The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is fabricating functional quantum devices and semiconductor components through its National Nanofabrication Laboratory (LaNNaFab), according to Mexico Business News. José de la Cruz, a researcher at LaNNaFab, said the laboratory “develops devices with potential application in this field because quantum technologies are ‘the train that is departing now.'”
LaNNaFab operates a Class 100 (ISO 5) cleanroom at UNAM’s Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology (CNyN), which is formally recognized by Mexico’s Ministry of Science, Humanities, Technology, and Innovation (SECIHTI). The facility produces waveguides for optical applications and works on transistors, resistors, and diodes using semiconductor oxide thin films. Cold atom platforms at the Institute of Physics in Mexico City complement the nanofabrication work.
Currently 18 students are engaged in fabrication processes at the laboratory, ranging from undergraduate to postdoctoral researchers. Graduates with ISO 5 cleanroom experience have secured positions at international research centers and technology companies in the United States, Europe, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia. UNAM collaborates with the University of Sonora and the Ensenada Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education (CICESE) on related quantum materials work.