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Facility Spotlight
Demand for semiconductors explodes during global pandemic and Memorial engineering professor answers the call to help thanks to equipment provided by NSERC, CFI and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
DR. MOHAMMAD AL JANAIDEH
Ever since the introduction of the first mobile phone in the 1980s, the world’s top electronics companies have been competing to make smaller, faster and more powerful devices. The race to advance cell phone design lies within the modification and production of microprocessors, with tiny integrated circuits (ICs) that allow the phone to function.
The demand for these microprocessors, which are also known as semiconductor chips, is so great that industry cannot keep up. The global pandemic which has seen many people working from home has created a global chip shortage. In order to produce enough chips to supply millions of customers, the industry has called on engineers to help solve the problem by streamlining the creation process.
Dr. Mohammad Al Janaideh, assistant professor in mechanical engineering at Memorial, has been answering the industry’s call by helping develop more efficient machines. To be more precise, he and his team, comprised of undergrad student, Kaitlyn Kuchinka; master’s student, Michael Joeseph Pumphrey, Ph.D. student, Mohammad Saaideh, and post-doctoral fellow Yazan Rwashdeh, are developing new motion control systems that can enhance the performance of wafer scanners. They are able to do this thanks to three Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) awards and from the Canada Foundation of Innovation’s (CFI) infrastructure and equipment competition.
The RTI awards, which are part of NSERC’s annual competition for purchasing, provide funding for instruments and equipment to be used towards new research capabilities.
“I am honoured to have been successful in these competitions for three consecutive years,” said Dr. Al Janaideh. “With this money, we have been able to purchase almost $450,000 worth of new equipment to establish Memorial’s New MicroPrecision Mechatronics Lab ( PML).
Not only that, but Dr. Al Janaideh was also successful in securing a 2021 CFI JELF award worth almost $300,000 and more than $300,000 from the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Department of Industry, Energy and Technology (IET) for research tools in advanced measurement and
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“Our research on wafer scanners wouldn’t be possible if not for this funding. Because wafer scanners are needed to make smart devices, it is a priority for companies like Sharp, Intel, and Samsung to source and purchase the most efficient wafer scanner machines,” said Dr. Al Janaideh who has previous experience as senior mechatronics and control engineer at ASML in the United States. ASML is a Dutch company with two main branches in the United States. They, along with Nikon in Japan, are the two main suppliers of wafer scanners in the world.
Wafer Scanners
Dr. Al Janaideh describes wafer scanners as room-sized machines that cost upwards of $150 million and house a UV light source, a lens, and wafers, which are small silicon sheets. The integrated circuits needed for microprocessors to work sit on these wafers inside the wafer scanner machines.
“Microprocessors are the brains of electronic devices,” explained Dr. Al Janaideh. “All smartphones and personal computers require these microprocessors. Integrated circuits, the main element in microprocessors, are created using lithography or 3-D printing with light. Without the lithography and integrated circuits inside the wafer scanners, there would be no microprocessors, and without microprocessors, there would be no smartphones.”
“We use the 3-D Laser Doppler Vibrometer to design new electromagnetic systems to provide higher forces, develop wafer motion stages with smart - piezoceramic - materials to reduce motion errors, and design new motion profiles to reduce the vibrations for high precision motion applications in wafer scanners,” he explained, adding these motion systems and control algorithms will enhance the rate of production and the efficiency of the fabricated integrated components in the devices the machine produces.
“Size is always an issue,” explained Dr. Al Janaideh, who has more than ninety publications in the research area of mechatronics and controls. “We look at how we can develop the motion control systems within these machines to reduce the positioning errors during the fabrication. This allows the addition of more electronic components within the microprocessor, which, in turn, will result in the fabrication of faster, smarter, and lighter microprocessors. And thus, faster, smarter and lighter smartphones.”
And, since the world demand for smartphones and tablets is not abating, this research is huge for Dr. Al Janaideh, his students, Memorial University and the entire industry.
“The proposed new electromagnetic systems can provide higher force under different operating conditions, which is essential to have perfect motion control of the wafer scanner systems. This will also lead to less time during the microprocessor fabrication allowing a greater number of wafers to be fabricated per hour.”
Dr. Al Janaideh began this research in 2018 and he and his team are currently in the design stage. For the new electromagnetic actuators, they have a prototype in the lab, 20 cm by 20 cm by 15
PhD Student Mohmmad Al-Saaideh and M. Eng. student Michael Pumphrey working of the design of an electromagnetic motion system at the Micro-Precision Mechatronics laboratory
cm (height). Building the system, they are able to use a 3-D printer to fabricate some parts, but they still need to buy things like sensors, controllers and electronic accessories.
“The most challenging part is building the complete system in our new Micro-Precision Mechatronics Lab ( PML),” explained Dr. Al Janaideh. “Since we are building a new design that is not available for purchase anywhere, we have to source all the individual components. First, we contact different suppliers in the United States who provide the most suitable magnetic materials. But before they can deliver, the materials require different treatments such as heating and annealing to make the material more workable.”
While Dr. Al Janaideh waits to receive what is required to build the prototype, he continues to collaborate with ASML in order to enhance these motion profiles within the wafer machines. 100% Designed at Memorial
“When we use actuators for motion control in wafer scanner machines, we have inputs called motion profiles that follow the ASML standard. The students are highly motivated to collaborate with the industry. Once we started to get measurements, the students were so excited because they had succeeded in making the process faster, that sometimes, they would send me information at 11 pm from the lab; that’s how exciting this research is for them. Not only is it one hundred per cent designed at Memorial, but it’s a completely new research theme spurred by industry need. It’s combining mechanical, electrical, and control engineering to develop wafer scanners with better performance.”
The team is now working to understand the challenges of the new motion systems, for example, health monitoring and control design. The primary results presented in four journals and at eight conferences have generated positive reviewer comments and the team currently has more than ten publications under review. The next step is to complete the design of the control systems with a health monitoring system before contacting industry. Dr. Al Janaideh and his team expect to complete this stage of research by the end of 2022 or early 2023.
“By enhancing the lithography process to make smaller microprocessors, we will advance communications by allowing faster, lighter, smarter phones, tablets, and other mobile devices. With our research, Canada may become known as a supplier for the advanced mechatronic motion systems that enhance the precision and the productivity of the semiconductor machines, a novel field in the area of advanced manufacturing and industry 4.0 for our country.”
“Without the funding from the NSERC Discovery Grant (DG), three NSERC RTI awards, CFI JELF as well as support from IET and Memorial, we would not have the new Micro-Precision Mechatronics Lab ( PML) and would not be in the position to do the work we do,” added Dr. Al Janaideh.
Dr. Mohammad Al Janaideh is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering with expertise in instrumentation, controls and automation, mechatronics and Intelligent Systems. He received his MASc. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering with a concentration in controls and mechatronics from Concordia University, Montreal, in 2005 and 2010, respectively.
Between 2010 and 2012, he held research and teaching positions at the Universities of Bologna, Jordan and Concordia as well as the Institute of Mathematics at the Czech Academy of Sciences, and before joining Memorial University of Newfoundland, Dr. Al Janaideh worked as a senior Mechatronics Engineer at ASML in the United States.
He is currently the technical editor of the IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics, IEEE Conference of Decision and Control, and the American Control Conference.
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