HEtrogenous, 3D microsystems processing Line for Complex multidisciplinary device research. (LENA CLEAN ROOM)

During the last decades more and more researchers from a wide variety of fields have become interested in investigating very fine structures, having components as small as a millionth of a meter and even below. This started with the advent of microelectronics several decades ago. Now, also biologists, (bio)chemists, physicists and sensor researchers feel the need to work with microtechnology. Thus, it is important that the equipment for fabricating such structures is available to researchers. The main applicants for this project have been building up a microfabrication lab for decades. They use the equipment for their own research, and make it available for other research groups and companies. However, some key components are still missing. Purchasing these machines will allow much more elaborate work in the third dimension than is possible now, allowing to create very complex microscale devices. Because of the wide user base, this will allow substantial progress is a multitude of fields, from labs-on-a-chip for the detection of diseases over smart body implants to advanced physics experiments.