University of Southern California
University of Southern California
John O'Brien Nanofabrication Laboratory
Los Angeles, CA
The USC John O’Brien Nanofabrication Laboratory is a 10,000 sq. ft. shared-user cleanroom supporting microfabrication, nanofabrication, semiconductors, MEMS, photonics, sensors, biomedical devices, quantum devices, and advanced materials. With more than 50 major tools and experienced technical staff, the facility provides end-to-end fabrication, packaging, metrology, process development, and hands-on workforce training for academic and industry users.
USC’s new John O‚ÄôBrien Nanofabrication Laboratory (opened in 2021) is a ~12,000 sq. ft. cleanroom facility (Class 100/1000) with over 50+ modern tools for lithography (electron-beam and optical), thin-film deposition, etching, and materials characterization. This cutting-edge lab enables fabrication of a wide range of nanoscale devices – from silicon and III-V semiconductor circuits to 2D materials, nonlinear photonic components, flexible electronics, bioelectronics, and even brain-machine interface devices. The cleanroom is co-located with our Center for Nanoscale Imaging, which provides advanced microscopy and analysis, ensuring researchers and trainees have end-to-end resources for device fabrication and evaluation.
Facility at a Glance
Facility type: University cleanroom, Community college cleanroom or teaching lab, Shared user facility, Research laboratory, Teaching laboratory, Workforce training facility, Industry partner facility
Facility mission: Education and training, Academic research, Industry user support, Prototyping and process development, Semiconductor workforce development, MEMS / microsystems development, Nanotechnology research
Facility size: 12000 Sf.ft, 7 bays
Cleanroom classification: Class 100 & Class 1000
Primary contact: Shivakumar Bhaskaran, Associate Director
Location: 1002 Childs Way MCB LL 121 Los Angeles CA 90089
Institution website: https://nanofab.usc.edu/
Facility website: https://wiki.nanofab.usc.edu/index.php/Main_Page
Training program: https://wiki.nanofab.usc.edu/index.php/Main_Page
Equipment and capabilities: https://wiki.nanofab.usc.edu/index.php/Main_Page
Core Capabilities
Lithography
- Photolithography – Coat/Expose/Develop
- Maskless lithography / direct-write lithography
Etching and Material Removal
- Wet etching – KOH, BOE etc.
- Vapor Etching – HF Vapor and/or XeF2 for example
- Dry etching / RIE
- Deep reactive ion etching / DRIE
Thin Films and Thermal Processing
- Thin film deposition – Sputter/Evap
Metrology and Electrical Characterization
- Metrology – Optical/SEM CD’s
- Metrology – Thin Film/Profilometry
Packaging and Assembly
- Packaging and wire bonding
Device Fabrication and Specialized Processing
- Microfluidics
- MEMS Sensor/Actuator fabrication
- Semiconductor device fabrication (Discretes)
- Nanomaterials processing
- Printed electronics
Featured Equipment
- Lithography and Patterning
- Raith EBPG 5150 electron-beam lithography system for high-resolution nanoscale patterning
- Heidelberg DWL 66+ laser direct-write lithography system
- MA/BA6 mask aligner for UV photolithography
- Etching and Plasma Processing
- Oxford PlasmaPro 100 Cobra ICP-RIE systems for advanced dry etching
- Oxford PlasmaPro 80 RIE system for fluorine- and chlorine-based etching
- Deep reactive ion etching capability for high-aspect-ratio silicon structures
- Oxford DRIE-ALE 100 etch with Bosch/Cryo and ALE
- Plasma ashing and surface treatment tools
- Endpoint detection capability using optical emission spectroscopy and laser endpoint monitoring
- Thin Film Deposition
- Angstrom,KJL, CHA electron-beam evaporator for metal deposition
- Sputtering systems for metals, oxides, nitrides, and specialty films
- Atomic layer deposition and/or plasma-enhanced deposition capability for conformal thin films
- Thermal processing and annealing tools
- Wafer Bonding, Packaging, and Assembly
- SUSS wafer bonding capability for MEMS, photonics, and advanced packaging applications
- Wire bonding tools
- Dicing saw and sample preparation tools
- LPKF PCB prototyping line for rapid electronics and packaging development
- Metrology and Characterization
- Dektak XT stylus profilometer
- Ellipsometer for thin-film thickness and optical property measurements, Filmetrics F10, 4Pt Probe
- Optical microscopes and inspection stations
- Phenom ProX G6 Desktop SEM
- Wet Processing and Chemical Processing
- Wet benches for solvent, acid, and base processing
- RCA cleaning, oxide etching, metal cleaning, and substrate preparation capability
- Chemical-compatible process areas for silicon, glass, compound semiconductors, polymers, and biomedical device substrates
Materials and Applications
Materials Commonly Processed
- Silicon
- Silicon Dioxide
- Silicon Nitride
- Metals
- Alloys
- III-V materials
- Glass
- Polymers
- Photoresists, SU8 etc.
- Nanomaterials
Devices and Application Areas
- MEMS Sensors
- MEMS Actuators
- Semiconductor discrete devices (diodes, solar cell, integrated circuits)
- Photonics / optoelectronics
- Microfluidics
- BioMEMS
- Quantum devices
- Power electronics
- RF / microwave devices
- Sensors and transducers
- Thin film devices
- Educational demonstration devices
Metrology, Characterization, and Assembly
Metrology and Characterization
- Optical microscopy
- Profilometry
- Ellipsometry
- Film thickness measurement – Profilometry, Reflectometry
- SEM
- Sheet Resistance
Packaging and Assembly
- Dicing
- PCB integration
Education and Workforce Development
Training Offerings
- Cleanroom safety training
- Tool-specific training
- Process training
- Metrology training
- Short courses / bootcamps
Delivery formats: In-person, Summer program
Courses and programs: ME Commons – Cleanroom Gateway with IEEE Credentials, NNME program (waiting for funding and start date)
Approximate annual participation: 20 (Non USC, Community College), 10 USC Undergrad
External or partner training: Case-by-case
Instructional Resources
Neural Probe, Pressure sensor (from Matt – UNM), Open to share Photonics and Quantum processing
Opportunities for Collaboration
Potential areas of collaboration include:
- Shared training materials
- Student exchanges or visits
- Shared process flows
- Equipment best practices
- Safety procedures
- Industry engagement
- Proposal development
- Workforce grant opportunities
- Conference presentations
- Website content
- Outreach activities
Potential contribution to WaferWorkforce: Open to any collobration and provide support in anyways possible to contribute to network and nanofab/semiconductor community
Resources or connections sought: Process development, share other WFD resources and courses, student visit
Accessing the Facility
External access or partner training status: Case-by-case. Prospective collaborators should contact the facility directly to discuss access, training, visits, research, or workforce-development opportunities.
Contact:
Shivakumar Bhaskaran
Associate Director
University of Southern California
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (213) 821 2374