The CNF aims to enable all research areas possible without compromising the fabrication capabilities of the existing tool set and processes. Maintaining the process capability of the CNF tool set while serving a wide range of research goals requires a system in place to prevent the possibility of chamber/tool contamination and process degradation that may come with incompatible materials.
Tool Categories are divided into 6 groups, Category 1, 1E, 2, 3, 4 and 5, with Category 1 being the most restrictive in allowed materials and Category 5 having the least amount of restrictions. Substrates and samples are required to be assessed by the researchers and CNF staff prior to utilizing the tool.
Please contact the CNF User Program staff to evaluate new projects and process flows and to highlight possible conflicts with materials and tool usages.