The NMT Capstone Semester is a 6 course hands-on experience exposing the student to state-of-the art equipment and cleanroom facilities at Penn State.  The 18 credits of coursework (defined by the following six course descriptions) can be used toward an associate, or baccalaureate degree, used to earn an NMT Certificate, or both depending on the specific program of the student’s “Home Institution ”.  CNEU staff members teach the capstone semester during all three of Penn State’s scheduled semesters (www.psu.edu/registrar/calendar/calendar_index.html) and continuously evolve these courses to add or update process and characterization technologies.  Refinement of the capstone semester is carried out in close consultation with the industry members of the NMT Program ’s Advisory Board.

Detailed Course Descriptions

E SC 211
Materials, Safety, and Equipment Overview for Nanotechnology

This course provides an overview of the materials, safety and equipment issues encountered in the practice of “top down” and “bottom up” nanofabrication. It focuses on safety, environmental and health issues in equipment operation and materials handling as well as on cleanroom protocol.  Topics to be covered include: cleanroom operation, OSHA lab standard safety training, health issues, biosafety levels (BSL) guidelines, and environmental concerns.  Safety issues dealing with nanofabrication equipment, materials, and processing are also discussed including those pertinent to biological materials, wet benches, and processing tools such as thermal processing tools, plasma based equipment, beam, stamping, and imprinting lithography tools. Safety issues pertinent to vacuum systems and pumps, and gas delivery systems as well as toxic substance handling and detection are covered.  Specific material handling procedures to be discussed will include corrosive, flammable, and toxic materials, biological materials, carcinogenic materials, DI water, solvents, cleaners, photo resists, developers, metals, acids, and bases.

E SC 212
Basic Nanotechnology Processes

This course is a hands-on introduction to the processing involved in “top down”, “bottom up”, and hybrid nanofabrication.  The majority of the course details a step-by-step description of the equipment, facilities processes and process flow needed to fabricate devices and structures.  Students learn to appreciate processing and manufacturing concerns including process control, contamination, yield, and processing interaction.  The students design process flows for micro- and nano-scale systems. Students learn the similarities and differences in “top down” and “bottom up” equipment and process flows by undertaking hands-on processing. This hands-on exposure covers basic nanofabrication processes and device and material characterization.

E SC 213
Materials in Nanotechnology

This course is an in-depth, hands-on exposure to materials fabrication approaches used in nanofabrication.  Students learn how these processes are guided by chemical or physical means or by some combination of these. Hands-on exposure will include self-assembly; colloidal chemistry; atmosphere, low-pressure and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition; sputtering; thermal and electron beam evaporation; nebulization and spin-on techniques. This course is designed to give students hands-on experience in depositing, fabricating and self-assembling a wide variety of materials tailored for their mechanical, electrical, optical, magnetic, or biological properties.

E SC 214
Patterning for Nanotechnology

This course is a hands-on treatment of all aspects of advanced pattern transfer and pattern transfer equipment including probe techniques; stamping and imprinting; block co-polymer approaches; e-beam, optical contact and optical stepper systems.  The first part of this course is an overview of all pattern generation processes covering aspects from substrate preparation to tool operation.  A second section concentrates on photolithography and examines such topics as mask, template, and mold generation. Chemical makeup of resists will be discussed including polymers, solvents, sensitizers, and additives.  The role or dyes and antireflective coatings will be discussed.  In addition, critical dimension (CD) control and profile control of resists will be investigated.  Another section will discuss the particle beam lithographic techniques such as e- and ion beam lithography.  An additional section covers probe pattern generation and the final section explores embossing lithography, step-and-flash, stamp lithography, and self assembling-based lithography.

E SC 215
Materials Modification in Nanotechnology

This course will cover in detail the processing techniques and specialty hardware used in modifying properties in nanofabrication. Material modification steps to be covered will include etching, functionalization, alloying, stress control, surface energy modification, and doping.  Avoiding unintentional materials modification will also be covered including such topics as use of diffusion barriers, encapsulation, electromigration control, corrosion control, wettability, stress control, and adhesion.  Hands-on materials modification and subsequent characterization will be undertaken. 

E SC 216
Characterization, Testing of Nanotechnology Structures and Materials

This course examines a variety of techniques and measurements essential for testing and for controlling material fabrication and final device performance.  Characterization includes electrical, optical, physical, and chemical approaches. Tools to be covered include scanning probe microscopies (AFM, STM, NSOM), electron beam microscopies (transmission electron microscopy (TEM)) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), light (UV-Vis-IR) based techniques, and x-ray techniques. Hands-on characterization experience will include use of tools such as the atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), fluorescence microscopes, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.