No, this is not a grant opportunity. No funds will be transferred to the applicant. Instead, NORDTECH will enable and cover the costs of accessing the facilities so that the approved experiment can be completed.

NORDTECH will cover: wafer processing costs, tool time costs, staff costs to run wafers, potentially test and/or metrology. It does not cover labor from the applicant, equipment, or supplies.

Organizations that have a project selected are expected to become signed members of NORDTECH, sign a Material Transfer Agreement, and provide a report summarizing the experiment.

In theory, yes, but would depend on the details of what processing has already happened, what processing needs to happen, and the target facility. Different cleanrooms will have different protocols for accepting outside wafers.

This program is not able to cover the cost of foundry runs (MPWs or dedicated runs) but if those chips or wafers exist, or are funded elsewhere, they could be supplied for additional processing or packaging.

Yes, especially if they are different, it would allow NORDTECH to evaluate, rate, and rank them separately.

Potentially. One goal of the program is to develop data that helps our members secure additional funding. This should not be a replacement for traditional grant funding.

Yes, many of our facilities have experience with 2D materials and MEMS.

Potentially. Not everything needs to be ground breaking research. Even a targeted product development task could exercise our hub network, or help streamline future lab-to-fab technology transitions.

Our hub has relationships with commercial foundries that have expressed their interest in transitioning new technologies. Who we connect a member/idea with will depend on the nature of the technology.

Yes, many of our cleanrooms have experience with compound semiconductors like GaN.