Memorandum

To:            Katalin Voros, Operations Manager

From:        Daniel Bucher, Assistant Development Engineer

Cc:            Siavash Parsa, Process Engineering Manager

Subject:     2006 Year-End Report

Date:         8 January 2007

 

MEMS Exchange

My primary responsibility is the processing of wafers sent to the Microlab by the MEMS Exchange, which is part of a non-profit organization that promotes technology research and development activities in the public interest. The MEMS Exchange draws together the capabilities of dozens of independent microfabrication centers, be they located at universities, government labs, or private facilities, and unites them under a single point of contact to offer their services to those organizations for which the costs of operating such facilities would likely be prohibitive.  The MEMS Exchange operates as consultant and facilitator, transferring projects among facilities with complementary capabilities, actualizing the idea that “the sum is greater than the whole.”  In return, microfabrication facilities such as the Berkeley Microlab benefit from the extra revenue provided by charging a fee for their services.  Reflecting the fact that supporting this program is my primary thrust as a Microlab staff member, the majority of my time during 2006 was spent toward this end--processing the wafers, running process characterizations, and working with the MEMS Exchange engineers to manage the workflow. 

In 2006 I completed nearly 80 separate process steps for the MEMS Exchange.  The majority were depositions of thin film on silicon device wafers in the Microlab’s Tystar furnaces, either of silicon oxide, polysilicon, or silicon nitride.  Significant portions of the MEMS Exchange processing done at Berkeley also came from dry etching, including plasma etching or vapor phase etching of silicon, polysilicon, aluminum, silicon oxide, and silicon nitride; photolithography steps, including photoresist coating, exposure, development, and stripping; inspection, including mechanical testing, electrical testing, optical microscopy, and electron microscopy; wet etching; and thermal annealing (both rapid and non-rapid).  The total amount billed for these services in 2006 came to $49,377.

These process steps came from 26 different projects.  Thus it is clear that the UCB Microlab, through the processing done here and facilitated through the MEMS Exchange program, has a significant impact on the technological advancement of many “fabless” R&D programs.

Professional Development

During 2006 I was able to take advantage of several opportunities for professional development.  In the Spring semester I audited the lectures of EE143, Microfabrication Technology, given by Professor Nathan Cheung, former faculty director of the Microlab.  I also attended the exhibition portion of the SPIE Microlithography conference in March and the exhibitions at the Semicon West conference in July, where I gathered information on the latest advances in the industry.

I also continued to increase the number of Microlab tools which I am qualified to operate.  During 2006 I qualified on the following equipment:

Engineering Test Requests

As assigned during 2006, I completed several Engineering Test Requests (ETRs) which are processing jobs received from outside the Microlab and performed for a fee.  These included: