A new set of advanced nanofabrication equipment will make MIT.nano one of the world's most advanced research facilities in microelectronics and related technologies, unlocking new opportunities for experimentation and widening the path for promising inventions to become impactful new products.
The equipment, provided by
MIT.nano's leaders say the equipment, which will also be available to scientists outside of
'The toolsets will provide an accelerative boost to our ability to launch new technologies that can then be given to the world at scale,' says MIT.nano Director
The announcement comes as part of an agreement between
'We don't believe there is another space in
Pushing the boundaries of innovation
'This investment will significantly accelerate the pace of innovation and discovery in microelectronics and microsystems,' says
Nanoscale research at universities is traditionally conducted on machines that are less compatible with industry, which makes academic innovations more difficult to turn into impactful, mass-produced products.
'In the journey from an idea to a fully working device, the ability to begin on a small scale, figure out what you want to do, rapidly debug your designs, and then scale it up to an industry-scale wafer is critical,' Scholvin says. 'It means a student can test out their idea on wafer-scale quickly and directly incorporate insights into their project so that their processes are scalable. Providing such proof-of-principle early on will accelerate the idea out of the academic environment, potentially reducing years of added effort. Other tools at MIT.nano can supplement work on the 200-millimeter wafer scale, but the higher throughput and higher precision of the Applied equipment will provide researchers with repeatability and accuracy that is unprecedented for academic research environments. Essentially what you have is a sharper, faster, more precise tool to do your work.'
Scholvin predicts the equipment will lead to exponential growth in research opportunities.
'I think a key benefit of these tools is they allow us to push the boundary of research in a variety of different ways that we can predict today,' Scholvin says. 'But then there are also unpredictable benefits, which are hiding in the shadows waiting to be discovered by the creativity of the researchers at
Because the equipment is available for use by people outside of the
'The tools themselves will be an incredible meeting place - a place that can, I think, transpose the best of our ideas in a much more effective way than before,' Bulovic says. 'I'm extremely excited about that.'
Palacios notes that while microelectronics is best known for work making transistors smaller to fit on microprocessors, it's a vast field that enables virtually all the technology around us, from wireless communications and high-speed internet to energy management, personalized health care, and more.
He says he's personally excited to use the new machines to do research around power electronics and semiconductors, including exploring promising new materials like gallium nitride, which could dramatically improve the efficiency of electronic devices.
Fulfilling a mission
MIT.nano's leaders say a key driver of commercialization will be startups, both from
'This is not only going to help the
Bulovic says the announcement aligns with the mission laid out by
'We have the space in MIT.nano to accommodate these tools, we have the capabilities inside MIT.nano to manage their operation, and as a shared and open facility, we have methodologies by which we can welcome anyone from the region to use the tools,' Bulovic says. 'That is the vision
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