The US Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a contract to Gilbane-Exyte Joint Venture to build the Compound Semiconductor Laboratory – Microsystem Integration Facility at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The $279M building project, scheduled to begin this spring, is funded by the US Air Force military construction MILCON program, under the direction of USACE, who will manage the building of the 160,000-square-foot, three-story facility. Lincoln Laboratory will install and calibrate the facility’s specialized microelectronics fabrication equipment.When fully constructed and integrated, the CSL-MIF will enable scientists and engineers to grow, fabricate, and characterize semiconductors made of two or more different elements (compound semiconductors) and package specialized heterogeneously integrated electronic prototypes. The capability to integrate different semiconductor material systems and device technologies allows for the creation of customizable microsystems targeting a wide range of applications. Technologies of focus will include 3D-integrated focal plane arrays for scientific imaging and surveillance, integrated electro-optical systems for space-based optical communication, superconducting microsystems for integrating quantum information bits (qubits), and advanced 3D-ladar imaging systems. The capabilities of the CSL-MIF will be complementary to those of the Laboratory’s existing Microelectronics Laboratory (ML), the U.S. government’s most advanced silicon-based research and advanced prototyping fabrication facility.The CSL-MIF building project has been over a decade in the making. In 2014, the Department of Defense acknowledged a critical need for Lincoln Laboratory facility modernization, and the CSL-MIF was one of two MILCON building projects. The second building project programmed for MILCON funding is a new Engineering Prototyping Facility for establishing advanced fabrication and integration laboratories for large system prototypes. Together, the CSL-MIF and EPF make up a larger facility modernization effort called the West Laboratory Project.For the past four years, Lincoln Laboratory Capital Projects Office (CPO) staff have been working on the design architecture and engineering of the CSL-MIF. They adopted a bottom-up design approach that incorporated much input from research staff. Two of the critical design requirements involve control of vibration and contamination. Even the slightest vibrations or the smallest amount of dust in the air can interfere with experimental research or device manufacturing. The design team integrated these and other requirements into a set of construction specifications while adhering to budget constraints.
The US Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a contract to Gilbane-Exyte Joint Venture to build the Compound Semiconductor Laboratory – Microsystem Integration Facility at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The $279M building project, scheduled to begin this spring, is funded by the US Air Force military construction MILCON program, under the direction of USACE, who will manage the building of the 160,000-square-foot, three-story facility. Lincoln Laboratory will install and calibrate the facility’s specialized microelectronics fabrication equipment.When fully constructed and integrated, the CSL-MIF will enable scientists and engineers to grow, fabricate, and characterize semiconductors made of two or more different elements (compound semiconductors) and package specialized heterogeneously integrated electronic prototypes. The capability to integrate different semiconductor material systems and device technologies allows for the creation of customizable microsystems targeting a wide range of applications. Technologies of focus will include 3D-integrated focal plane arrays for scientific imaging and surveillance, integrated electro-optical systems for space-based optical communication, superconducting microsystems for integrating quantum information bits (qubits), and advanced 3D-ladar imaging systems. The capabilities of the CSL-MIF will be complementary to those of the Laboratory’s existing Microelectronics Laboratory (ML), the U.S. government’s most advanced silicon-based research and advanced prototyping fabrication facility.The CSL-MIF building project has been over a decade in the making. In 2014, the Department of Defense acknowledged a critical need for Lincoln Laboratory facility modernization, and the CSL-MIF was one of two MILCON building projects. The second building project programmed for MILCON funding is a new Engineering Prototyping Facility for establishing advanced fabrication and integration laboratories for large system prototypes. Together, the CSL-MIF and EPF make up a larger facility modernization effort called the West Laboratory Project.For the past four years, Lincoln Laboratory Capital Projects Office (CPO) staff have been working on the design architecture and engineering of the CSL-MIF. They adopted a bottom-up design approach that incorporated much input from research staff. Two of the critical design requirements involve control of vibration and contamination. Even the slightest vibrations or the smallest amount of dust in the air can interfere with experimental research or device manufacturing. The design team integrated these and other requirements into a set of construction specifications while adhering to budget constraints.
