TEOS PECVD
With the support of equipment fund from VPRDO and matching funds from various HKUST academic departments, NFF purchased a TEOS PECVD from Oxford Instruments. This new equipment uses silane and Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS)...
ICP Etcher for compound semiconductor
NFF (CWB) successfully obtained equipment funding from UGC using the Joint Laboratory Funding Scheme (JLFS). NFF (CWB) has been collaborating with IMECAS on a joint laboratory on...
Re-engineering of two Varian 3180 sputtering systems
In 2020, the re-engineering of two Varian 3180 sputtering systems was completed, and the equipment was released for service. The re-engineering works will extend the lifetime of these sputtering systems by at least 10 years, save...
Rename of NFF to NFF (CWB)
In order to distinguish between the new Nanosystem Fabrication Facility in HKUST’s Guangzhou campus and NFF in HKUST’s Clear Water Bay campus, the Clear Water Bay NFF was renamed to NFF (CWB) in 2021. NFF (GZ) is tentatively set to go into operation in 2023.
Review of NFF (CWB) Charging Scheme
Following university guidelines, a new KPI has been introduced to all central research facilities (CRF). NFF (CWB)’s back charge must reach 25% of the total of re-current budget and staff cost within a certain period of time.
After review, NFF (CWB) implemented a new charging scheme in October 2020. Currently, we are monitoring the financial situation and aiming to reach the target at the end of 2021/22. Further reviews and ...
Support of Young Faculty
With consideration to young faculty members’ limited resources, the recent increase in usage rates may create financial burden for them. To encourage them to use NFF (CWB) facilities, NFF (CWB) collected input during the PIs meeting in June 2021 and implemented a new policy to support young faculty members in HKUST on research activities using NFF (CWB) laboratories, effective on July 1st, 2021. In general, this token policy only applies to Research Assistant Professors, Research Associate Professors, Assistant Professors and Associate Professors of HKUST.
CRF 2020/21 Collaborative Research Equipment Grant (CREG) Proposal
Under the leadership of Prof. Andrew POON, NFF (CWB) successfully obtained equipment funding for a high-accuracy wafer polisher and bonders for heterogeneous integration (C6002-20EF). The total funding is HK$12.5 million (50% from UGC and 50% matching from HKUST), and the project duration is from June 2021 to May 2024.
Publication Highlights
NFF (CWB) user, IZHAR’s paper titled “Integrated Predicted Mean Vote Sensing System Using MEMS Multi-Sensors for Smart HVAC Systems,” was published in the IEEE Sensors Journal in March 2021. Izhar is supervised by Prof. Yi-Kuen LEE.
Conference
NFF (CWB) attended the Level-up with Co-incubation Semi-Conductor Partners conference, co-organized by FHKI and HKSTP, as an exhibitor in June 2021. Former NFF (CWB) director Prof. Andrew POON gave a keynote speech during the event to promote the Greater China Nano Fabrication Consortium (GCNFC).
