The Nanotech West Lab of Ohio State is the largest nanotechnology user facility in the State of Ohio. With currently over 200 total internal (Ohio State) and external users, Nanotech West supports more than 80 research and development projects per year including use by over 30 external users, predominantly startup companies in the Ohio region. Nanotech West consists of a 6,000 square foot class 100 cleanroom facility, a 4,000 square foot Biohybrid Laboratory, and other laboratory and office space in the Science Village Building at 1381 Kinnear Road on the West Campus of the University.
The cleanroom facility is a 100mm wafer (and small parts) process flow that features state-of-the-art electron beam lithography, plasma etch, and atomic layer deposition capabilities, among others. A full list of capabilities and their primary staff contacts can be found here. In the cleanroom, engineering staff maintains equipment and trains users in its safe usage, and is available for process development assistance.
The Biohybrid Laboratory primarily supports the operations of the Ohio State NSF-sponsored Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC), the Center for Affordable Nanoengineering of Polymeric Biomedical Devices (CANPBD). A limited amount of equipment is available for external users. Other laboratory space in the building also includes a major metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) tool capable of III-V compound semiconductor epitaxial growth.
The Lab is also home to the Ohio State node of the Ohio Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC). With its other node at the University of Toledo, this Center was funded with $18.6M of Ohio Third Frontier Program funding and $29M in cost-share from its initial members that included Ohio industry, academia, and not-for-profit organizations. PVIC is now operating on membership funds from its numerous partners. PVIC, like the earlier Wright Center for Multifunctional Polymeric Nanomaterials and Devices (CMPND), has been a substantial source of capital funds for the Lab.
Nanotech West is staffed by 6 full-time engineers, 1 full-time administrator, and additional Associate Staff and engineering and office student interns. Most of the engineering Core Staff have extensive experience in semiconductor or closely related industries.
Nanotech West initially began in 2001 as the Ohio MicroMD Facility, targeted towards industrial bioMEMS technology development. It was the first lab in the US to have a biological capability - its Biohybrid Lab - coupled with a full-flow cleanroom microfabrication process capability. As nanofabrication capabilities and Ohio State usage increased the lab was renamed in 2005, also to reflect its location on the easily-accessible West Campus. Nanotech West is administered through the OSU Institute for Materials Research, which in turn reports to the OSU Office of Research.