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NanoSystems Laboratory is a user facility located on the main campus of the Ohio State University (Columbus, OH) in the Physics Research Building. The facility is open to all interested users on the user fee basis. Our goal is to provide academic and industrial users with access to advanced material characterization and fabrication tools for research and development applications. Research capabilities available at ENSL include focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy, e-beam lithography, nanomanipulation, EDS X-ray microanalysis, X-ray diffractometry, SQUID magnetometry, atomic force/magnetic force microscopy, low temperature magnetotransport measurements.

The Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis (CEMAS) at OSU provides state-of-the-art analytical electron microscopy services to OSU, central Ohio and the broader community.

The LRSM installed a new Multi-angle Light Scattering Instrument – an LS Spectrometer, from LS instruments in the Spring of 2023. This instrument enables a broad range of materials characterization through static and dynamic light scattering. Capabilities enabled by the SLS/DLS instrument include particle size determination, studies of relaxation dynamics, and investigation of thermodynamic interactions of species in suspension (e.g., nanoparticles; polymers; colloidal species).

The instrument is equipped with a 3D Cross-correlation capability that enables it to distinguish intensity decorrelation that originates from single vs multiple scattering events. As a result, the instrument can be used to collect dynamic light scattering data from samples that exhibit multiple scattering, i.e. concentrated, opaque systems. The Modulated 3D Cross-Correlation option enhances the signal from the cross-correlation measurement. Additional options include sample rotation (for measurements of non-ergodic systems), and temperature resolved measurements.

Standard measurements:

• Particle sizing: hydrodynamic Radius (R_h) and radius of gyration (R_g)
• Size distribution and polydispersity
• Particle dynamics: diffusion coefficient, mean square displacement,
• Polymer molecular weight (MW ~ 360 – 3600000 Dalton)
• 2nd virial coefficient
• Rayleigh ratio
• Form and structure factors
• Inter-particle distance in charged systems
• Aggregation
• Etc.

Specifications:

Sample volume	50 μL to 4 ml
Particle size range (Rh)	0.15 nm to 5 μm
Radius of gyration (Rg)	5 nm to 5 μm
Molecular weight	360 – 3,600,000 Dalton
Angular range	12° to 150° (+/- 0.01°) Recommended 15° to 150°
Laser	Fiber-coupled laser 120 mW, 638 nm
Correlator	320 channels, delay time 12.5 ns to 15 h, auto- and cross-correlation
Temperature	up to 90 °C

For light scattering tutorials:

• LS Spectrometer User Manual
• LS Instrument Training Presentation
• Manual Zim Plot
• Reports and Additionals (Access request needed for download)
• Python Code Demo for Plotting

Device Fabrication and Measurements Laboratories include e-beam lithography system (Roberts 140, MSE Department), micro-contact printing (Bagley 195, Xia), and dip-pen lithography and vacuum deposition (Bagley 13B, Ginger). Device measurements include photonic (Roberts 209, Jen) and electronic (EE B052, Parviz) techniques. Contact Dr. Hanson Fong for details.

The Nanoscale Imaging, Spectroscopy and Properties (NISP) Lab is relatively new but already contains some excellent equipment that is available to everyone in the University and to government and industry. It is connected to MRSEC via funding and/or other collaborative effort. NISPLab is dedicated to the characterization of the structure and composition of a broad spectrum of hard and soft materials and biological systems with nanometer resolution. These capabilities are used for research, and the teaching and training of students. The research performed in the laboratory is focused on the characterization of materials and structures in the areas of biomaterials, multifunctional and smart materials, nanostructured materials, nanodevices and geological materials. Equipment includes a JEM 2100 LaB6 transmission electron microscope (TEM) coupled with fiber optic, video-rate imaging, allowing observation of devices and conditions both in situ and in real time; a Hitachi SU-70 field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer (EDS) used for elemental mapping; a JEOL 2100F atomic-resolution field emission transmission electron microscope (FE-TEM); and a JEOL JXA-89 electron microprobe equipped with a wavelength-dispersive x-ray spectrometer (WDS), used primarily in materials and geology research.

X rays - discovered by W.C. Rontgen in 1895 - have become established as an invaluable probe of the structure of matter. Progress in understanding the interaction between x rays and matter and of exploiting X rays experimentally has been increasing steadily since its discovery. In more recent times this has lead to unraveling the structure and morphology of compounds of increasing complexity like self-assembling molecular systems, including functional units of bio-organisms like DNA and proteins. MRSEC has funded within the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering an X-Ray Facility with several modern instruments for x-ray scattering (small, intermediate and wide angles), powder x-ray diffraction, and x-ray reflectivity studies of thin films.

Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility (SMIF) includes advanced characterization facilities and clean rooms for analysis and fabrication of advanced materials and devices. In the Fall of 2012, a Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) Instrument will be added to the facility.

This Facility is managed by the UCSB Materials Department, which is separate from the MRL. External users wishing to access this facility should contact one of the Facility Managers below with inquiries.

Facility Director

Professor Tresa Pollock

Facility Managers

tmates [at] mrl [dot] ucsb [dot] edu (Dr. Tom Mates)	Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) LEAP 3000X HR Atom Probe
cornish [at] engineering [dot] ucsb [dot] edu (Mr. Mark Cornish)	Scanning Electron Microscopes Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM) Technical Manager Sample preparation Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM), Technical Manager Accounting
skraemer [at] engineering [dot] ucsb [dot] edu (Dr. Stephan Kraemer)	Focus Ion Beam Microscopes (FIB), Technical Manager Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM), Technical Manager TEM sample preparation TEM sample preparation using FIB High Resolution TEM, Analytical Techniques

Facility Location

1st Floor of CNSI Building

Shared facilities operated by the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience (NCMN). The Facility provides state-of-the-art instruments for fabricating material samples and devices. The primary focus of the facility is on nanostructuring by using thin film deposition and multi-layering. The facility has 2 thin film deposition systems which can deposit sub nanometer thick films in which 2 or more materials can be layered together in different order to form a multilayer structure. The properties of such samples or devices will depend on the actual intrinsic property of the nanostructuring such as how the materials interact through the interfaces. The facility also provides systems to alloy materials together to study the bulk material properties.