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Wake Forest University - the Nano and Quantum Technologies Laboratory
WFU NanoteQ Supports [labnetwork]
NanoteQ
Micro-Nano Fabrication Facility
Cleanrooms
The NanoteQ Cleanrooms
NanoteQ operates 3 cleanroom suites for a total of 3000 sq. ft. of clean working space and 5000 sq. ft. of mechanical room and support space.
Join the Users Group
The Micro - Nano Fabrication Facility at Wake Forest University was designed, built and is managed by NanoteQ. Our in-house development team has created a facility specifically for Micro and Nano semiconductor device fabrication, MEMs/NEMs, and micro-fluidics.
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This facility is composed of three space: 1. a fabrication suite with a class 100 bay and a 1000 bay (ISO 5/6 respectively) providing a combined workspace of ~1000 sq. ft. 2. a class 10,000 cleanroom suite for the packaging tools needed for full chip development (suite 108). 3. Suite 106 for soft materials and metrology of thin films. This is a class 10,000 space.
ISO 5 Specs: 4 complete air-changes per minute, 24 oC +/- 2 oC, 35% humidity +/- 2 %, 1500 lux yellow lighting (Lithoprotect filtration), three particle monitoring stations, and air velocity of 0.5 m/s in the class 100 bay. A dedicated gowning room (ISO 7). The suite of lithography capabilities ranges from e-beam lith. and FIB to i-line, 365 nm optical lithography and are contained in class 100 bay.​ A 2000 sq. ft. mechanical room supports the facility for a total of ~ 3500 sq. ft.
Cleanroom (FabLab) layout
PackLab layout
FAQs about WFU's cleanroom...
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The WFU cleanroom was designed in-house by the NRC. This is a team of scientists and engineers at Wake that Support NanoteQ's mission. Their solution to a cleanroom that was cost sustainable, easy to use, and reasonably priced to build was Suite 107 / 108 at NanoteQ. The investment the school had to make was air handlers, some construction at the site and not much more. Furnishings, were repurposed for this cleanroom, the equipment was moved from Nanotech's old cleanroom after a rebuild.
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WFU NRC also designed a unique environmental management system for the three clean suites. the Wake Forest environmental management system (WFEM) manages everything from the caustic gases used in the RIE and PECVD systems, to the air velocities throughout the bays. The system controls the room air through a pressurized ceiling plenum that empties into a HEPA filtration system. This air is pre filtered by the air handlers before it enters the plenum. Virtual return plenums are created along the walls and floors by using directed air Venturi systems thereby forming a 3D layered system of flow. This was originally designed by computer modeling (SimScale) and accounts for the movement of workers within the space.
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The cost of operations for the WFU clean suites is unusually low. While we are strictly limited to the number of people that can use the facility at a given time and the fume hoods are not perfect class 100 (this is the case in many cleanrooms), it costs far less to run than more traditionally built environments. Estimates of operational costs at the WFU facility is ~ $33K/year (2025 dollars). And because we use spot monitoring throughout the facility, we can trace contamination quickly and effect remediation (WFEM).
Access to the Cleanroom
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1. Access to the cleanroom requires: 1) safety training, 2) tool training and clearance, and 3) a NanoteQ account. You start this process with the cleanroom manager.
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2. All users must attend a yearly refresher course on cleanroom safety to maintenance their certification to use the cleanroom.
3. There is one charge for use of all cleanroom tools, you pay for the time in the cleanroom. Each tool must be scheduled individually so that its health and use time can be monitored. A tool can only be scheduled by accounts that have been cleared to use that tool.
4. There is an additional probation-use time for FIB and NPGS (e beam lithography) tools.
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5. There is a maximum of two users and one observer allowed in the facility at any given time.
6. ISO compliant gowning is required. Cleanroom status is displayed in the gowning room as you enter.
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7. The cleanroom is open Mon. - Fri. from 9 am to 4 pm. Only senior cleanroom personnel designated as superusers, are allowed access outside of this time. This is for your safety.
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8. Equipment may only be used in the manner for which was designed.
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9. Report any damage or malfunction as soon as it is noticed.
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10. All users must abide by the cleanroom guidelines.
Disclaimers
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Wake Forest University and NanoteQ Laboratories reserve the right to refuse service/access to any user not in compliance with the guidelines. For more info contact carroldl@wfu.edu
Cleanroom Notes
A few other cleanrooms around the country that we follow
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https://microsystem.missouri.edu/micro_facility.html
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