Center for high-resolution superconducting sensors (HSS)

Maskless Aligner

The Production and Development Center for High Resolution Superconducting Sensors (HSS) stands for a worldwide unique facility for the development and the (mass) production of superconducting particle and radiation detectors with extremely high energy and time resolution, which is currently being established at KIT. The facility is operated in collaboration of the Institute for Process Data Processing and Electronics (IPE), the Institute for Micro- and Nanoelectronic Systems (IMS), and the cooperation partner Kirchhoff Institute for Physics of Heidelberg University.

The goal of the center is to massively increase production capabilities for superconducting sensors, thus enabling the construction of large-scale experiments based on superconducting quantum sensors. The fabrication is mainly focused on calorimetric cryogenic particle detectors as well as superconducting electronics based on Josephson tunnel junctions, e.g. dc-SQUIDs or Microwave SQUID multiplexers. In order to enable mass production, the machinery is designed to use 6-inch substrates as well as automated process control.

ICP-RIE Dry Etching System

In the first stage of expansion, the machine park consists of the following equipment:

  • Confocal UHV sputtering cluster with two main chambers, a load lock, and a preparation chamber
  • ICPCVD deposition system
  • Fluorine-based ICP-RIE dry etching system for metals and dielectrics
  • Fluorine-based ICP-RIE dry etching system for silicon deep etching
  • Maskless Aligner
  • Electrodeposition system for high purity gold films
  • Several wet benches including spin coater, spin developer and hotplate