Uttarakhand

• 13 Mar 2025

Uttarakhand First Nanofabrication Facility

Why in News? 

IIT-Roorkee has established a cutting-edge nanofabrication facility in Uttarakhand to advance India's semiconductor manufacturing mission.  

 Key Points 

• International Collaboration: 
  • IIT-Roorkee collaborated with Taiwan’s premier semiconductor institutions to exchange expertise. 
  • The Department of Science and Technology (DST) funded the project, which began in 2019. 
• State-of-the-Art Infrastructure: 
  • The facility features cutting-edge instruments, including: 
    • 50 kV Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) system with 10nm resolution. 
    • Inductively Coupled Plasma RIE (ICP-RIE), a key etching technology for semiconductor manufacturing. 
  • Equipped with ultra-clean rooms featuring controlled environments: 
    • Class 100 space (300 sq ft) and Class 1000 space (600 sq ft) for precision research. 
• Research Applications: 
  • The facility supports cutting-edge research in: 
    • Quantum sensors 
    • Spintronics 
    • Memory devices 
    • Thin-film devices 
    • Photodetectors 
    • Quantum optics 
    • Photonic crystals 

 Department of Science and Technology 

• The foundation of DST was laid on 3rd May 1971 along the model of National Science Foundation (NSF), USA. 
• It provides funding and also makes policies and co-ordinates scientific work with other countries. 
• It empowers scientists and scientific institutions and also works with a highly distributed system permeating stakeholders ranging from school college, PhD, Postdoc students, young scientists, startups and NGOs working in Science & Technology. 
• DST’s budget has increased over the years by 100%, which has allowed initiation of new programmes in a wide range of areas.