MRI: Acquisition of Major Instrumentation: Deep Reactive Ion Etching

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This award from the Major Research Instrumentation program supports North Carolina State University with the acquisition of a state-of-the-art reactive ion etcher with the flexibility of an inductively coupled plasma. This instrumentation provides the institution with the ability to independently tune the chemical and physical etching mechanisms affording unparalleled ability to pattern anisotropically, rapidly, and selectively. Four general subject areas critical to the current and future research programs at NCSU will be enabled through this acquisition: (1) advanced integration strategies, (2) nano-scale patterning for nanoscience research, (3) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and (4) wide band-gap semiconductor research. Eleven faculty are designated as primary users with collective research groups comprising 50 graduate students and $5 millions in annual research expenditure. This instrumentation will benefit the associated research activities, and importantly, new and highly collaborative future programs will be developed and supported. This capability is expected to impact both the relevance and the sophistication of graduate and undergraduate student research. With these tools, the university will have a unique opportunity to influence a large number of students' education by teaching them how to use leading-edge capabilities to leverage their research, and offer hands-on experience to what will undoubtedly become a key tool of future nano-scientific endeavors.With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation program North Carolina State University with will acquire a state-of-the-art reactive ion etcher with the flexibility of an inductively coupled plasma. This instrument allows layers of material ranging between nanoscopic and millimeter thicknesses to be etched in the absence of liquid solvents. As an alternative to liquid etchants, reactive gas species in the plasma state accomplish this material removal. An important consequence of this mechanism is the ability to produce highly anisotropic structures, or features such as narrow pillars and ultra-thin walls. Such structures are critical to the fabrication of next generation nanoscale, microelectromechanical, optoelectronic and highly integrated devices which cannot be fabricated otherwise.Given the international environment of system and device-based research there exists a critical requirement for this equipment at North Carolina State University. Establishing this capability will help NCSU to maintain its position as a leading technical research institution. Faculty from three colleges and 11 departments are identified as primary users thus guaranteeing an academically diverse user base: collectively these users manage a research group comprising 50 graduate students and $5 millions in annual research expenditure. The proposed instrument will complement the existing set of microelectronics processing and fabrication equipment on the NCSU Centennial campus, and with NCSU's recent designation as affiliate of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, access to a broad section of the scientific community will be ensured