An undergraduate laboratory in the design, fabrication and test of semiconductor processes and integrated circuits

In a semester-long integrated circuits fabrication laboratory at Northern Arizona University, senior electrical engineering students design a silicon process, design and lay out integrated circuits, fabricate wafers, and test working die. Breaking into small teams, students arrive at a preliminary process now using first order models, refine the process based on simulations, and carry out process verification on actual wafers. Concurrent with the process development, students design and lay out circuits according to rules they establish (lambda-based, with λ from 3 to 6 μm). Circuits include test devices, logic gates and oscillators, Students set up a process schedule and fabricate their integrated circuits in a clean room. Finally, they perform electrical test to extract parameters and verify circuit operation. Also discussed in this paper is the experience students gain in soft skills such as team work, time management, communication and presentation