The microfabrication facilities of MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) are available to MIT researchers at no cost for up to one year under a new program announced by Professor Rafael Reif, director of the MTL.
An announcement from the MTL said the program-the MTL Lab Fee Grants Program-recognizes that many research ideas are not ready for funding "until some preliminary proof-of-concept results are obtained."
The program will allow researchers with new ideas but no funding to use the microfabrication facilities free of charge "to experiment and strengthen their concepts while seeking support funds." The length of time the facilities are available can be renewed, the announcement said.
The MTL facilities, which include clean-room microfabrication laboratories and associated design, simulation, testing and characterization equipment, expertise and a computer network, are located in the Gordon Stanley Brown Building (Building 39). Services available under the program include consultation on process problems, training to use the MTL equipment, "mask" service, process development assistance, and assistance with baseline process technology.
Projects that can be carried out in the MTL include typical microelectronics-driven activities, microelectromechanical structures and systems, and medical and biological applications.
For more information on the program, call Samuel Crooks, MTL assistant director for administration, x3-3978,
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on April 26, 1995.
