Report of progress of the Microsystems fabrication laboratory

(2009-2011)

Author: Shantanu Bhattacharya (Ph.D.), Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Date of Report: 16/09/2011

Microsystems Fabrication Laboratory (Department of Mechanical Engineering)

The Microsystems laboratory has been commissioned within the Department of Mechanical Engineering in

the year 2009-2010 by the financial support provided by the institute CARE program and through the

external merit based funding that has been obtained by the Principle investigator and Co-PI of this CARE

proposal. The laboratory has been commissioned with the following vision:

Vision of the Laboratory:

Our Long term vision is to establish a working micro-engineering center for excellence in functional micro-

scale prototypes. The goal is to promote basic MEMS research and training, developing MEMS sensor

modules for commercial and futuristic applications, generate resources for the institute through grant

proposals, sale of patented technologies and developing MEMS educational modules. The bigger objective

of this center is to develop the 21st century engineering and technical task force who would take up the

technological challenges of the future decades.

Tangible Impacts to the Institute

1. Development of MEMS technology and products through a heavily iterative design process and

reliability analysis of prototypes.

2. State of the art MEMS fabrication facility for national and international users from neighboring

nations. This would generate a lot of institute good will and also monetary resources and would

increase the visibility of IIT-Kanpur in the global arena.

3. Possibility of getting foreign scholars and students for training modules from the neighboring nations

and Asian and Middle Eastern countries in general. The institute can eventually think of establishing

MEMS engineering school associated with the design/ prototyping center for excellence.

4. Possibility of getting funded research projects from industries and national agencies by

demonstrating the capabilities.

The laboratory is currently housed in the first floor of NET building and has a covered area of almost 3500

Sq. Ft.

Selected images of some of the devices fabricated in this laboratory:

Photolithography:

Herringbone micro-mixers fabricated using lithography and laser machining

Interdigitated Electrodes (IDE) Using Lithography & Sputtering using Lift off process:

Wire bonding:

Gold pad on Si wire bonded with PCB

Spin coating and dip coating:

SEM Cross sectional images of Nanoporous films

Zinc Oxide Nanowires grown on Si substrate

Functional RT PCR micro-chip developed in our laboratory

Functional micro-pumps developed in our laboratory

Microchannels by soft lithography for DNA surface electrophoresis

GLIMPSE OF CURRENT RESEARCH DONE AT THE MICROSYSTEMS FABRICATION LABORATORY:

Mentioned below is a detailed list of the equipments and systems which are currently available and

operational in this laboratory.

List of Equipment available at the laboratory Sputtering/ PECVD Dual System

Sputtering is an important technique of deposition of thin films using Argon and other

inert gas plasma created within the right chamber of the shown equipment. The other

chamber is a PECVD tool (left chamber which is used to create material films on a

substrate. In a PECVD process, gaseous reactants are introduced into a reaction

chamber and a plasma is created out of the reactants. Reactions occur on heated

substrate surfaces, resulting in deposition of the solid product. Other gaseous reaction

products leave the chamber. The gas that carries the reactants is called carrier gas.

The PECVD process have a part of their energy delivered by the momentum transfer

by the ions in plasma; thus lower substrate temperature is needed, typically of the

order of 100-300 deg. C.

The PECVD at this time is in need for a Silane system which is very important

for feeding the reactants which would react to formulate material films.

Oxidation Furnace

Thermal oxidation is a simple route to cover a silicon substrate with oxide. In

microdevices oxide may be used for a variety of purposes from chemical attachment

and modifiability of surfaces to using oxide as a filler material in gaps etc. in

microfluidic channels with submicron accuracy level or making microcantilevers.

Based on the type of oxidation thermal oxide may be categorized as dry and wet

oxides. In dry oxidation pure oxygen reacts with silicon at high temperatures from

800 deg. C to about 1200 deg. C.

Dicing Saw

A dicing saw employs a high-speed spindle fitted with an extremely thin diamond

blade to dice or groove semiconductor wafers and other work-pieces.

