Capabilities
A micro- and nano-fabrication toolset, from patterning and etching to packaging and measurement, in one place in the North East.
The tools are in the facility’s toolset and are being recommissioned. Access arrangements and processes are being confirmed by Newcastle University.
Process areas
Grouped by what each part of the toolset is for. Lithography takes 3-inch wafers on the contact aligner and up to 6-inch wafers on the maskless writer; for other steps, tell us your wafer size and we will confirm it.
Pattern features onto wafers, from a design file or a mask.
Etch precise structures into silicon, oxides and thin films.
Add metal, functional and protective films.
Grow, deposit and anneal films at temperature.
Clean, etch and release at dedicated wet benches.
Build soft-material and fluidic devices.
Turn wafers into parts you can connect and test.
See and measure what you have made.
Headline tools
A selection, not the full list. The tools are being recommissioned; ask us for the complete equipment list.
Lithography
Writes patterns straight from a design file onto wafers up to 6 inch, with no photomask, down to about 1.1 µm. Useful when designs change often.
Lithography
Mask-based UV exposure and alignment for 3-inch wafers.
Dry etch
Deep, vertical silicon etching for microfluidic channels, MEMS structures and through-silicon features.
Dry etch
STS Advanced Oxide Etch, Plasmatherm 790 RIE and STS ICP-RIE, for dielectrics, semiconductors and thin films.
Thin films
RF and DC sputtering of metals and functional films, with high-field magnetrons for ferroelectric materials.
Thin films
A Balzers multi-pocket evaporator, a second e-beam evaporator and a thermal evaporator, for contacts, electrodes and pads.
Thin films
Conformal, biocompatible coating for encapsulating devices.
Thermal
Thermal oxidation, nitridation and polysilicon.
Thermal
Oxide and nitride films by plasma-enhanced CVD, and rapid thermal processing to 1000 °C.
Packaging
Sub-micron die placement, with a dispensing module for silicones and liquids.
Packaging
Ball, wedge and gold bump wire bonding, bond strength pull testing and wafer dicing.
Metrology
Scanning electron microscopy, including low-vacuum imaging, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction.
Inside the cleanroom
Photographs taken during a walk-round of the Newcastle cleanroom in November 2026, while the facility is being established.
Coming with new investment
Planned under EPSRC funding, subject to tender.
Direct write down to 200 nm
Also for wafer-bond alignment
E-beam, thermal and sputter deposition
Semiconductor etch with more process control
Milling and cross-sections
Stiction-free release of MEMS structures
Processes to be defined at tender
Typical outcomes
The kinds of results the facility is being set up to support. What is possible for your project depends on the process, and we will talk it through with you first.
A chip or device you can test, demonstrate and learn from.
Documented steps a foundry or production partner can pick up.
A small run of devices for trials, field tests or samples.
SEM and AFM images, film thicknesses and surface data to guide design decisions.
Diced, placed and wire-bonded dies, ready to connect to your test set-up.
If a step sits outside the toolset, we can talk about trusted partners for glass laser processing and precision CNC micro-machining.
Full equipment list
The full equipment list, with tool details, wafer sizes and the planned additions, is available on request.