MicroSystems Lab
A unique DOE fabrication facility for semiconductors and superconductors
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MSL Facility
MSL Facility
Originally conceived to support SSC R&D, the MicroSystems Lab (MSL) evolved to invent thick, fully depleted backside illuminated CCDs, and is now evolving further to enable superconducting device fabrication.
The MSL contains 700 ft2 of class 10 cleanroom space maintained at ±1°F. Combined with strict product contamination controls including wafer handling modifications on equipment, this makes the MSL one of the cleanest labs on the hillside.
Physical Locations:
Main Lab: 70A-4445 DI Water Room: 70A-4435
Wafer Dicing: 70A-4456 Gas Vault: 70A-4457A
Process and Equipment Capabilities
Process and Equipment Capabilities
All MSL processes, tools, and contamination controls are optimized to reduce contamination, especially backside particles.
Please see the Capabilities page for more details on the equipment and processes currently in use at the MSL.
Please see the Capabilities page for more details on the equipment and processes currently in use at the MSL.
What are we building at the MSL?
What are we building at the MSL?
A selection of MSL detector fabrication projects are shown below, briefly recapping the history of the lab.
50 mm Wafers
50 mm Wafers
The MSL was built in the early 1990’s for Si-based HEP detector R&D and small-scale production. Preliminary work was done on 50 mm float zone Si
PMOS / CMOS
PMOS / CMOS
1988 - 1992
1988 - 1992
100 mm Wafers
100 mm Wafers
Prototype ATLAS Strip Detector
Prototype ATLAS Strip Detector
1994
Mid 1990s
Mid 1990s
MSL pivots to focusing on fully depleted CCDs under projects such as the LBNL SuperNova Cosmology Project LDRD
1st Fully Depleted CCDs, 200 x 200
1st Fully Depleted CCDs, 200 x 200
1996
150 mm Wafers
150 mm Wafers
Silicon CCDs
Silicon CCDs
1990s - Present
1990s - Present
Fully depleted Si CCDs have been used in a variety of applications for many projects. An overview of different CCD projects is shown in the carousel below.
PIN Diodes
PIN Diodes
2001 - Present
2001 - Present
Partnerships with the Space Sciences Lab drove development of devices for space applications, such as PIN diodes. These detectors share contamination concerns with MSL CCDs and integrate easily into the lab.
Superconducting resonators
Superconducting resonators
2017 - Present
2017 - Present
Inductor-Capacitor resonators are used for multiplexed readout especially in Cosmic Microwave Background experiments. The MSL has delivered over 300 wafers to CMB experiments
Papers and Partnerships
Papers and Partnerships
A more in depth look at some of the MSL's impactful projects.
Please see the link to the open access paper (Holland 2023) which describes the advancement of fully depleted charge-coupled device (CCD) technology for scientific applications. Recent efforts on 650–725 m-thick CCDs for direct dark-matter and radiation detection with single-electron sensitivity are described, as well as the technology transfer of the fully depleted CCD technology to 200 mm-wafer fabrication facilities.
Steve Holland, the group lead for the MSL, designed the CCDs for DESI's spectrographs. The MSL processed-CCDs were selected for their high performance in the near-infrared range.
Charge-coupled devices (CCDs) have been fabricated on high-resistivity, n-type silicon. The resistivity, on the order of 10 000 /spl Omega//spl middot/cm, allows for depletion depths of several hundred micrometers. Fully depleted, back-illuminated operation is achieved by the application of a bias voltage to an ohmic contact on the wafer back side consisting of a thin in situ doped polycrystalline silicon layer capped by indium tin oxide and silicon dioxide. This thin contact allows for a good short-wavelength response, while the relatively large depleted thickness results in a good near-infrared response. PDF
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