The interdisciplinary Microfabrication Laboratory at the University of Utah supports education, research, and technology transfer. The cleanroom facilities and equipment are available to researchers at Utah colleges and universities as well as to new and established companies. The teaching laboratories underpin undergraduate microfabrication curricula and train graduate students from across the UU campus.
Founded with significant donations from HEDCO, Semiconductor research began at the U in the 70's with many additional regional and national partners teaming with the University through equipment, cash, and in-kind donations. Additional partnering support is welcome. Please contact Ian Harvey for information on current laboratory needs.
Most microfabrication technologies have roots in the semiconductor manufacturing processes developed for silicon integrated circuits (ICs), microfabricated systems that control the flow of electrical signals. The microelectronics industry still drives developments in microsystem design and cleanroom-based fabrication, pursuing the promise of Moore's Law, following the semiconductor industry research and development roadmap.
Off the silicon roadmap, other fields also apply and extend the basic microchip fabrication processes. These "off-road" microsystems control the flow of fluids and chemicals, guide light in optical circuits, interact with biological molecules and tissues, direct heat flow, and operate as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Some systems combine these emerging technologies with silicon microelectronics on the same chip. Several scientific fields increasingly use microsystems as research tools. Applications investigated at the U include:
Heading even farther off-road, the burgeoning fields of nanoscale science and engineering often leverage off basic microfabrication processes. Nanotechnology typically concerns systems in the size realm between large molecules and small microsystems, in between where either quantum mechanical or classical properties best describe the structures. Some researchers microfabricate templates that control the nanometer scale assembly of molecules; others directly fabricate nanoscale structures using microfabrication tools.
Researchers at the University of Utah currently investigate a number of nanoscience and technology topics.
Follow the airport exit signs east to N. Temple street (runs parallel to I-80 eastbound), and follow N. Temple to State Street (one block past Temple Square). Turn south (right) and head two blocks then turn east (left, toward the mountains) on 100 South St...
You can reach us by coming up the hill (going east) on First South (100 S.) Street. As the road takes a 90 degree turn to the north at the top of the hill, the Merrill Engineering Building looms on the right (behemoth with black windows). As the road cuts east again there is a parking lot entrance on the right, or you can continue to Central Campus drive from which there is another entrance. Parking meters are on the north side of the building (south side of the lot).
From Foothill, take Wasatch Blvd (continuing N), then bear left at the Trax crossing light, continuing to N. Campus Dr, and then turning west and proceeding to the Merrill Engineering (MEB) parking lot. See http://www.map.utah.edu
We are situated in the S.E. corner of the building (MEB) on the ground floor, labeled "1280 Microfabrication Teaching and Research", with windows into the teaching lab. If you find yourself inside a graded tunnel, you have gone too far. The lab phone number is 801/581-5676