One of the factors that differentiates Tyndall from other research institutes and university departments is the range of state-of-the-art fabrication facilities which it can make available to both its internal and external research communities. The Central Fabrication Facilities (CFF) has processing capabilities in the areas of silicon, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), compound semiconductors and polymers. This facility provides a strategic resource to Tyndall research groups, multinational and indigenous companies, and, through the Science Foundation Ireland funded National Access Programme (NAP), to researchers in Universities and Institutes of Technology throughout Ireland.
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During 2006, the ISO accredited facilities have received significant investment to upgrade the equipment suite with a view to the eventual upgrade of the silicon facility to 150mm substrates to better meet the needs of our research partners and commercial customers. The investment in compound semiconductor equipment is compatible with 100mm processing, the state-of-the-art in industry for this technology.
Providing high-value technology support to industrial clients is one of Tyndall’s key objectives and, during the year, all of the fabrication laboratories were engaged in strategic and challenging commercial projects. Through its involvement with other European research facilities within the MNT Europe Framework 6 project, the CFF can access fabrication facilities in research institutes across Europe. This strategic alliance, between the five major European microelectronics and nanotechnology research centres has the aim of integrating research capabilities in Europe and thereby creating a common technology portfolio in the areas of radio frequency (RF) MEMS, power supply on chip, optical integration and biochips.
The next five years will be both critical and challenging for the CFF as Tyndall participates in the European Framework 7 programme. There will be increased demands for even more flexibility from the laboratories with new materials being introduced across a wide range of applications. Industrial customers are looking for ever increasing productivity and reduced throughput time in order to reduce “time to market”. All of these forces combine to create a challenging environment for the fabrication team at Tyndall.
More details on each of the CFF areas can be found by following the links below:
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