FACILITIES

The University of Texas at Austin and the state of Texas are committed to the advancement of microelectronics. The Microelectronics Research Center, established in 1983, is a key element in this partnership. The Microelectronics Research Center is located on the Pickle Research Campus in the Microelectronics and Engineering Research Building, which was completed in 1993. To date, over $50 million has been committed to build and equip this facility for both silicon-related and compound-semiconductor research. The facilities at MRC include 12,000 square feet of class 100 and class 1000 cleanroom space for crystal-growth and device processing. In addition to state-of-the-art cleanroom facilities, MRC has 15,000 square feet of characterization laboratories and office space for 15 faculty, support staff, and 120 graduate students.

The cleanroom contains complete Si CMOS processing capability, including fine-line lithography, sputter deposition, reactive-ion etching, ultrahigh purity process gases, a DI water system, rapid thermal processing systems, wet chemistry stations, and low pressure CVD for polysilicon, oxides, and nitrides. The cleanroom also houses the reactors for several Si and III-V epitaxial crystal-growth techniques, including molecular beam epitaxy, metalorganic CVD, remote plasma CVD, rapid thermal CVD, and ultrahigh vacuum CVD. The characterization laboratories contain the apparatus for comprehensive optical and electrical measurements as well as extensive computer facilities.

Building Statistics 

• MRC established in 1983 

• MER Building completed in 1993 

• Over $40M spent to build and equip facility, mostly from Permanent University Fund 

• Research equipment valued over $15M from university, DoD, NSF and other research agencies 

• 14,000 square feet of class 100 cleanroom space for crystal-growth and device processing 

• 15,000 square feet of characterization laboratories 

• 30,000 square feet of office space for faculty, support staff, and graduate students 

Personnel 

• MRC Faculty: 13 

• Post-doctoral Fellows and Research Scientists: 6 

• Graduate Research Assistants: 150 

• Facilities Manager, Safety Coordinator, Support Staff: 6

• Lab Technicians: 3 

• Faculty Administrative Support: 5 

• Affiliated Faculty (Physics, Chemistry, Chem. E., Materials Science): 20 

• Non-academic Users: 5 

Silicon Processing Equipment 

Oxidation/diffusion furnaces (4-stack, 6" capability) 
LPCVD for poly, oxides, & nitrides (4-stack, 6") 
Oxidation/diffusion furnaces for high-K dielectrics, SiGe (6-stack, 4" capability) 
LPCVD for poly, oxides, & nitrides for high-K dielectrics, SiGe (3-stack, 4") 
RTP systems for RTA, RTO/RTN, RTPCVD of high-K dielectrics
Karl Suss split field contact lithography (~0.5 micron) 
JEOL 6000 electron beam lithography 
Aluminum and silicide sputter deposition 
Reactive-ion etching of poly, oxides/nitrides 
Wet chemistry stations for cleans, etches for Si, SiGe, high-K dielectrics, metals 
SiGeC-heteroepitaxy: UHVCVD, RPCVD, RTPCVD 

Compound Semiconductor Resources 

Fabrication: 

Photolithography (Karl Süss MJB‑3UV deep‑UV optical lithography system) 
Sputter deposition metallization 
E-beam (CHA turbo-pumped four-hearth e-beam metal evaporator) 
Thermal evaporation of metals and dielectrics 
Reactive ion etching (Plasma-Therm) 
Rapid-thermal heating systems (AG Associates) 
Tencor Alpha-Step profilometer 
Numerous furnace tubes 
Laminar flow wet processing hoods 
Wafer thinning and polishing equipment 



Characterization: 

Quantum efficiency, bandwidth to >50GHz, multiplication noise 
High-speed (50 GHz) ocsilloscopes and spectrum analyzers (50 GHz) 
I-V and C-V measurement systems (HP 4145B Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer and capacitance bridge) 
High-frequency network analyzer ( HP 8510B) 
Noise Figure Meter (HP 8970B) 
Digitizing Signal Analyze (Tektronix 11801) 
Various probe stations 
Pulsed and CW semiconductor laser driver current sources 
Spectrometers 
Coherent mode-locked Ti-sapphire laser with Regenerative Amplifier and Optical Parametric Oscillator 
(200 fs pulses from 500 nm to 2200 nm) 
Variable-temperature, light-vs-current measurement systems 
Varian Gen II molecular beam epitaxial systems: Arsenides, Phosphides, and Nitrides; also MOCVD 


Characterization Laboratories 


Electrical I-V and C-V measurements 
Temperature-dependent Hall effect, DLTS 
Magneto-transport measurements (9T, 4-500K) 
XRD, FTIR, temperature-dependent PL 
AFM, SEM, lattice imaging TEM 
R-f and microwave characterization 
NSF nano-characterization facility 


Extensive network of PC’s and workstations with commercial and in-house device/process simulators; 
access to Cray Y-MP machines

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Contact : j.toll@mail.utexas.edu