INL Offerings (ASCENT+ Showroom)
The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), located in Braga, Portugal, is home to a micro- and nanofabrication facility that is the largest in Portugal and includes some of the most advanced instrumentation on the Iberian Peninsula. The core of the fabrication facility is housed in a 700m2 cleanroom: Class 100 in the lithography bays and Class 1000 in the other areas. The unique combination of tools and expertise for deposition, patterning, and etching of a broad range of materials enable extensive in-house capabilities for producing electronic, magnetic, optical, or MEMS devices as well as various “hybrid” combinations, e.g., MEMS structures functionalized with magnetic sensors or optomechanical MEMS devices. Additional heterogeneous integration capabilities include structures that combine bottom-up and top-down methods for (self) organization and patterning of nanomaterials and nanostructures.
These fabrication capabilities are supported by in-house expertise on system design and integration as well as by a
comprehensive suite of nanocharacterization instruments and expertise.
The design, fabrication, and characterization capabilities provided by INL will support the transnational access offered in all three pillars of ASCENT+: Nano-scale Platforms for Quantum Technologies, Disruptive Devices, and their Advanced Integration with CMOS.
Nano for Quantum Technologies
INL offers expertise and capabilities for fabrication of micro- and nanoscale structures that take advantage of the unique intrinsic quantum properties of graphene.
- Processing of graphene-based devices and structures on the 200mm wafer scale
- CVD graphene is grown using INL-optimized technology as single-layer sheets with mm-scale single crystals. These graphene sheets are transferred to 200mm wafer substrates via a clean process based on low-density PMMA temporary substrates. Electrodes and gates are pre-patterned on the wafers before the transfer and graphene is patterned into the required structures after the transfer. Masks are available for standard device configurations as back-gated FETs or as sensors with a top liquid gate.
- Metrology/Characterisation for graphene-based structures
-
- Electrical measurements and confocal Raman microscopy/spectroscopy
- An automated setup is available for measurements of the devices in the standardized layouts
- Devices/Test Structures
-
- Diced chips with devices in the FET or sensor configurations. Option for wire-bonding to chipcarriers or PCBs.
- Graphene channel with Au source and drain contacts
Disruptive Devices
INL offers expertise and capabilities for fabrication of micro- and nanoscale magnetic devices for spintronics applications: a disruptive technology expected to provide individual devices with unique functionalities based on the spin rather than charge of the electrons.
- Processing
- Processing of spintronic devices and structures on the 200mm wafer scale. These devices are based on stacks of 10 to 30 metal (including alloys and oxides) layers grown using INL-optimized technology. Typical thickness of the individual layers is in the range from <1 nm to about 10nm. Either optical or electron-beam lithography can be used to define the structures and electrodes for devices prepared either as specialized circuits for a dedicated function, such as an oscillator, or as arrays of, for example, magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) for memory or sensor applications. Masks are available for several standard device configurations.
- Metrology/Characterisation for Spintronic Devices
-
- Electrical measurements in presence of the magnetic field
- Several automated stations are available for measurements of the spintronic devices in standardized layouts
- Devices/Test Structures
- Diced chips with MTJ devices in standard configurations
Advanced Integration
INL offers expertise and unique capabilities for heterogeneous integration of different fabrication processes, e.g., into
hybrid devices.
- Processing
- Processing and fabrication of MEMS, magnetic, electronic, or optical devices on the 200-mm wafer scale. Most of these processing and fabrication technologies can be integrated at least in pairwise fashion, e.g., MEMS devices functionalized with magnetic sensors. Each of the constituent processes can include multiple steps, e.g., for fabricating a multilayer stack of a micromirror and a MEMS structure for actuating that mirror. Devices and structures can be processed on silicon, quartz, and other wafer substrates as well as on flexible/polymer substrates. For sensor applications, microfluidic cells can be fabricated and integrated with devices.
- Modelling and Data Sets
- The system integration group at INL has extensive expertise in the design and modelling of integrated devices, from CMOS design for MEMS, magnetic, and sensor system-on-chip devices to working portable systems.
- Metrology/Characterisation
- Includes a comprehensive suite of industry standard instrumentation for characterization of electronic, magnetic, mechanical, and optical properties of the fabricated devices and for troubleshooting the individual processing steps. Multiple automated stations are available for these metrology and characterization measurements.
Services currently offered by the infrastructure
INL currently offers a combination of traditional and advanced/unique nanofabrication processes and services. Traditional processes include multiple options for deposition, patterning, and etching of materials, including semiconductors, metals, and insulators for 200 mm wafers. Unique capabilities include advanced heterogeneous integration options, such as deposition on flexible substrates, hybrid more-than-Moore devices, and combining bottom-up and top-down nanofabrication methods. The fabrication capabilities are supported by a comprehensive suite of nanocharacterization instruments and in-house expertise on system design, integration, and full-cycle prototyping.