Newly inaugurated Clean Room will enhance INESC TEC’s research on optical fibres
On 12 June, the Micro and Nanofabrication Unit of the Centre of Materials, University of Porto (NMTEC/CEMUP), an infrastructure dedicated to research on materials, inaugurated a new Clean Room. INESC TEC has been a partner of CEMUP and will be one of clean room’s main users.
The clean room (ISO6 and ISO7) provides a controlled environment with regard to temperature (20 ± 1 ° C), humidity (50 ± 5% RH) and the maximum number and size of particles in a given volume. The special environmental conditions are essential to create devices on a micro and nano scale. Furthermore, the research infrastructure will make it possible to train human resources through advanced classes at Masters and PhD programs.
The space includes equipment for thin film deposition (sputtering, evaporation and thermal electron beam, ion beam deposition, PECVD), lithography (mask aligner, spinning, laser direct writing), erosion in reactive plasma (ICP and RIE) techniques for support characterisation (microscopy, profilometry, etc.).
The Clean Room at CEMUP is one of the few structures of its kind in Portugal. According to the manager of INESC TEC’s Optoelectronics and Electronic Systems Unit (UOSE), Paulo Marques, "for such structures to be open to the scientific community is not common". The manager also highlighted the transversal nature of the room, as well as some fundamental techniques such as lithographic techniques and thin film deposition that make this a unique space in the country. “One of the key features is the fact that the room dedicates an area to postgraduate training where students will have the opportunity to receive hands-on quality training, an area where Portugal is clearly deficient", the researcher stated.
The clean room will be used by UOSE for thin film, metallic or dielectric deposition processes, and for defining patterns in lithographic processes. These activities will make it possible to process optical fibers to manufacture new sensors and integrated optical devices, microfluidics, among others.
In this sense, the infrastructure may boost the area and expand the research at UOSE as it "will provide better fabrication conditions which are essential to operate optical fibres, as well as integrated optics and microfluidics. As a result, fundamental advances in the development of chemical sensors and biosensors will be possible", explains Paulo Marques.
Moreover, sharing the same physical space with researchers from different scientific backgrounds will be quite positive because it will promote "a cross-fertilisation that will have an impact on multidisciplinary applications", the manager of UOSE emphasizes.
INESC TEC provided an essential support during the application process and construction of the infrastructure located in the Faculty of Science of the University of Porto (FCUP), which can be used by several units, entities and companies associated with the University of Porto. The Associate Laboratory also provided micro and nanofabrication equipment.
The project "Reforço e Requalificação da Infra-estrutura de Micro/Nanofabricação da Universidade do Porto” (Strengthening and Rehabilitation of the Micro/Nanofabrication Infrastructure of the University of Porto), which includes the Clean Room, was promoted by the Reitoria of the University of Porto, receiving an eligible investment of over 1.7 million euros. This amount includes the acquisition of equipment for the Imaging, Microstructure and Microanalysis-IMICROS Unit at CEMUP (the approximate cost of this equipment was 500 thousand euros).
The INESC TEC researchers mentioned in this article are associated with the following partner institutions: FCUP and INESC Porto.
