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<p>The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has awarded a contract to the Gilbane-Exyte Joint Venture to build the Composite Semiconductor Laboratory - Microsystems Integration Facility (CSL-MIF) at <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.ll.mit.edu/">MIT Lincoln Laboratory</a>.  The $279 million construction project, scheduled to begin this spring, is funded by the US Air Force's military construction program (MILCON), under the direction of USACE, which will manage construction of the facility. three stories of 160,000 square feet.  Lincoln Laboratory will install and calibrate the facility's specialized microelectronics fabrication equipment.</p>
<p>“The CSL-MIF will enable more advanced microelectronics research and prototyping in areas of critical national security for decades to come.  We look forward to the many technological advances that will be developed through the combination of this new laboratory and our outstanding staff,” says Lincoln Laboratory Director Eric Evans.</p>
<p>When fully built and integrated, the CSL-MIF will allow scientists and engineers to develop, fabricate and characterize semiconductors made of two or more different elements (composite semiconductors) and to package specialized heterogeneously integrated electronic prototypes.  The ability to integrate different semiconductor material systems and device technologies enables the creation of customizable microsystems for a wide range of applications.  Focusing technologies 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 existing laboratory. <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.ll.mit.edu/about/facilities/microelectronics-laboratory">Microelectronics Laboratory</a> (ML), the US government's most advanced silicon-based research and advanced prototyping facility.</p>
<p>“The combination of the new CSL-MIF with our existing ML infrastructure will be a powerful and differentiating resource for the laboratory in the area of ​​advanced microelectronics.  The two facilities together will allow us to explore and demonstrate complex heterogeneously integrated microsystems that could not be realized without access to the capabilities provided by these two specialized facilities,” says Craig Keast, associate director of the lab. <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.ll.mit.edu/r-d/advanced-technology">Advanced Technology Division</a> and technical leader in the CSL-FOMIN project.</p>
<p>The CSL-MIF construction project has been in development for more than a decade.  In 2014, the US Department of Defense recognized the critical need to modernize the Lincoln Laboratory facility, and CSL-MIF was one of two MILCON construction projects.  The second construction project scheduled for MILCON funding is a new Engineering Prototyping Facility (EPF) to establish advanced manufacturing and integration laboratories for large system prototypes.  Together, CSL-MIF and EPF make up a larger facility modernization effort called <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.ll.mit.edu/sites/default/files/news/doc/2019-04/CSL%20MIF%20and%20EPF.pdf">West Laboratory Project</a>.</p>
<p>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 vibration and contamination control.  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 within budget constraints.</p>
<p>“We brought the design to 35 percent completion for the fabrication rooms;  research and prototyping tools;  power and electrical equipment;  and air circulation, filtration and humidity control system.  We worked closely with the Air Force and USACE to finalize the building's complex design.  We have a great partnership with them,” says Lincoln Laboratory CPO Director Michael Menadue.</p>
<p>Of the 160,000 square feet, 35,000 will be high-end clean spaces, the majority of which will contain fewer than 10 particles of 0.5 micrometers or larger per cubic foot of air.  The typical air in an office space contains more than 1 million dust particles of this size per cubic foot of air.  The clean room will sit on its own vibration isolated floor within the building.  The floor below will contain all of the equipment that powers the cleanroom, including vacuum pumps, chemicals, and power supplies.  With this configuration, operations and maintenance can be performed without contaminating cleanroom spaces.  The suspended floor above the clean room will house the HVAC equipment to control airflow.</p>
<p>Improvements to the Lincoln Laboratory facilities have received strong support within the Department of Defense.</p>
<p>“The CSL-MIF is a great step forward for Lincoln Laboratory and its sponsors.  We appreciate the strong partnerships with the US Air Force, USACE and our main sponsor, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, who made this possible,” says Deputy Director of Laboratory Operations Scott Anderson.</p>
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