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The Materials Characterization Lab (MCL) is a fully-staffed, user research facility at Penn State’s Materials Research Institute that offers researchers convenient and affordable access to a wide-range of state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation and services.

The UD Nanofabrication Facility (UDNF) enables researchers from academia, industry and government to create devices smaller than a human hair, supporting scientific advances in fields ranging from medical diagnostics to environmental sensing to solar energy harvesting.

Facility Primary Contact: Iulian Codreanu

The mission of the Microelectronics Research Center (MRC) at The University of Texas at Austin is to perform education, research and development in materials and electronic devices. MRC is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

The University of Delaware (UD) Materials Growth Facility (MGF) offers III-V and topological insulator (TI) growth of epitaxial semiconductor films. These growths are performed on a dual-chamber GENxplor molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system. Our staff offers full-service material calibration and growth, as well as training to perform MBE deposition. The MGF is integrated into the Delaware Institute for Materials Research (DIMR), providing seamless materials growth, materials characterization, electron microscopy, and nanofabrication capabilities.

Facility Primary Contact: [email protected]

Established in fall 2000, the Penn State MRSEC Central Facilities Laboratory (CFL) is housed in Davey Laboratory, which is located on Penn State University Park Central Campus within a 10 minute walk of the academic departments of the Center participants. It currently focuses on advanced cryogenic characterization, including PPMS and SQUID capabilites. This includes a multimode atomic force microscopy (AFM)/magnetic force microscopy (MFM) / scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) system, two superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometers for magnetization measurements over a temperature range of 2K-1000K, three physical property measurement systems (PPMS) for magneto-transport measurements over a temperature range from 50 mK - 400 K and magnetic fields from 0 - 9 T.

This high sensitivity XPS (Kratos Axis 165) is available for compositional and chemical state analysis of monolayers, thin films, and solid state materials. The system is presently configured with both dual anode(Mg, AlKa) and monochromatized (AlKa) Xray sources. The system has been configured for broad materials applications with the presence of a variable temperature sample stage, charge neutralization system (for insulating samples), ion gun (for depth profiling), and a rapid entry loadlock for high throughput analysis. This facility is operated cooperatively with the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.

The Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory (MIBL) for Surface Modification and Analysis was established in October of 1986. The Laboratory is part of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences in the College of Engineering, and is located on the University of Michigan’s North Campus. MIBL is part of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN). The laboratory was created for the purpose of advancing our understanding of ion-solid interactions by providing unique and extensive facilities to support both research and development in the field. Researchers have available to them several instruments for conducting ion beam surface modification and ion beam surface analysis under a wide range of conditions. Experiments can be conducted at high or low temperature, in ultra-high vacuums, in a reactive gas and in short turnaround times. A knowledgeable scientific staff and a large number of supporting facilities are also available for surface preparation and analysis. Cruise the site and see if anything interests you.

Chaikin, Pine, and Thompson combine their capabilities to create a benchtop “wind tunnel” mechanical testing facility where the mechanical properties of colloidal, composite, and mineralized model systems can be measured and their scaling relationships elucidated, with the aim of developing design principles for optimizing structures. This facility enables real-time visualization of deformations as stresses are applied, fractures propagate, and materials yield. The wind tunnel facility builds on the suite of mechanical testing equipment located in the Biomaterials and Biomimetics Equipment Facility, which currently is operated as an open user facility with five full time staff researchers. The facility houses (i) a four electrodynamic mouth motion fatigue systems (Enduratec ELF-3300 – 2000 N, 2 biaxial and 2 unaxial); (ii) universal testing machine (Instron 5566 with 8000-N capability); (iii) an R-ratio uniaxial fatigue testing machine (Electro Dynamic 1,Test Resources); (iv) a universal tester (Romulus IV with hardness, shear, and break point modules); (v) a low-load uniaxial testing machine (Chatillon M3200 with micotensile fixtures), (vi) a wear tester (Sabri Oral Wear Simulation system); (vii) hardness tester (Buehler with Vickers and Knoop diamonds); and (viii) a profilometer (Mitotoyu). The Biomaterials and Biomimetics Equipment Facility also houses (i) two environmental scanning electron microscopes (Hitachi 3500N, Zeiss EV- 50), each with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (PGT IMIX) and backscatter electron imaging detectors for elemental composition and atomic density analyses; (ii) two sputter coaters (EMITECH, ISI); (iii) for X-ray imaging and x-ray diffraction, a microcomputer-aided tomography system (Skyscan 40), Faxitron x-ray machine for high-resolution planar images, and an X-ray diffraction system (Philips APD3520); (iv) for optical microscopy, a confocal microscope (Technical Instruments K2S-BIO), a portable confocal microscope (modified Technical Instruments K2S-BIO), two 3D microscopes (Edge R400 and H160 Real-Time), two fully automated compound microscopes (Leica-Leitz DMRX/E, Zeiss Photomicroscope I), both with contrast enhancements and fluorescence), a 3-D digitizer (Mitutoyo Video-Based), and state-of-the-art image analysis software, (v) for materials characterization, a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (Nicolet 550, with IR-Plan microscope), a Hg intrusion porosity measuring system (Micromeretics Autopor 9200), a specific surface and porosity measuring system (Micromeretics Flowsorb II 2300), a thermogravimetric system (Perkin-Elmer TGS2).

The merger of NYU and Polytechnic expands the facilities available to MRSEC investigators, providing access to various optical and fluorescence microscopes, variable temperature spectrofluorimeters, liposome extruders, gamma radiation counters, stations for handling radionuclides, dynamic light scattering, a Malvern Zetasizer ZS90, two CH Instruments 660C potentiostats, a CH Instruments 760C potentiostat, temperature-controlled rotating disk electrode apparatus, CH Instruments 440A electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, Cary 50 UV-Vis spectrometer with standard and Peltier temperature-controlled cuvette holders, Beckman Coulter SYS Gold Bioessential 125/168 HPLC, Perkin Elmer Spectrum 100 infrared spectrometer with grazing incidence and ATR attachments, JASCO J-815 circular dichroism spectropolarimeter, UVISEL spectroscopic ellipsometer, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer (Bruker Omniflex), NMR spectrometer (Bruker Ultrashield 300), Digital Instruments Multimode SPM Atomic Force Microscope with an EV scanner and Nanoscope IIIa controller, an Olympus 1X70 Fluorescence Microscope, and a Hitachi Scientific Instruments Scanning Electron Microscope with EDAX Phoenix X-ray detector, a Phillips wide angle X-ray (WAX) Diffractometer, a SEC-MALLS-viscometer Waters HPLC systems with fraction collectors, an HPLC-FTIR, a Nicolet AVATAR FTIR, HP5890 II GC with Flame ionization detection (FID), a GC-MS, a Dynamic Light Scattering Coulter N4 Plus Submicron Particle Sizer, a Waters LC-MS with ZQ 2000 on-line Mass Detector, a Speed vac and lyophilizer, a Thermogravimetric Analysis Instrument, a Capillary Rheometer, an Instron 4465 tensile tester and a Bruker Daltonics Omniflex MALDI-TOF. The facilities also include a Spectramax microplate reader, a Chemidoc gel and plate visualization system, an Amersham UMAX-UTA-III transmission scanner and Imagemaster, a Biorad RT-quantitative PCR, a Gel Drier, a Perkin Elmer LS 50B Luminescence spectrophotometer, a sonicator, TA Instruments Modulated and Perkin-Elmer Differential Scanning Calorimeter and densitometry instrumentation.

The Molecular Design Institute operates within the NYU Department of Chemistry at the nexus of key areas in physics and biology, serving as a springboard for interdisciplinary research with other NYU departments. The MDI complements the newly established Center for Soft Matter Research in the Department of Physics. These two initiatives offer a unique opportunity to examine self-assembly and hierarchical organization of complex materials across length scales ranging from the molecular to the colloidal, that is, from the nanoscale to the microscale. The existence of complementary center in the Physics and Chemistry will provide synergy, strengthening both departments in tandem. The MDI faculty, Professor Michael D. Ward, Professor Marcus Weck, Professor Bart Kahr, and Professor Adam Braunschweig, unite expertise in the design and synthesis of complex molecular and supramolecular architectures and materials. The MDI has procured facilities for cutting edge research. Since its ribbon cutting ceremony in May 2007, the MDI has hosted many guests from the United States and abroad.