New Delhi: In a major boost to India’s semiconductor research ecosystem, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee has established Uttarakhand’s first nanofabrication facility.
As reported, developed at a cost of Rs 15 crore, the state-of-the-art center is designed to enhance India’s semiconductor capabilities through advanced research and laboratory testing.
The facility, funded by the Department of Science and Technology, has been in development since 2019. It has also benefited from IIT Roorkee’s collaboration with leading institutions in Taiwan, a global semiconductor manufacturing hub, facilitating expertise exchange and technological advancements.
Equipped with cutting-edge tools, the facility features a 50 kV electron beam lithography (EBL) system with 10nm resolution and an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) system, a critical technology used in semiconductor device manufacturing.
To maintain precision in nanotechnology research, the center also houses ultra-clean rooms with controlled environments, including Class 100 and Class 1000 spaces spanning 300 and 600 sq ft, respectively.
Currently operational, the center is backed by five faculty members and has already trained 30 in-house research scholars and MTech students. Additionally, 12 PhD scholars are utilizing the facility for their research.
The center focuses on key areas such as quantum sensors, quantum optics, spintronics, memory devices, thin-film devices, photodetectors, and photonic crystals, with ongoing efforts to further optimize its capabilities.
IIT Bombay and IIT Madras Driving Semiconductor Innovation
While IIT Roorkee’s new nanofabrication facility marks a significant step for Uttarakhand, IIT Bombay and IIT Madras have also been instrumental in shaping India’s semiconductor industry.
IIT Bombay’s Nanofabrication Facility (IITBNF) is a premier multidisciplinary, open-access research and development center under the Department of Electrical Engineering. IIT Bombay has been a leader in semiconductor device characterization and modeling since the 1980s.
Its comprehensive fabrication capabilities were significantly bolstered in 2006 with the establishment of the Centres of Excellence in Nanoelectronics (CEN) at IIT Bombay and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, an initiative supported by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY).
IITBNF is widely used by researchers across India, with its semiconductor R&D spanning applications such as communications, radar, encryption, quantum information, AI, photodetectors, power switching, and energy conversion.
The facility has contributed to significant scientific breakthroughs, industry collaborations, and startup-driven semiconductor product development. It also plays a key role in training semiconductor professionals through the Indian Nanoelectronics Users’ Programme (INUP).
Meanwhile, IIT Madras has taken strides in indigenous semiconductor design and development. Earlier this year, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), IIT Madras successfully booted the SHAKTI-based semiconductor chip, a milestone in India’s push for self-reliant aerospace-grade processors.
The SHAKTI microprocessor project, led by Prof. V. Kamakoti at the Prathap Subrahmanyam Centre for Digital Intelligence and Secure Hardware Architecture (PSCDISHA) within IIT Madras’ Department of Computer Science and Engineering, focuses on RISC-V-based open-source microprocessors.
Supported by MeitY under the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) initiative, the project aims to develop secure, indigenous microprocessors for diverse applications, reinforcing India’s strategic push toward semiconductor independence.
India’s Expanding Semiconductor R&D Landscape
With IIT Roorkee strengthening semiconductor research in Uttarakhand, IIT Bombay advancing nanofabrication and semiconductor technology, and IIT Madras pioneering indigenous chip design, India’s academic institutions are playing a crucial role in the country’s semiconductor ambitions.
These initiatives align with the government’s larger vision of boosting domestic semiconductor capabilities and reducing reliance on foreign technologies, paving the way for India’s emergence as a key player in the global semiconductor ecosystem.
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