The MTL Fabrication Facilities Access (FFA) Program establishes the MIT Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) as a resource for micro and nano fabrication. The goal of the MTL FFA Program is to permit trained personnel from participating companies to use the cleanroom facilities of the MTL.
The MTL Fabrication Facilities Access (FFA) Program is open to both domestic and foreign companies.
The MTL Fabrication Facilities Access (FFA) Program is not open to faculty and graduate students from United States and foreign universities or to staff members from U.S. Government laboratories. However, these entities can send visitors to the MTL under the terms of the MTL Outreach Program.
A project in the FFA Program must satisfy the following criteria :
- The company representative must be a properly-trained process engineer, who is qualified to do the work in MTL. Normally, this means someone with prior processing experience equivalent to that obtained through the lab-only version of MIT’s “Micro/Nano Processing Technology”, course 3.155J/6.152J. In general, processing for an FFA project will not be done by MTL staff members.
- The proposed project must be compatible with the MTL fabrication facilities, from the point of view of materials and required process steps, as well as available fab capacity; projects will not be allowed if the added load or requirements would have deleterious effects on other projects. A project that requires use of the ICL or TRL must be approved by the MTL Process Technology Committee (PTC).
- The company must identify a source of funds to pay for all fabrication costs, including computer accounts, under the MTL cost structure (see Machine Charge Chart). This normally consists of a blanket Purchase Order issued to MTL, for an amount equal to the estimated total costs of the project. Fabrication fees will be invoiced and charged monthly.
There are no Membership Fees for the FFA Program
Inquiries about the MTL Outreach Program should be directed to the MTL Associate Director of Fab Operations, who will advise proponents on whether the proposed project is technically feasible in MTL and whether the proposed user is qualified.
The COMPANY MUST EXECUTE an MTL Fabrication Facilities Access (FFA) Program Agreement signed by a Principal of the Company as well as the participating Process Engineer of each project accepted in the MTL FFA Program.
Upon acceptance, the Process Engineer must complete all MIT and MTL safety and EHS requirements (see Becoming an MTL User) and be qualified individually on all necessary pieces of equipment by the MTL technical staff. FFA projects, once accepted into MTL, share the same priority as other student-run research projects.
All reports and publications based on MTL work must include acknowledgement of the use of MTL resources as follows: “This work was carried out in part through the use of MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories”.
While the primary purpose of the FFA Program is not the generation of MIT-owned intellectual property, when MIT personnel make significant technical contributions to a non-MIT project, these contributions should be recognized. Accordingly, any personnel who participate directly in an approved project under the MTL FFA Program will be asked to execute an intellectual property agreement which asserts that MIT may have a right to shared ownership of those portions of the project to which significant intellectual contributions are made by MIT personnel.