Spin Coater

Spin coating is a procedure used to apply uniform thin films to flat substrates. In

short, an excess amount of a solution is placed on the substrate, which is then rotated

at high speed in order to spread the fluid by centrifugal force. A machine used for

spin coating is called a spin coater, or simply spinner.

Gravity Convection Oven

A special gas or electric oven equipped with a fan that provides continuous

circulation of hot air around the sample to be heated.

Fume Hood

A fume hood or fume cupboard is a type of local ventilation device that is designed to

limit the user's exposure to hazardous or noxious fumes, vapors or dusts. A fume

hood is typically a large piece of equipment enclosing five sides of a work area, the

bottom of which is most commonly located at a standing work height.

DI Water System

Distilled water is perfect for applications where minerals and contaminants would

cause problems. Distilled water can be used in irons for steam settings or as coolant

for car engines. Because there are no minerals that can stain or build up, distilled

water is mostly recommended for use in machinery and cleaning products. The

system produces Distiller water by heating and vaporization followed by collection

and condensation of the vapours.

Wire Bonder

Wire bonding is a method of making interconnections between a microchip and other

electronics as part of semiconductor device fabrication.

Optical Table

A rigid horizontal bar or track for holding optical devices in experiments; it allows

device positions to be changed and adjusted easily. The vibration isolation table is

used along at the base for prevention of vibration transmission to the optical setup

kept over this.

Desk Top Mask Aligner

Mask aligners are used in most microfabrication research laboratories and in even in

low- volume production facilities. Almost any microscale device or structure requires

more than one photomask step. The job of the contact aligner is to allow its user to

align features on a substrate (wafer) to features on a photomask. The production of

sophisticated electronic devices may involve ten or more of these alignment steps.

Chemical Balance

A beam balance of great precision used in quantitative chemical analysis.

Air cooled Chiller

A chiller is a machine that removes heat from a liquid via a vapor-compression or

absorption refrigeration cycle. A vapor-compression water chiller comprises the 4

major components of the vapor-compression refrigeration cycle (compressor,

evaporator, condenser, and some form of metering device). The chiller will be used to

fed the PECVD/ Sputtering systems etc.

Nano Cal-C

The Nano Cal-c is a thin film measurement instrument which is capable of

measurement of stacks of transparent films upto 500nm. It is based on the principle of

reflectance measurements carried out by a laser and detector.

List of funded projects currently supported by this laboratory:

(1) Initiation Grant Proposal, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, "Multiplex assaying of water borne pathogens

using a Micro-chip platform", Funded (Sep. 2007- Sep. 2008). (Amount: 10,00,000 INR) (Completed)

(2) Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, "Integrated Dielectrophoresis based concentration and real time

PCR based identification of food pathogens in a single microchip", Funded (August 2008) (Amount: 41,50,000

INR) (Completed)

(3) Proposal Reach Symposium-2008, Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, “Development and validation of a

microchip platform based technique to count bacteria”, Funded (May-2008). (Amount: 5,00,000 INR) (Completed)

(4) CARE 2008, Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, “Developing a microfabrication facility”, Funded (October-

2008). (Amount: 41,00,000 INR) (Completed)

(5) EXTENDED CARE 2008, Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, “Developing a micro-fabrication facility”,

Funded (October-2008). (Amount: 1,50,00,000 INR) (Completed)

(6) Boeing Corporation, “Design and development of an autonomous vehicle”, Funded (January-2008~ December-

2011). (Amount: 67,00,000 INR) (Ongoing)

(7) NPMASS, “MEMS Design center”, Funded (March 2009). (Amount: 38,73.900 INR) (Ongoing)

(8) NPMASS, “A novel MEMS based gas-sensor platform for automotive applications”, Funded ( March 2010).

(Amount: 44,00,000 INR) (Ongoing)

(9) NPMASS, “Miniaturized polymeric fluidic pumps based on principle of peristalsis”, Funded (March 2011).

