Washington Nanofabrication Facility Rate Structure for 2025
(Effective 01/01/2025)
The Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF) is a non-profit business unit within the University of
Washington. WNF is mandated to charge time and materials on a cost reimbursement basis. Academic
pricing is achieved through UW, state, and federal grants and subsidies. The hourly equipment rate
structure is split into 4 tiers, basic, low, mid, and high cost groups, while the door access fees and
subscription fees cover materials and supplies, overhead (UW 8% and WNF 7.6%), and labor that is
not covered by equipment use.
User Classifications:
The following user classifications determine eligibility for specific rate plans:
University of Washington and Affiliates: University of Washington researchers or affiliate-
sponsored researchers (e.g. UW APL). Candidates eligible for Academic Rates are not assessed an
overhead rate as the UW overhead rates are already applied to the research grant or other internal UW
funding. These users must pay with a UW budget number.
Non-UW Academic, Non-Profit Organizations, and Government: Researchers employed by
or with appointments at non-UW academic institutions, recognized non-profit organizations, and
state/federal government agencies or national labs. These candidates are eligible for the Academic
rate plus an overhead charge.
Industrial: Any employees of non-academic and non-government organizations who intend on using
the WNF facility for self-directed work. These candidates are eligible to select between the Industrial
Fixed or Industrial Full plus an overhead charge.
Remote: Entities that solely seek to conduct limited scope process work that is to be conducted by
WNF staff provided on a best-effort, time and materials cost reimbursement basis that includes the
pro-rated hourly equipment plus engineering rate and overhead. Due to the experimental nature of
work, WNF cannot guarantee quality assurance in meeting all remote work specifications, but, will use
best-effort methods to attempt to obtain a satisfactory result for the client.
Rate Plans:
These rate plans are available to users as dictated in the user classification section. Each project/user
combination must be enrolled in a rate plan. Users with multiple affiliations and projects may be in
multiple, differing rate plans, but all plan charges, caps, and restrictions will be addressed individually
for each organization/project/user combination. Stockroom supplies and precious metals are charged
at cost plus nominal overhead for all plans.
Academic Full: The academic rate plan is directed to provide cost-effective access for academic
researchers and is subsidized by the UW and grant activity. The plan provides a usage cap with a
sufficiently high monthly notch to enable cost-prediction for grant proposals. All equipment use that
exceeds the monthly notch limit is charged at the Post Notch Cap rate. The cap applies only to
equipment use and access fees. Training and engineering assistance is not capped. Furthermore, to
foster the development of process-centric research groups, Principle Investigators with multiple
active (incurring more than $550/month in charges) Academic students will receive a monthly rate
discount on standard equipment and access rates (2 students 10%, 3 students 15%, 4 students 20%,
5+ students 25%).
Industrial Full: The full industrial rate plan is a standard industrial rate, uncapped plan for light or
intermittent industrial users. All access and equipment use charges are billed at the industrial hourly
rate plus overhead.
Industrial Fixed: The fixed industrial rate plan is directed toward consistently high-volume users
by providing a consistent monthly charge (for below notch utilization) with a 6-month use
commitment with open enrollment in January and July or upon inception as a new user. The fixed rate
includes monthly card fee, unlimited daily access fees, and all equipment charges below the monthly
notch limit. All equipment use that exceeds the notch limit is charged at the Post Notch Cap rate (33%
of hourly rate) plus overhead. Organizations can have a mixed group of user slots between Industrial
Fixed and Industrial Full plans, but must assign a specific project/user to the slot during open
enrollment. Organizations with multiple fixed users can share notch limits among the fixed users, so
the monthly usage before being assessed at the Post Notch Cap Rate for 2 fixed users is $16,500 and 3
fixed users is $24,700. Organizations with multiple fixed rate accounts will receive a monthly rate
discount on the fixed rate fee (3-4 fixed users 10%, 5+ fixed users 15%).
Electron-Beam Lithography (EBL): The UW JEOL JBX-6300 EBL is one of the most advanced
and cost-effective direct write tools in the nation. Despite this, WNF incentivizes its utilization by
introducing the cap and notch cap constructs to this tool for each separate project/user combination.
The cap is at 60 hours per year with the notch at 80 hours. Remote EBL work is not eligible for cap.
The EBL notch/cap is separate and it is not eligible for the general notch/cap.
Training: Training will incur engineering staff charge plus the equipment rate.
Staff Support: Staff assistance for non-equipment issues will be charged at the engineering rate.
Requests for staff support should be made via email to staff members.
Fee Schedule:
The rate structure is valid starting January 1, 2025.
