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AggieFab Nanofabrication Facility

The AggieFab Nanofabrication Facility is Texas A&M University's shared nano- and microfabrication research substrate at the main campus in College Station. AggieFab provides 6,500 square feet of Class 100/1000 cleanroom space with raised access floor and vertical laminar flow, plus an additional 4,500 square feet of support space, totaling 11,000 square feet.

Site and Substrate

AggieFab occupies its dedicated cleanroom substrate at the Frederick E. Giesecke Engineering Research Building (GERB), a research-purpose building constructed to consolidate the Texas A&M College of Engineering's nanofabrication and microelectronics research substrate. The 1st-floor location supports the cleanroom's specific structural requirements (vibration control, environmental stability, raised access floor, vertical laminar flow). The facility is dedicated to the memory of Henry F. Taylor, reflecting the cleanroom's origins in the Solid State Group of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

Capital and Operations

AggieFab's capital framework operates across multiple coordinated tiers. The August 2017 GERB move was enabled by a $12 million TEES capital investment plus broader Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering support. Ongoing operational support includes major financial contributions from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, TEES, plus the Division of Research. Recent semiconductor equipment and infrastructure investment came through the Texas CHIPS Act framework. Per Director Arum Han: "We are thankful for the recent semiconductor equipment and infrastructure investment to the Texas A&M University System by the State of Texas through the Texas CHIPS Act."

The Texas CHIPS Act allocation specifically anchors the Center for Microdevices and Systems substrate operating through AggieFab. The $26.4 million CMDS allocation enables nanofabrication and metrology equipment procurement plus AggieFab facility infrastructure improvements. Per Han, "Additional equipment procurement and facility upgrades are ongoing, with expected completion by the summer of 2027." The combined AggieFab plus CMDS substrate establishes one of the most distinctive US academic nanofabrication research operations supporting TAMU's broader semiconductor research-and-workforce-development mission.

Research Focus and Customer Base

AggieFab's research focus spans the multiple structural categories of academic nanofabrication research. The state-of-the-art equipment supports micro- and nano-scale fabrication of diverse materials including semiconductors, glass, polymers, crystals, and flexible films. Notable equipment includes the Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 high-resolution 3D printer enabling maskless photolithography on diverse substrate types. Available process technologies span photolithography, e-beam lithography, deposition (PVD, CVD, ALD), etch (wet and dry), metrology and characterization, plus broader nanofabrication processing.

Outlook

AggieFab represents one of the most distinctive TAMU System nanofabrication research substrates. The combination of established 20-year operational history, the 11,000 square foot Frederick E. Giesecke Engineering Research Building substrate, the Texas CHIPS Act-funded equipment and infrastructure investment, plus the operational integration with the Center for Microdevices and Systems positions AggieFab as the structurally distinctive academic nanofabrication research operation anchoring the Brazos Valley Semiconductor Concentration's academic-and-workforce-development pipeline.

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