LNF History and Leadership


History

The Lurie Nanofabrication Facility (LNF) is located within the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building. The facility first opened in September 1986 and was fully operational by 1988. It was renamed the Michigan Nanofabrication Facility in January 2005 and was dedicated as the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility in April 2008 thanks to a generous donation by the Lurie Foundation and other donors.

Initially the lab consisted of a class 1,000/100/10 research laboratory with approximately 9,000 sq. ft. (6,500 sq. ft. under filter) of cleanroom and a separate 1,000 sq. ft. class 10,000 instructional laboratory that supported the EECS instructional courses. The research laboratory consisted of five process bays (silicon lithography/diffusion, silicon LPCVD, compound semiconductor devices, thin-film deposition, and dry etching) plus five separate, connected rooms for e-beam lithography and metrology (Class 10) and for compound semiconductor materials growth.

In 2008 the lab was expanded to 18,000 sq. ft. (11,000 sq. ft. under filter) of class 1,000/100/10 cleanroom space and is equipped with over 120 major state-of-the-art tools for 4″ and 6″ processing. In addition the LNF has a additional 2,500 sq. ft. of a HEPA-filtered single pass clean space that is used for wet chemistry, processing with organics or biological samples, and mechanical finishing. The primary cleanroom supports processing with silicon, compound semiconductors, and organic materials, for the fabrication of devices and microsystems (MEMS) with feature sizes down to 10 nanometers.

The facility is supported by a highly trained group of engineers and technicians whose primary responsibility is to ensure that the equipment is well maintained and characterized. In addition, the LNF has domain experts whose primary responsibility is to provide comprehensive support to users and their projects. The LNF staff also provide support to undergraduate courses that use the facility.

The facility, comparable to the best in the world, is used by hundreds of students and researchers at the University of Michigan, other academic institutions, national labs and industry.

The LNF is available, on a fee basis, for use by research groups from government, industry and universities. Equipment and processes are available for research on silicon integrated circuits, MEMS, III-V compound devices, organic devices and nano-imprint technology.We also encourage researchers from non-traditional disciplines to make use of our processes, such as metal and dielectric coatings, vacuum processes, fabrication of micro and nano components and metrology tools.

Additional history of the LNF is available here.


Leadership

The LNF is led by a Faculty Director, a Managing Director, and his/her management team

The LNF Council assists the LNF Faculty Director with strategic planning for the LNF and provides guidance concerning operations. The LNF Council consists of at least six members, typically faculty users of the LNF from a variety of departments. Council Members are appointed by the College of Engineering’s Associate Dean for Research. 

The LNF Users Committee is formed by volunteer academic, or non academic, members of the LNF users community. The group meets regularly to discuss matters relevant to the users such as: lab improvement, policies, social activities, outreach, safety, etc. The LNF Users Committee is an important resource for LNF users as it is a path to voice concerns and bring new ideas and solutions. Users can contact the committee at [email protected]. All users are encouraged to participate and be part of this group. The LNF Users Committee has an important role in LNF outreach activities and the welcoming of new users.


LNF @ Michigan Faculty Directors (Past and Present)

Prof. Becky Peterson
2020 – Present
Prof. Jamie Phillips
2019-2020
Prof. Wei Lu
2016-2019
Prof. Yusik Yoon
2011 – 2016
Prof. Kensall D. Wise
2007-2011,
1984-1987
Prof. Fred Terry
2005-2007
Prof. Khalil Najafi
1998-2005
Prof. Pallab K. Bhattacharya
1991-1998
Prof. George I. Haddad
1987-1991