AFM technology and unparalleled technical service for our European
business partners to advance scientific research and development.”
The new office will provide technical,
application and sales support for all European customers. As the demand for a
modern AFM technology continuously grows in Europe, Park Systems recognizes the
need of serving the key European scientific laboratories and research facilities
with even stronger and direct support.
“Park Systems has invested significant
resources into the new Park Nanoscience Lab in Europe to offer the vast European
scientific community a better opportunity to use our AFM product and make
side-by-side comparisons to the well-known European AFM.
We are confident that our AFM will demonstrate in Europe as it has in
North America and Asia undeniable higher performance and cost efficiencies for
research and production facilities,” commented James Woo, Park Systems Global
Sales Manager. “We invite European
customers to our new Park Nanoscience Lab facility to use our equipment and
witness for yourself why Park has been the world-leader in AFM technology since
its inception.”
The Park Nanoscience Lab at the Europe
Headquarters in Manheim Germany is a new branch of Park Systems and part of a
growing network of Park Global Nanoscience labs including a recently opened Park
Nanoscience Center at SUNY Polytech Institute in Albany, New York. The Park
Nanoscience Lab will showcase advanced atomic force microscopy (AFM) systems,
demonstrate a wide variety of cutting-edge applications—ranging from materials
science, to chemistry and biology, to semiconductor and data storage devices—and
provide hands on experience, training and service, year-round.
It will be equipped with the latest Park AFM systems, including the Park
NX20, Park NX10, and Park NX-Hivac, playing a crucial role in providing the best
and direct technical, application and sales support to the European audience.
“Besides the excellent AFM technology, having
a direct and reliable contact partner for inquires of any matter was surely one
of the most important factors for us when we chose Park Systems half a year
ago,” says Francesco Simone, the junior fellow at the University of Cambridge,
UK, and Park NX10 AFM user.
Park Systems, a global AFM manufacturer, has
offices in key cities worldwide, including Santa Clara, California; Tokyo,
Japan; Singapore; Manheim, Germany; and Suwon, South Korea. Since becoming the
only public offering for an AFM business in 2015, its stock has increased by
over 300% reflecting the strong growth of its business with many company-wide
global initiatives for continued future word-wide success.
Dark-Matter Lab Located a Mile Underground in
South Dakota
In April 2017, Laboratory Design published
“Observing dark matter requires a very clean room,” regarding the Sanford
Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. The lab is currently undergoing
renovations. Here is an update on its progress.
LZ, a second-generation dark matter
experiment, is a collaboration between 250 scientists and engineers from 37
institutions in the U.S., U.K., Portugal, Russia, and Korea.
It is the successor to the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment,
which took place at SURF between 2012 and 2016. LZ will hold 10 tons of liquid
xenon, making it approximately 30 times larger and 100 times more sensitive than
its smaller cousin.
When complete in 2020, LZ will be the most
sensitive detector in the world, capable of sensing faint interactions between
dark matter particles and xenon nuclei. Dark matter accounts for 85 percent of
all matter, affecting the motion of galaxies, bending light, and influencing the
structure of the universe; but its particle nature is still unknown.
“Planning
for this renovation started several years ago—even before LUX was built,” said
John Keefner, underground operations engineer with SURF. “Now, we’re finally at
the point where we can begin to refit the cavern and existing infrastructure to
allow for the installation of LZ.”
The Davis Cavern renovation project includes
removing an existing cleanroom, tearing down a wall between two former
low-background counting rooms, installing a new hoist system, building a work
deck and modifying the water tank itself to accommodate the larger cryostat.
Additionally, renovations include a radon reduction room and a xenon storage
room.
But just on the other side of the Davis
Cavern, through a double door, is the common corridor—and the entrance to the
Majorana Demonstrator Project, an incredibly sensitive experiment that requires
an extremely clean environment.
“We’re setting up a dividing line between the
existing science space and the construction zone,” Keefner said. “We’ve taken
several precautions to ensure dust and other particulates can’t get into the
Majorana cleanroom.”
Some of those measures include putting up
tents at the door between the Davis Cavern and common corridor. Additionally,
construction crews will enter the Davis Cavern through the decline drift—the
same drift Ray Davis would have used to reach his solar neutrino experiment,
which ran for nearly 30 years in the Davis Cavern.
The LZ is one of three G2 (Generation 2)
dark-matter experiments worldwide investigating the hypothesis that dark matter
is composed of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). Similar projects
are underway in Italy and China. Direct detection of WIMPs would constitute a
major scientific discovery.
"This project is important to LZ and to
getting it done in a timely fashion is required to keep our project
scientifically competitive," said Jeff Cherwinka, LZ chief engineer. "The help
we've received from SURF is instrumental in helping make our project a success
and it is going very well so far."
To keep progress moving quickly, architects
and engineers with Leo A Daly designed the renovations at the same time as the
LZ’s experimental equipment was being finalized.
“The level of coordination and flexibility
required, in a tight underground space, with parameters constantly evolving, and
with extraordinarily stringent safety and cleanliness requirements, made this
one of the most challenging and exhilarating projects we’ve ever done,” said
Steven Andersen with Leo A Daly.
