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| Cornell Nanoscale Facility | |
|---|---|
| Name | Cornell Nanoscale Facility |
| Established | 2004 |
| Type | Shared experimental facility |
| Location | Ithaca, New York |
| Affiliation | Cornell University |
Cornell Nanoscale Facility is a university-based shared-use laboratory located on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It serves as a regional node in national networks and provides fabrication, characterization, and cleanroom resources to researchers from institutions, industry, and government. The facility supports work spanning nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, nanoelectromechanical systems, biosensors, and quantum devices.
The facility opened in the early 2000s as part of an expansion of national nanotechnology infrastructure alongside initiatives like the National Nanotechnology Initiative and the establishment of user facilities such as the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure and the NNCI. Its development involved partnerships with federal agencies including the National Science Foundation and state programs associated with New York State economic development efforts. Leadership from departments at Cornell University including the School of Applied and Engineering Physics, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering guided build-out of cleanrooms, metrology, and process tools. Over time the facility aligned with consortia such as the NNCI and worked with national labs such as Argonne National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory to enable collaborative projects.
The site houses class 100 and class 1000 cleanrooms, electron-beam and photolithography tools, and deposition systems used in programs tied to National Science Foundation instrumentation grants and industry-sponsored projects with firms like IBM, Intel, and Applied Materials. Metrology capabilities include scanning electron microscopy commonly deployed by groups from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and atomic force microscopy used by researchers associated with the Department of Physics. Thin-film deposition platforms support collaborations with centers such as the Kavli Institute-affiliated researchers and spin-out ventures from Cornell Tech and the Weill Cornell Medicine community. The facility also integrates chemical wet benches, plasma etchers, reactive ion etching systems, and annealing furnaces that enable work consistent with standards at facilities like MIT.nano and the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility.
Research enabled by the facility spans nanoelectronics research pursued by faculty who have joint appointments in departments such as Applied and Engineering Physics, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, to quantum device fabrication used in collaborations with researchers from Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley. Projects include silicon photonics linked to groups in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, two-dimensional materials processing relevant to teams at National Institute of Standards and Technology, and bioMEMS work connected to investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine. Capabilities support investigations into topological materials akin to studies at Princeton University and superconducting qubits comparable to efforts at Yale University.
The facility supports undergraduate and graduate training programs affiliated with Cornell University curricula, offering hands-on instruction for students in courses from departments like Materials Science and Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering. It hosts workshops and short courses similar to programs run by Sandia National Laboratories and community outreach events partnering with organizations such as the New York State Science & Technology Law Center and regional K–12 initiatives. User training and safety programs follow protocols consistent with professional societies such as the American Vacuum Society and collaborations with regional consortiums including faculty from Ithaca College and the SUNY system.
Operational governance involves staff scientists, facility managers, and oversight by faculty advisory committees drawn from units including the College of Engineering and the Cornell Center for Materials Research. Funding has combined institutional support from Cornell University, federal grants from the National Science Foundation, cooperative agreements tied to the NNCI, and fee-for-service revenue from partnerships with companies like Corning Incorporated and small businesses supported by the Small Business Innovation Research program. Strategic planning has referenced models used by the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network and incorporated industrial advisory input from firms such as Lam Research.
Notable collaborations have included multi-institution projects with researchers at Columbia University, Princeton University, and Harvard University on two-dimensional materials and on-chip photonics; partnerships with IBM Research on novel device architectures; and cooperative work with Cornell Tech on integrated sensors. The facility has supported startup companies incubated through Cornell Research and initiatives funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy and the Department of Defense for energy- and defense-relevant sensor technologies. Cross-disciplinary efforts have linked investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine and the Morgridge Institute-style translational programs to accelerate biomedical microdevices.
The facility and affiliated staff have been recognized through grants and awards from the National Science Foundation instrumentation programs, center designations within the NNCI, and citations in work published in journals associated with societies such as the American Physical Society and the Materials Research Society. Faculty and alumni who utilized the facility have received honors including fellowships from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, awards from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and recognitions by professional bodies like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Category:Cornell University Category:Nanotechnology Category:Research institutes in New York (state)