(Amount: 52,50,000 INR) (Ongoing)

(10) Department of Science and technology, Government of India, “Surface electrophoresis of ds-DNA across

nanostructured surfaces”, Funded (November, 2011), (Amount: 53,00,000 INR) (Ongoing)

Awaited Funding:

(11) Proposal pending with BRNS, “ Lab on chip strategies for sorting and identification of pathogens using silicon

micro-fabrication techniques”, Submitted (September, 2011). (Amount: 90,00,000 INR) (awaited)

Publications from this labopratory:

S.No. Author(s) Year Title Complete Reference of Journal

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Shantanu Bhattacharya, Shuaib Salamat, Dallas Morrisette, Padmapriya Banada, Yishao Liu, Demir Akin, A.K. Bhunia, Michael Ladisch and Rashid Bashir

Shantanu Bhattacharya, Nripen Chanda, Deb Gangopadhyay, Keshab Gangopadhyay and Shubhra Gangopadhyay

Shantanu Bhattacharya, Nripen Chanda, Yi Shao Liu, Sheila A. Grant, Keshab Gangopadhyay, Rashid Bashir, Paul Sharp and Shubhra Gangopadhyay

Anil Ghubade, Swarnasri Mandal, Rahul Chaudhury, Rajeev Kr. Singh and Shantanu Bhattacharya

Shantanu Bhattacharya, R.K. Singh, Swarnasri Mandal, Sangho Bok, Venumadhav Korampally, Keshab Gangopadhyay, Shubhra Gangopadhyay

Rahul Chaudhury, R.K. Singh, Anil B. Ghubade, Swarnasri Mandal, Shantanu Bhattacharya

2008 2008 2008 2009 2010 2010

Identification of food borne pathogens through DEP based concentration and genetic detection using RT-PCR techniques on a single micro-fabricated platform Low voltage capillary electrophoresis using high conductivity agarose nano-platinum composites.

Enhanced DNA separation rates on nano-platinum doped agarose

Dielectrophoretic Assisted Concentration of Micro-particles and their rapid quantitation based on optical means

Plasma

modification of

polymer surfaces

and their utility in

building Biomedical

microdevices.

(Invited Review)

Bilayered staggered

Herringbone

micromixers with

Symmetric and

Assymetric

geometries.

Lab on chip, Vol.8, 1130-1136, 2008. Sensor Letters, Vol.6, 1~6, 2008. Journal of Bionanosciences, Vol.2, pp. 1-8, 2008

Biomedical Microdevices, Vol. 11 (5),pp. 987-995, 2009. Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, Volume 24, 15-16, 2707-2739(33), 2010.

Microfluidics nanofluidics,

Vol. 4, 419-425, 2010.

7. 8. 9. 10.

Arnab Ghosh, Tarak K. Patra, Rishi Kant, Rajeev Kr. Singh, Jayant K. Singh, Shantanu Bhattacharya Rajeev Kumar Singh,

Sudhir Varanasi, Rishi

kant, Mohammad Asfer,

Bishakh Bhattacharya,

Pradipta K. Panigrahi &

Shantanu Bhattacharya

Rishikant, Himanshu

Singh, Monalisa Nayak,

Shantanu Bhattacharya

Himanshu Singh,

Monalisha Nayak,

Rishikant, Rajeev Kr.

Singh, Deepak Singh, R.

Gurunath, Shantanu

Bhattacharya

2011 2011 2011 2011

Surfaces

electrophoresis of

ds-DNA across

orthogonal pair of

surfaces.

Passive vibration

damping using

polymer pads with

micro-channel

arrays

Optimization of a

novel peristaltic

micro-pump design

with enhanced

discharge

capability and

reduced reverse

fluid delivery

Integrated

Dielectrophoretic

preconcetration,

sorting and q-PCR

based identification

of microorganisms

in a single silicon

microchip

Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 98, 1,1-4, 2011. Submitted to JMEMS, 2011 Submitted to Microfluidics nanofluidics, 2011 Manuscript under preparation

Peer Reviewed Full Papers published in Conference Proceedings

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Shantanu Bhattacharya, Swarnasri Mandal, Deepak Singh and R. Gurunath Shantanu Bhattacharya, Arnab Ghosh, Deepak Singh, Tarak Kumar Patra, Jayant K. Singh and R. Gurunath

Tamalika Bhakat, Rajeev Kr. Singh, Arnab Ghosh, Shantanu Bhattacharya E. Suresh, Rajeev Kr. Singh, Supriya Pathak, Shantanu Bhattacharya. Rishikant, Arnab Ghosh, Rajeev Kr. Singh,Shantanu Bhattacharya.

