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Nanofabrication Facility (NNF) provides users with a broad range of nanofabrication and houses all standard thin film processing tools.

Small Molecule Synthesis Facility provides synthetic organic chemistry capabilities including custom synthesis of linkers, monomers and initiators.

This facility has equipment for both Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), which allows the researcher to form images of thin slices or finely divided powders of samples at a resolution of down to 0.18nm, and for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), a tool for visualizing the surface of solid samples with a resolution that can approach 1nm. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) allows the researcher to form images of thin slices or finely divided powders of samples at a resolution of down to 0.18nm. Crystal structure may be analyzed by means of electron diffraction, and chemical analysis, with a sensitivity of a few atoms and spatial resolution of about 0.5nm, may be performed by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) or electron energy-loss analysis (EELS). The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) visualizes the surface of solid samples, with a resolution (depending on the application) that can approach 1nm. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis can be used to analyze volumes with dimensions of around 1 micron with a sensitivity of about 0.1wt%, while back-scatter electron imaging allows the visualization of regions of different composition (in many cases). Crystallographic orientation and structure can be examined using backscatter electron diffraction analysis, though sample preparation requirements for this technique are very stringent and limit the number of samples that can be studied in this way.

This facility, housed in a class-100/1000 cleanroom, supports a reasonably complete range of microelectronic processing capabilities. It is run on a user-fee basis, with access to all Brown faculty and outside users, with a couple of local high-tech start-up companies typically maintaining access privileges (requiring insurance and appropriate safety training) with established user fees. In 2009-2010, the facility supported over 100 users from 25 research groups. The facility has a full-time research engineer (Michael Jibitsky) to maintain and upgrade its equipment and train new users, and a faculty director (Rashid Zia).

Current capabilities include:

• -optical lithography down to ~1 μm minimum feature size (Karl Suss 4" mask aligner);
• -optical low-resolution lithography system from Oriel Instruments, capable of using transparency masks and handling large (up to 5")
• -substrates;
• -reactive ion etching in chlorine and fluorine chemistries (Trion and Plasmatherm tools);
• -plasma-enhanced CVD of oxides and nitrides (Plasmatherm 790);
• -ion-beam assisted deposition of dielectric films, including high-reflectivity multilayer dielectric mirrors (Oxford Instruments);
• -wet processing;
• -low-pressure CVD and thermal oxidation furnaces;
• -electron-beam evaporation metallization (Temescal CV-14 and Lesker Lab 18);
• -RF magnetron sputtering (Lab 18); -rapid thermal annealing; -surface profilometry and ellipsometry.

This facility consists of a Nanoscope III operating station, a Dimension 3100 scanning probe microscope on an air lifted isolation table, and a Multimode scanning probe microscope, all of which are from Digital Instruments/VEECO. This is a shared facility funded by an NSF Major Research Instrumentation award (PI: Tang). It is used extensively for studies of nanoscale materials and devices, and in particular biological materials. Additional functionalities have been added to an existing AFM facility previously funded by the NSF major instrumentation grant. The additional instruments include a Bioscope BIO2-N Precision stage, an inverted fluorescence microscope with a TIRF lens, and an ORCA-285 regular Fluorescence Camera. These added components allow for simultaneous imaging of live cells by AFM and fluorescence microscopy, as well as direct probe of cell mechanics and cell adhesion. The facility will benefit all participants of the Seed, or other investigators of similar interest. Only properly trained persons are allowed to use the facility. All new users must be trained by the facility manager (currently Dr. Guanglai Li). A cost recovery mechanism has not been established.

The Electron Microscopy Cluster provides a variety of electron and optical microscopes for sample preparation, imaging small features and for microanalysis of the elemental composition of materials. The facility is operated by expert managers who have many years of combined experience in advanced microscopy. The CCMR facilities are run by expert staff who provide training and technical assistance. We welcome outside users from both industry and academia.

The Cleanroom and Processing Lab is located in Hill Hall along with the Synthesis Lab and Chemical Vapor Deposition Lab. The labs constitute a unique, co-located exploratory materials synthesis, deposition, and processing capabilities. The Cleanroom is Class 1000 with photolithographic tools for substrates up to 3" (76 mm) diameter and features down to 2 um. It has an adjacent Class 10000 Processing Lab with processing equipment for making electronic devices. The lab supports our PHGN/CHEN435 and CHEN/PHGN/MLGN535 Interdisciplinary Microelectronics Processing Laboratory class and support laboratory research.

Computer Integrated Systems for Microscopy and Manipulation (CISMM) offers custom 3D force microscopy systems; electron, fluorescence and atomic force microscopes; nanoparticle synthesis; and facilities for graphics and virtual reality display.

http://cismm.cs.unc.edu/