This page is based on a commentary by Jesus A. del Alamo, MIT Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/weblabcomment.html It needs to be edited to be shortened, and updated for the past five years of progress.
Microelectronics
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Device Characterization Lab
The Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab is an on-line laboratory that allows remote testing of transistors and other microelectronics devices through the web from anywhere at anytime.
Overview
The Microelectronics WebLab Lab is a research project at MIT that is developing a remote web-accessible microelectronics test station for microelectronics education. The MIT Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab project attempts to deal with the dearth of laboratory experiences in traditional microelectronics subjects. Through the microelectronics weblab, students can take measurements on transistors and other devices in real time from anywhere at any time. Currently, the system allows DC current-voltage characterization of multiterminal devices using an HP4155B Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer. The system is configured with a Switching Matrix that provides access to up to eight devices.
Development of the Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab at MIT started in the Spring of 1988 by Prof. Jesus del Alamo of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The first version of the Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab was deployed in the Fall of 1988. Improved versions have been used several times since then in graduate and undergraduate microelectronics subjects at MIT. In the Fall of 2000, the system was accessed by students from Singapore as part of a graduate microelectronics subject of the Singapore-MIT Alliance.
The success of the Microelectronics Weblab Device Characterization Lab project has spawned the iLab initiative at MIT to explore the compliance of the weblab concept to other engineering disciplines. The Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab is currently funded by iCampus, the MIT-Microsoft alliance. Significant equipment donations have been received from Hewlett Packard, Agilent Technologies, and Advanced Micro Devices.
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Conventional courses in microelectronic device physics rarely include a laboratory experience that exposes students to the workings of real devices. This is because of equipment, space, training, safety and staffing constraints that become nearly insurmountable the moment there are more than a dozen students in the class. Actual device characterization, however, can substantially enhance the educational experience. Students can compare their measured data on real devices with the theoretical expectations and reflect on discrepancies, limitations, and design criteria. In addition, close contact with the real world is always a powerful motivator and students learn better.
The MIT Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab enables real microelectronic device characterization to be carried out by large number of students in the context of a device physics class. In this approach, students measure the current-voltage characteristics of transistors and other microelectronics devices that are placed in a laboratory at MIT. Unlike a regular laboratory experience, students access the device characterization instrumentation through the web simply using a Java-enabled web browser.
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The basic architecture of the MIT Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab is shown in the figure. It basically consists of a device tester (an HP4155B Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer) and a computer that works double-duty as instrument controler and web server. The device under test is mounted on a test fixture that is connected to the tester. Communication between the instrument and the computer takes place through a GP-IB interface.
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The computer that runs the Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab system is a standard PC running Windows NT Server. Very soon, it will be upgraded to an Athlon-class PC running Windows 2000 Server.
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Remote access to this set up is provided through a Java applet that is downloaded from the server to any remote user on an authorized list. The Java applet that we have constructed mimics the essential features of the front panel of the HP4155B. We have not attempted to capture the entire functionality of the HP4155B but just those elements that are useful to accomplish our educational goals. The ability to use a professional engineering instrument in an educational environment while drastically cutting down on its complexity is a unique and powerful feature of the WebLab iLabs concept.
The Java applet that is downloaded to the user is shown in the figure. Through this graphical interface, the user specifies a test vector that will be executed by the instrument. This Java applet is rather "smart" in the sense that it can pick up many kinds of errors in the test vector. In this way, traffic through the server is minimized and the instrument is only presented with testing requests that have a good chance of executing correctly.
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There have now been several educational experiments that have been carried using the MIT Microelectronics WebLabDevice Characterization Lab.
Fall 1998
The first "field-trial" of the Microelectronics WebLab was conducted in the Fall of 1998 in 6.720J/3.43J "Integrated Microelectronic Devices", a joint graduate-level subject between the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Material Science and Engineering. This subject was taught by Prof. del Alamo to about 30 students, half graduate and half undergraduates, from five different Departments.
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In the Fall of 2000, two exciting educational experiments were carried out.
Simultaneous use of the MIT Microelectronics
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Device Characterization Lab in three subjects, including one from Singapore
In the Fall of 2000, the MIT Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab was used in a simultaneous fashion in three different subjects, including one involving students in Singapore.
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The use of the Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab by students from Singapore was interesting in itself as the system, the instructor and the TA were all at MIT. No special problems were encountered in this experiment.
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Thanks to the initiative of Ted Equi of Compaq and with the help of Larry Bair and Norm Leland (also of Compaq) and MIT student Lane Brooks (the creator of the microelectronics weblab), earlier in the year we installed a copy of the MIT Microelectronics WebLab Device Characterization Lab at Compaq's Alpha Development Group center in Shrewsbury, MA. Through this system, 6.720J/3.43J students accessed the latest 0.18 um CMOS hardware that Compaq's designers are currently working with. Students were able to take remote measurements in real time and download the data. They were also able to compare the performance of the 0.18 um technology with 10-year old 1.5 um hardware that was made available through the on-campus Microelectronics WebLab.
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