THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 10:30 AM BRK 1001: ³High-Aspect-Ratio Micromachining of Titanium: Enabling New Functionality and Opportunity in Micromechanical Systems Through Greater Materials Selection² Dr. Masa P. Rao, Assistant Professor School of Mechanical Engineering, School of Materials Engineering (by courtesy) Birck Nanotechnology Center - Center for Advanced Manufacturing Traditionally, materials selection has been limited in high-aspect- ratio micromechanical applications, due primarily to the predominance of microfabrication processes and infrastructure dedicated to silicon. While silicon has proven to be an excellent material for many of these applications, no one material can meet the needs of all applications. This is especially evident in biomedical microdevice applications, where the intrinsic brittleness of silicon limits its utility, thus illustrating the need for development of viable alternatives. Titanium is particularly promising in this regard, due to its toughness, biocompatibility, and fatigue resistance. However, lack of sufficient fabrication capability has limited its use in micromechanical systems thus far. Recently, we reported the development of novel micromachining processes that now enable realization of this promise. These processes, based on plasma etching techniques derived from microelectronics manufacturing, provide for the first time, the capability for fabrication of complex, micrometer-scale, high-aspect- ratio structures in titanium. As such, these processes not only extend the state of the art in titanium micromachining, but also do so in a manner amenable to scaling to low-cost/high-volume manufacturing, due to the economy of scale inherent to the batch- processing paradigm of the microelectronics industry. The focus of this talk will be to detail these processes, their capabilities, and their use in the fabrication of micromechanical devices for optical, RF, and biomedical applications. Prof. Rao received his bachelors in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida and his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Following graduation, he accepted a position as a post-doctoral researcher in the Mechanical Engineering Department at UCSB, where he was involved in the initial development of plasma-based micromachining of titanium. He joined the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University as a Assistant Professor in January 2007. Prof. Rao¹s current research interests lie in the continued development of titanium micromachining and its application towards biomedical microdevices, as well as the development of other novel microfabrication technologies for various applications. He has authored/co-authored over 15 journal articles and conference proceedings, and has presented lectures in fields ranging from ceramic composites for gas turbine applications to MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) for telecommunications and biomedical applications. ********** FRIDAY, MACH 23, 1:30 PM BRK 1001: "Planning for Disaster: Designing a Cleanroom to Minimize Risk Should a Disaster Occur" John Weaver Purdue University The cleanliness levels of a cleanroom or other high-technology facility make it inherently vulnerable to a disaster such as a fire. Historically, even a small event of this type can cause significant downtime and cost millions of dollars in remediation. When designing a cleanroom, steps can be taken to minimize the impact of a disaster and to enhance the recovery process. This paper reviews various potential scenarios and decision points in the design process that are relevant to those situations. It then outlines the decisions made in the design of a recent nanofabrication research facility, the Birck Nanotechnology Center at Purdue University. John Weaver serves as the Facility Manager for the Birck Nanotechnology Center at Purdue University. He is responsible for the facility infrastructure, safety and training activities, and cleanroom and laboratory operations. John received his BS degree in Chemistry at Adrian College in 1972, and joined RCA Solid State Division in process engineering in the world¹s first production CMOS fabrication facility. In 1975 he moved to Hughes Aircraft Company¹s Solid State Products Division in Newport Beach, California, where he continued his role in high-volume manufacturing-support engineering. In 1977, he moved to what is now Delphi Corporation in Kokomo, Indiana. During his career, John has been involved in a variety of roles in semiconductor process support, process development, and processing facilities development. John has published numerous papers in both the process development and contamination control fields, has two patents in process development, and authored a book and a book chapter in contamination control technology. He has taught a wide variety of industry short-courses, and is the recipient of the Willis J. Whitfield Award for contributions to the field of contamination control. He is a Senior Member of the Institute for Environmental Sciences and Technology, President of the Indiana Chapter, member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of the IEST, and is a Principal Member of the NFPA 318 committee, which writes fire standards for cleanrooms. He has been involved in the design, construction, and/or operation of more than 25 cleanrooms and clean facilities during his career. ****************************** SPONSORED BY: Birck Nanotechnology Center, Bindley Bioscience Center, Discovery Park, The NASA Institute for Nanoelectronics and Computing, The Network for Computational Nanotechnology, VEECO, NCN Student Leadership Council, Department of Chemistry, Department of Physics, School of Chemical Engineering, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering