Pricing

Qfab’s pricing model is simple and transparent. We charge based on material usage and fabrication time, while passing through facility fees at their actual recharge rates (e.g., UCSB Nanofab). This ensures our clients only pay for the real cost of fabrication—no hidden markups.

Invoice Structure

Each project invoice typically includes:

• Facility charges:
  Direct pass-through of cleanroom and tool usage fees at the published recharge rate of UCSB Nanofab or partner facilities.

• Qfab labor:
  Time-based charge for dedicated engineering, process development, and project management.

• Materials and consumables:
  Actual material costs (wafers, gold, etc) required for the specific process.

• Shipping and packaging (if applicable)

Academic and Government Lab Discounts

We understand the constraints of academic and government research. Our rates may vary for UC academic, non-UC academic (including government labs), and industry customers.

Payment & Project Setup

Please fill in the contact form on the Contact page to start the conversation about your project. Below are some guidelines for how we would be setting up the payments and our collaboration framework. If you have more questions about the payments and project setup please let us know.

Academic Clients

For university and research institution projects, a purchase order (PO) must be submitted before work begins.
This ensures compliance with your institution’s internal accounting requirements and allows both parties to clearly define the project scope and funding source.

A PO does not mean you are charged—it simply serves as a legal authorization for Qfab to begin work and invoice against that order. The actual charge is determined by the final invoice, which reflects the real material and facility usage.

If Qfab is not yet listed as a supplier in your university’s procurement system, please check with us — we may already be registered. If not, we can assist your department in completing the vendor setup process.

We can provide cost estimates to help facilitate PO creation; however, we do not issue fixed quotes, as project costs may vary based on actual cleanroom usage and material needs. Qfab always strives to stay within the projected budget and will communicate any expected deviations in advance.

For ongoing partnerships, Qfab issues monthly invoices based on work completed and materials used.

Industry Clients

For longer-term or multi-phase collaborations—such as process development or prototyping programs—we recommend establishing a Master Service Agreement (MSA) that outlines the general framework of our collaboration.
Each individual project can then be defined through a Statement of Work (SOW) with an estimated cost and scope.

For ongoing partnerships, Qfab issues monthly invoices based on work completed and materials used.

Payment Terms

Our standard payment term is Net 30 from the date of invoice.