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Tanner Research has developed state-of-the-art bulk silicon
micromachining processes and corresponding design techniques
that offer the potential to make affordable rad-hard CMOS
electronics, high performance mixed-signal ICs, and sensors
that are monolithically integrated with active electronics.
Monolithic integration offers significant advantages because
the resulting devices can be smaller and more robust than
comparable multi-substrate systems.
There are two primary reasons why our processes are inexpensive,
even for small volumes. First, they are performed after standard
CMOS fabrication; no exotic processes or materials are required.
Second, they do not require expensive lithography which requires
stringent levels of cleanliness and precision masks.
We are currently refining and automating our processes so
that we can easily etch large volumes and chips fabricated
using submicron technology.
This research has been sponsored by the U.S. NSF and Department
of Defense under the SBIR
program.
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