Organization UW Non-UW Non-UW Non-UW
Tier Academic Acad/NPO/Gov Industrial Industrial
Level Full Full Full Fixed
Overhead Rate 0.0% 15.6% 15.6% 15.6%
Access Fees
Month $110 $110 $110 $5,500
Daily $27 $27 $82 $0
Caps
Cap/Notch Reset Monthly Monthly Monthly Monthly
Cap / month $2,200 $2,200 N/A N/A
Post Notch Cap Rate 33% 33% N/A 33%
Notch point ($) $4,620 $4,620 N/A $8,250
Academic Academic Industrial Industrial
Hourly Rates
Rates Rates Rates Rates
Photolithography
HMDS $33 $33 $99 $99
Spin Coater $55 $55 $165 $165
Contact Aligner $55 $55 $165 $165
Heidelberg Direct Write $33 $33 $99 $99
Nanoscribe 3D Printer $33 $33 $99 $99
Critical Point Dryer $11 $11 $33 $33
Rite Track $77 $77 $231 $231
Coater/Developer
$77 $77 $231 $231
Nanoscribe
Academic Academic Industrial Industrial
Hourly Rates
Rates Rates Rates Rates
E-beam Litho $137 $137 $495 $495
Wet Etch Suite
Wet Bench $11 $11 $33 $33
SolventBench $11 $11 $33 $33
Gold Plating $77 $77 $231 $231
Dry Etch Suite
DRIE $77 $77 $231 $231
RIE $77 $77 $231 $231
ICP $77 $77 $231 $231
Plasma Asher $55 $55 $165 $165
Vapor Etchers $77 $77 $231 $231
Thermal Suite
Oxidation Furnace $11 $11 $33 $33
Anneal Furnace $11 $11 $33 $33
RTA $55 $55 $165 $165
CVD Suite
PECVD $55 $55 $165 $165
ALD – Picosun $33 $33 $99 $99
PVD Suite
Ebeam Evaporator $77 $77 $231 $231
Sputter $77 $77 $231 $231
Metrology Suite
Microscopes $11 $11 $33 $33
Stylus Profilometer $55 $55 $165 $165
Optical Profilometer $55 $55 $165 $165
Reflectometer $11 $11 $33 $33
SEM $77 $77 $231 $231
Contactangle $11 $11 $33 $33
Ellipsometer $55 $55 $165 $165
Packaging Suite
Grinder $77 $77 $231 $231
Wafer Bonder $77 $77 $231 $231
Dicing Saw $55 $55 $165 $165
PDMS Mixer $11 $11 $33 $33
Wire Bonder $55 $55 $165 $165
Wafer Cleaner $33 $33 $99 $99
Probe Station $33 $33 $99 $99
Parylene Coating $33 $33 $99 $99
Services
Engineering Rate $77 $77 $165 $165
Training Rate $77 $77 $165 $165
Supplies Cost+OH Cost+OH Cost+OH Cost+OH
Precious Metals Surcharge: Precious metals are charged at cost plus overhead.
Subscription Services (all subject to 15.6% external overhead):
Private Equipment Access: Privately owned equipment installed at WNF is assessed a standard
occupied area fee of $363/10sf per month. This arrangement is not available for new equipment
considerations, though WNF is open to discussing your needs on a case-by-case basis.
Storage Boxes: All active on-site groups may rent a desiccator dry storage box for $80/month
academic, $110/month industrial based on availability.
Lockers: All active industrial on-site groups may rent a locker for $27/month based on availability.
Office Workstation: All active on-site non-UW users may elect to subscribe for workstation (desk)
access at a rate of $330/month.
Shipping: Remote users will be assessed a fee of $33 for domestic and $82 for international
shipping of samples once processing is completed.
Policy Clarifications:
Fees: Requests for billing changes must be submitted via the website at [Link]. Planned or
equipment-related adjustments are complimentary. Adjustment requests due to repeated user
negligence will be assessed an increasing change fee of $38*N academic, $55*N industrial where N is
the number of previous requests that calendar year. The lab systems are established in CORAL and
on the exit status screen to remind users to log out of equipment. Forgetting to log off prevents other
users from utilizing tools, resulting in loss of revenue. Not logging equipment, such as wet/solvent
benches will incur a fee of $38*N academic /$55*N industrial where N is the number of violations in
a calendar year.
No Show: User that are habitually late or do not show up for appointments will be charged staff
time for the entire time blocked out for the appointment.
Visitors: Visitor requests must be made via the website and are assessed a fee of $40 academic and
$55 industrial per day.
Wet Process: When in wet processing, anytime a user is at a wet process bench, they must be
signed into the wet benches using the touchscreen or CORAL. If a user leaves a sample that occupies
the bench so that other users are impeded, they must remain signed into the bench. Users soaking
wafers samples must allow other users to safely access the bench in order not to incur charges.
Messes left in wet processing will be charged full staff rates for cleanup.
Cleans: Tools that require mandatory cleans (e.g. DRIE, etchers, PECVD) are the responsibility of the
user and should be factored in when considering the cost of operations. Users that do not follow the
prescribed cleaning protocol will be assessed full tool plus staff time for running cleans.
Notch Cap Concept:
The cap and notched cap aid in establishing
cost predictability for both academic
research proposals and industrial
fabrication overhead. The cap is a periodic
ceiling of usage charges that establishes a
relatively fixed price per person. A notch cap
sets a not-to-exceed threshold on the cap to
discourage wasteful equipment use or
monopolization of cleanroom resources by a
few users. Users exceeding the notch for
their subscribed rate plan will pay the post-
notch cap discount rate on the hourly equipment charge for their classification. Due to the nature of
usage tracking being cost-centric, the cap and notch will be based on a plan accrued equipment use
charges.