MSE lab sponsors winning Winter Design Day project
Interdisciplinary Capstone Team 25511’s compact lithography tool boosts workforce training in semiconductor manufacturing.
An Interdisciplinary Capstone project sponsored by MSE assistant professor Zafer Mutlu's Advanced Nanoelectronics and Nanostructures Laboratory received top honors at the Winter Craig M. Berge Design Day on Dec. 5.
Team 25511’s SEMILITHO won the Craig M. Berge Dean’s Award for Most Outstanding Project and took home $2,500.
The photolithography prototype was a portable microscopic wafer patterning system designed for educational outreach events at the university.
Photolithography – a process that uses light to etch patterns on silicon wafers – is a key step in semiconductor manufacturing. The patterns shape intricate circuits on chips that power smart devices.
Mutlu tasked the team with downsizing this crucial process to help build a pipeline into Arizona’s semiconductor workforce.
“Students can learn how micro-scale chip fabrication works without needing the large, expensive equipment normally required,” said electrical and computer engineering student Travis Reyna. “We want to give high school students exposure to this industry and create outreach events to engage them.”