Rajeev Kumar Singh, Sudhir Varanasi, Arnab Ghosh, Rishi kant, Supriya Pathak, Bishakh Bhattacharya, Shantanu Bhattacharya Himanshu Singh, Monalisha Nayak, Rishikant, Deepak Singh, R. Gurunath, Shantanu Bhattacharya

2009 2009 2010 2011 2011 2011 2011

Dielectrophoretic Separation of Nano-Particle Conjugated Bacterial Cells within Micro-Scale Architecture Electrophoretic Transport of Nucleic Acids through Nano Structured Surfaces Flow rotation due to Bilayer staggered herringbone structures with symmetric and asymmetric geometries across micro-channels. A novel replica molded solenoidal microvalve for control of miniaturized flow Volumes A novel soft lithography based peristaltic micro-pump. Passive vibration damping with microstructured viscoelastic laminates. A novel microchip platform to perform real time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Proc. AICHE-2009,72H , Annual Meeting of the American Electrophoresis Society, Nashville, Tenessee, United States of America. Proc. AICHE-2009, 306C, Electrokinetic Behavior of Micro and Nanoparticles: Fundamentals and Applications, Nashville, Tenessee, United States of America. Proc. COMSOL-2010, held at Bangalore, India. Proc. RAMEMS-2011, held at IT-BHU, Banaras, India, pp 122-125, March 7-9, 2011. Proc. RAMEMS-2011, held at IT-BHU, Banaras, India, pp 126-

128, March 7-9, 2011.

Proc. RAMEMS-2011, held at IT-BHU, Banaras, India, pp 138-

140, March 7-9, 2011.

Proc. ISSS-2011, held at IISC-Bangalore, Indian, January 4-7

th, 2012.

Patents filed:

“ A novel 2-3 dimensional fabrication technique of microchannels in soft polymers using soft lithography technique”, Rajeev Kr. Singh, Bikramjit Basu, Shantanu Bhattacharya, Indian patent.

“ Integrated dielectrophoresis based rapid concentration of pathogenic bacteria and their quantitaion using Flourescence techniques”, Anil B. Ghubade, Rajeev K. Singh, Shreya Ghoshdostidar, Deepak Singh, R. Gurunath, Shantanu Bhattacharya, Indian Patent.

Book Chapter:

(1) “Fabrication technology for biomedical systems using non-conventional micromachining”, Rajeev Kumar Singh, Anil Ghubade, Rahul Chaudhury and Shantanu Bhattacharya, Micromanufacturing, Galgotia publications, 2008.

M. Tech/ Ph.D./ Project Associate student members of the laboratory: Supervisor: Shantanu Bhattacharya (Ph.D.) Rajeev Kumar Singh (Ph.D. Candidate), Rishikant (Ph.D. Candidate), Ankur Gupta (Ph.D. candidate), Vinay Kumar Patel (Ph.D. candidate), Kishlaya Kaushal (M. Tech. Candidate), Abhinav Srivastav (M. Tech. Candidate), Avinash Kumar (M. Tech. candidate), Supriya Pathak (M. Tech. Candidate), Monalisa Nayak (Project Associate), Shashank Shekhar Pandey(Project Associate), Parmesh Kumar (Project Staff). Alumni of the Laboratory: Supervisor: Shantanu Bhattacharya (Ph.D.) Himanshu Singh (Now at Nano- mechano Biology lab at NUS),E. Suresh (M. Tech Completed-2011, Now at Genpact, Bangalore), Arnab Ghosh (M. Tech completed-2010, Now at University of Missouri, Coumbia), Rahul Chaudhury (M. Tech completed-2008, Now at IIM-Kolkata), Suresh Jha (M. Tech. completed-2008, Now a senior scientist at Nonconventional energy center of ONGC), Anil Baliram Ghubade (M. Tech. completed-2008, Now a lecturer at PEC), Swarnasri Mandal (Project Associateship completed-2009, Now at University of Missouri Columbia),