Full Service Rates

The KNI Laboratory offers full-service work for internal (Caltech/JPL) customers as well as external customers from industry, government, and academia. We welcome electron beam lithography requests, in addition to other device fabrication needs. Full-service work is project dependent on staff availability, timeline, and scope, and will be reviewed by KNI technical staff. This page covers the pricing for external full-service customers. Internal customers (Caltech/JPL), please review the details here.

Why KNI?

• Full process flows: resist coating through etch/deposition to final device, under one roof
• Experienced staff: fill-time expert engineers managing tools daily
• Caltech ecosystem: proximity to world-class research in photonics, quantum, and materials
• IP-secure: NDA option to protect ownership and inventorship rights

Application Areas

• Quantum devices — superconducting qubits, ion trap electrodes, single-photon sources
• Photonic integrated circuits — waveguides, grating couplers, ring resonators, metasurfaces
• AR/VR optics — diffractive waveguide masters, surface-relief gratings, metalenses
• RF & III-V devices — HEMT gates, fine-pitch test structures, GaAs/GaN/InP
• Sensors & MEMS — IR detectors, nanoelectromechanical systems, biomedical devices
• Mask fabrication — photomask writing for optical lithography step-and-repeat

Cost

The prices below are for industry customers (for-profit entities). If you are a non-Caltech academic or government customer, please contact us for the rates. Rates are effective October 1, 2025.

Resource	Hourly Rate (excluding admin fee)
Technical Staff Effort	$                                             200.00
EBPG 5000+ or 5200	$                                             442.00
Nova 600 FIB	$                                             255.00
III-V Cobra ALE Etcher	$                                             204.00
PlasmaPro PECVD (oxide, nitride)	$                                             204.00
FlexAL II ALD/ALE	$                                             170.00
Legacy PlasmaLab PECVD (silicon)	$                                             136.00
Legacy Oxford Etchers (DRIE, III-V, Dielectric)	$                                             136.00
Nanoscribe PPGT (2D/3D print)	$                                             17.00
Administrative Fee (per transaction)	$                                             340.00

Note: The prices shown here include Caltech's indirect cost rate.

To get started

Send an email with your project description and timeline needs to kni@caltech.edu. We will review the request and send a price estimate based on the information provided. We require a purchase order to initiate the full-service work.