Nanotechnology Courses at NC State University

Courses Using NNF for Teaching
MSE 335 Experimental Methods for Analysis of Material Properties Principles and application of basic techniques for characterizing the properties of materials. Mechanical, thermal, electrical, optical and magnetic property measurements applied to metals, ceramics, polymers and semiconducting materials.

MA495 / MSE 490 / ISE 495 Introduction to Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Laboratory: The course was created by an NSF-NUE grant and offered for the first time in Fall 2011. The course instructors are Yong Zhu (MAE), Joe Tracy (MSE), Jingyan Dong (ISE) and Xiaoning Jiang (MAE). This course integrates many important aspects of nanotechnology with microsystem technology, i.e., bottom-up synthesis meeting top-down fabrication. The “pillars” of nanotechnology –nanomaterials and nanoscale building block, nanofabrication, nanoscale characterization and nanodevices, are integrated into the lab modules in the lab course. The NCSU Nanofabrication Facility is used for experiments related to nanofabrication. The students are exposed to  state-of-art micro/nano fabrication methods and tools, which include tools for photolithography, physical and chemical vapor deposition, dry and wet etching, etc
ECE 442  Introduction to Integrated Circuit Technology and Fabrication In this senior elective undergraduate course, students are introduced to fundamental fabrication techniques such as oxidation, photolithography, wet/dry etching, deposition, nanoimprinting, and diffusion.  They also learn how to measure film thickness using various tools, such as the interferometer, ellipsometer, profilometer, and four-point probe.
MSE 460-560 Microelectronic Materials Processes and characterization techniques relevant to microelectronic/photovoltaic materials science and technology.  Crystal growth, wafer preparation, defect and chemical evaluation, oxidation, photolithography, epitaxial growth, doping techniques, metallization, and device applications of elemental and compound semiconductors. Electrical, structural and chemical characterization of semiconductor silicon is emphasized, focusing on materials science considerations relevant to silicon IC and PV device fabrication.

ECE 739   Integrated Circuit Technology and Fabrication The students in this graduate course each begin with a bare silicon wafer and by the end of the semester, they produce a device wafer with resistors, MOSFETs, inverters, ring oscillators, and capacitors.  They gain experience completing the steps of a simple NMOS process with 4 mask levels and become proficient at photolithography, wet etching, and thin film measurements.  Valuable training on the general use tools in the NNF is gained in this course.

Other Courses
CHE 596‐017 Conventional and Emerging Nanomanufacturing Techniques: The goal of this course is to introduce students to surface patterning techniques that are useful for nanomanufacturing.  The first part of the course covers conventional surface patterning techniques with particular attention to photolithography (the keystone process for creating modern electronics) as well as alternative methods such as imprint and soft lithography.  The second part of the course covers surface phenomena, thin films, instabilities, and unconventional nanofabrication techniques.  The courses introduces the operating principles behind many instruments housed in the NNF.   The course also includes a field trip to NNF so the students can see the operation of the 193 nm stepper tool first hand.

MAE 536: Micro and Nano Electromechanical Systems: This course is designed for students who wish to learn fundamentals and applications of micro/nano sensors and actuators. The course focuses on MEMS/NEMS design, micro-fabrication techniques, and case studies of typical MEMS devices. It also covers the recent progress in nanomaterials and NEMS devices. In particular, the microfabrication techniques include photolithography, various deposition methods (such as oxidation, CVD, e-beam evaporation and sputtering), and various etching methods (dry/wet etching), most of which are available in the NNF. The course includes a tour of NNF.