(379r) Teaching Semiconductor Fabrication to Chemical Engineers

At the University of Florida, we have a wide range of experiments in our teaching laboratory courses. Many of these are the more traditional concepts and unit operations that are common in teaching labs everywhere, such as fluid flow, distillation, and process control. One of our more unique experiments is semiconductor fabrication. Through a series of four lab periods, students perform one “iteration” of the semiconductor fabrication process. This provides an opportunity for them to learn more about an expanding engineering field as well as explore certain chemical engineering concepts further in an alternative application. At the graduate level, the modules are expanded to allow students to optimize process parameters. This provides students with a preview of challenges faced by process engineers and systematic DOE approaches.

In this talk, we will outline the order of these semiconductor experiments and which chemical engineering concepts they explore with each experiment. We will showcase our unique facilities and experiments while also providing a base model for others to explore less traditional areas of chemical engineering in their own teaching laboratories.