Microfabrication technologies

MICRO-331

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Course summary

Welcome to the 2025 edition of Micro-331, the course on the Fundamentals in Microfabrication.
This course includes a MOOC, classroom lectures given by Professors, graded exercises in groups with TA's called SLT (student led tutorials), a new A.I. based Tutor Bot, as well as ungraded self-paced quizzes for your training and self-assessment.

Our lecture room is CE12 on both, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The lecture starts at 8h15 until 10h, with typically a 15 min break at 9h.

  • M: MOOC
  • CL: classroom
  • SLT: student-led-tutorial (exercises in groups)
  • TB: Tutor Bot
  • TA: Teaching assistant
  • AE: Student assistant (assistant étudiant)

The final exam in January is a written exam, and counts 75% of the final grade.
The course has 6 SLT sessions. The SLT counts for 25% of the final grading.
The MOOC has weekly training  quizzes for your rehearsal (ungraded).
The MOOC can be accessed on the Courseware platform. You need to sign in with your EPFL credentials. https://courseware.epfl.ch/courses/course-v1:EPFL+mems+2023/about

We are using the Ed Discussion Forum for Q&A that also hosts the new A.I. based Tutor Bot.

Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 10 Sep 

CE 12 

Lecture: course information

All

Thu / 11 Sep 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

several TAs/AE's will be there to help you get started

Recommended MOOC: MEMS & Cleanroom
some TA's and AE's (tbc)


Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 17 Sep 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: MEMS & Cleanroom

Thu / 18 Sep 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: MEMS & Cleanroom



Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 24 Sep 

several rooms

SLT_#1 in groups (graded)

Topic: MEMS & Cleanroom

TA’s and AE’s

Thu / 25 Sep 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: CVD



Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 1 Oct 

CE 12 

Lecture

Prof. Yujia Zhang

Thu / 2 Oct 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: CVD



Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 8 Oct 

several rooms

SLT_#2 in groups (graded)

Topic: CVD

TA’s and AE’s

Thu / 9 Oct 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: PVD



Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 15 Oct 

CE 12 

Lecture

Prof. Yujia Zhang

Thu / 16 Oct 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: PVD



Autumn break
no teaching


Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 29 Oct 

several rooms

SLT_#3 in groups

Topic: PVD

TA’s and AE’s

Thu / 30 Oct

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: Lithography



Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 5 Nov 

CE 12 

Lecture

Minshen Zhu

Thu / 6 Nov 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: Lithography



Wed / 12 Nov 

several rooms

SLT_#4 in groups (graded)

Topic: Lithography

TA’s and AE’s

Thu / 13 Nov 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: Dry etching



Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 19 Nov 

CE 12 

Lecture

Prof. J. Brugger

Thu / 20 Nov 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: Dry etching



Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 26 Nov 

several rooms

SLT_#5 in groups (graded)

Topic: Dry Etching

TA’s and AE’s

Thu / 27 Nov 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: Wet etching



Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 3 Dec 

CE 12 

Lecture

Giuseppe Schiavone

Thu / 4 Dec 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: Wet etching


The lecture by Giuseppe Schiavone has following title and abstract:

  • Title: Microfabrication of Flexible and Stretchable Neuroelectronic Interfaces
  • Abstract: This lecture will give an overview on the application of microfabrication technologies to the manufacturing of neuroelectronic interfaces. Starting from the early examples of silicon-based neurotechnology, we will explore more modern microfabrication methods enabling less invasive, flexible and stretchable devices that constitute today the forefront of brain-computer-interfaces.
----
Speaker details: Giuseppe Schiavone
Senior Scientist
EPFL Neuro-X Institute
Laboratory for Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces
Campus Biotech B3.2 | Chemin des mines 9 | CH-1202 Geneva
☏ +41 21 693 65 48

Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 10 Dec 

several rooms

SLT_#6 in groups (graded)

Topic: Wet Etching

TA’s and AE’s

Thu / 11 Dec 

CE 12 

MOOC self-study

lecture room is available

Recommended MOOC: Metrology



Day / Date

Room

Activity

Teacher(s)

Wed / 17 Dec 

CE 12 

Lecture Micro for Nano

class Q&A

 JB, YZh

Thu / 18 Dec 

CE 12 

Lecture self-assembly

class Q&A

 JB, YZh



additional material and information


Exam Information

You will find here the most updated information related to the exam.

Date: Tuesday 20.01.2026 from 15h15 to 18h15

Rooms: CE 11, CE 12, CE 13 (a seat map will be provided here)

The exam includes multiple choice questions and open questions, covering the chapters of the course, the lectures and the SLT's.

Material allowed during the exam:
  • blue or black (ink) pen for writing the exam
  • ruler or stencil for straight line drawing
  • white eraser
  • the assembled silicon cube (see PDF from MOODLE)
  • your personal note sheet using the template provided (compliance will be checked during exam)
We highly encourage you to create your own summary handwritten, since it will help you better understand, summarize and connect all the concepts of the course.
You are of course encouraged to work in groups to create and share the content of the 'cheat sheet', but you need to create your own personal copy.

The cheat sheets will be collected at the end of the exam. Please add your Sciper number and name on it.
Material not allowed during the exam:
  • tablet, computer, smartphone, pocket calculator and any other electronic device, including drones.
  • pens with other colors than blue or black
  • pencils based on graphite
At the end of the exam, there will be an evaluation sheet to fill out as feedback to the course teacher and the section. We would appreciate your feedback since we had some changes this year for which we are curious how your experience was.

We will collect at the end of the exam:
  • your exam sheet
  • the evaluation sheet
  • your personal notes summary ("cheat") sheet