Montana Tech Nanotechnology Laboratory Receives Manufacturing Equipment Donated by Applied Materials

Montana Tech recently took delivery of fabrication and metrology systems donated by Applied Materials, Inc., a leading supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Intended for use in the Montana Tech Nanotechnology Laboratory (MTNL) housed in the Natural Resources Research Center, the equipment donation includes tools for electroplating, three-dimensional metrology, and annealing.

“The equipment donated by Applied Materials forms the foundation for the MTNL and will enable novel materials and device research and development,” said Dr. Jack Skinner, Assistant Professor and Director of the MTNL. “We want to thank Applied Materials for its generosity and for giving Montana Tech’s students the opportunity to gain a unique educational and research experience by working hands-on with advanced plating equipment.”

“In order to promote technology innovation, we believe it is important for students working in research and development to have access to advanced, production-proven equipment,” said Rick Plavidal, managing director of the Packaging, Plating, and Cleans Product Group at Applied Materials. “This donation reflects Applied Materials' commitment to support close collaboration between industry and academia.”

The tools donated by Applied Materials will complement other recently acquired fabrication equipment: a PVA TePla plasma etching and deposition tool, a Denton evaporator and sputter deposition tool, and two Spraybase electrospinning tools. Existing metrology tools include a Nanonics near-field scanning optical microscope, a KLA-Tencor Alpha Step 500 stylus profilometer, and a Micromanipulator probe station.