Cleanroom demolition: This space is located
on the upper level of the Davis Cavern. It will be removed to accommodate
additional computer racks and control systems for LZ. It will also allow the LZ
collaboration to raise and lower equipment (the grating on the floor can be
removed) to a work deck that will be constructed.
Work deck: This multi-purpose level will be
built above the water tank and below the upper level of the cavern. It will
allow for easier access to the breakout box, which holds the experiment
apparatus—things like detector cables and electrical wires that connect to
systems within the tank. The work deck will also serve as additional storage.
Low-background counting rooms: A wall between
the two rooms on the lower level of the Davis Cavern will be removed to make way
for four big compressors that will be used for emergency xenon recovery. In the
event of a power outage, a backup generator will keep everything, including the
control systems, working.
“In an emergency, the compressors will fire
up and send the xenon back into the bottles safely,” Keefner said.
Updated hoist system: A critical feature in
the Davis Cavern is the hoist system that was used to lower the LUX cryostat
into the water tank. Renovations include updating the current hoist system.
“We’re relocating the two hoist beams that run through the Davis Cavern and
installing one long beam that spans the length of the cavern. This will give us
more flexibility as we move materials and the much bigger cryostat for LZ into
the tank,” Keefner said.
Water tank updates: When construction in the
Davis Cavern is complete, modifications can begin on the water tank, itself.
Updates include new ports and access points so new instrumentation can be
installed inside the tank. “One of the coolest things we’re doing is adding
additional shielding on top of the tank,” Keefner said. Several 3-inch moveable
steel plates, each weighing several tons, will keep out stray particles,
allowing the experiment to reach its desired sensitivity levels.
Radon reduction: The South Dakota School of
Mines & Technology designed a radon reduction system that will pump low-radon
filtered air into the Davis Cavern, allowing LZ researchers to construct their
experiment in a clean environment. The system will be housed in an alcove just
outside of the clean lab spaces in the Davis Campus.
Xenon storage: Sanford Lab crews recently
completed subgrade excavation in a cutout that sits at the top of the decline
drift, which gives access to the back door of the Davis Cavern. Next, a 4-inch
concrete floor will be poured, making it level with the floor of the drift. As
xenon tanks are brought in, crews will be able to slide them into the storage
area, which will save time and mitigate safety concerns associated with having
to lift heavy tanks into the area.
The CNI Clean Room Is a Nanofabrication and
Characterization Facility
The CNI Clean Room is a Nanofabrication and
characterization facility in the Morris A. Schapiro Center for Engineering and
Physical Science Research (CEPSR) is dedicated to providing the instrumentation,
technical expertise, and team-teaching environment to stimulate collaborative
research in nanoscale technology. The facility supports the creation and
evaluation of devices and materials with state of the art fabrication equipment.
The Clean Room is a multidisciplinary
laboratory that supports research across many different departments within
Columbia University as well as researchers from other academic institutes and
industrial users. The laboratory supports not only materials and device
nanofabrication research in physics, electrical engineering, applied physics,
mechanical engineering and chemistry, but it also facilitates research
interaction and collaboration between the physical, chemical, biological and
medical disciplines and is open to all. The facility represents a strategic
capability for the Nanoscale Science and Technology research on the Columbia
Campus.
The recently opened renovated and expanded
CNI Nanofabrication Clean Room occupies approximately 5,000 square feet of
space. It is divided into 7 separate bays, each dedicated to a set of related
fabrication processes:
Optical lithography bay consisting of
dedicated fume hoods and spinners for photoresist coating, two mask aligners
(one for DUV applications), two mask fabrication systems: a manual Laser Writing
and Mask Fabrication system (3µm resolution) and an automatic Laser Writer
system with submicron resolution, and two plasma ashers with oxygen and forming
gas plasma for resist stripping and descum.
Wet chemical bay with an automatic RCA bench,
SRD for 4" wafers, general acid hood and general base hood for various wet etch
clean and patterning processes.
Plasma bay with Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)
plasma processing based on chlorine and fluorine chemistries, as well as Deep
RIE for high aspect ratio and selectivity etching, and PECVD for silicon oxide
and silicon nitride deposition.
Deposition bay including two sputtering
systems (dedicated to metals and dielectrics respectively), an e-beam
evaporator, UHV e-beam evaporator, Atomic Layer Deposition, and a thermal
evaporator (the three latter are located in the Plasma bay due to space
considerations).
Microscopy bay consisting of high resolution
SEM with e-beam writing capabilities, as well as optical profiler and filmetrics
thin film measurements.
Furnace bay with 4 LPCVD tubes for silicon
oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and thermal anneal capabilities.
Backend bay consisting of a Dicing saw,
Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) system for planarization of thin films, Wire
bonders (Al and Au), and a Critical Point Dryer.
Lithographic capabilities include nano-scale
features down to less than 50 nanometers using a Nanobeam nB4 E-beam writing
system which is located in the North West Corner building.
Some inventory items are available to
purchase from the cleanroom office for use in the lab. Prices are subjected to
change by the actual cost of the inventory items.
McIlvaine Company
Northfield, IL
60093-2743
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