National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network Year 9...This report summarizes the activities and progress for the 9th year of the operation of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure

NNIN Annual Report p.1 March 2012-Feb 2013 ECCS-0335765

National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network

NNIN Annual Report Year 9

March 2012-Feb 2013

ECCS-0335765

Dan Ralph, PI Roger Howe, Network Director


Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction to the Report ......................................................................................... 7 2.0 NNIN Overview ......................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Approach and Usage ............................................................................................... 8 2.2 Practices for User Support ..................................................................................... 10

2.2.1 User Facilities ............................................................................................................... 10 2.2.2 NNIN Project Support, Process Support and Training ................................................. 11

2.3 Overview for 2012 .................................................................................................. 12 2.3.1 Activities and Usage ..................................................................................................... 12 2.3.2 Examples of Scientific Impact from 2012 ..................................................................... 13 2.3.3 NNIN Web Site ............................................................................................................. 13

2.4 Network Management ............................................................................................ 14 2.5 Network and Site Funding-Year 10 ........................................................................ 15

2.5.1 Reallocation .................................................................................................................. 16 2.5.2 Funding Distribution ...................................................................................................... 16

2.6 Network Performance ............................................................................................ 17 2.6.1 Program Breadth .......................................................................................................... 20 2.6.2 Lab Use......................................................................................................................... 21 2.6.3 Cumulative Annual Users by Site ................................................................................. 22 2.6.4 Average Monthly Users ................................................................................................ 26 2.6.5 User Fees ..................................................................................................................... 27 2.6.6 Hours per user .............................................................................................................. 33 2.6.7 New Users .................................................................................................................... 34

3.0 NNIN Education and Human Resources Programs .......................................37 3.1 Objectives and Program Challenges ..................................................................... 37 3.2 Coordination and Collaboration ............................................................................. 39

3.2.1 Scope of Program and “Countable” Activities............................................................... 39 3.3 NNIN Major National Programs: REU, iREU, iREG, and RET .............................. 40

3.3.1 REU Program ............................................................................................................... 40 3.3.2 iREU Program ............................................................................................................... 43 3.3.3 iREG-International Research Experience for Graduates ............................................. 46 3.3.4 RET Program ................................................................................................................ 46 3.3.5 iWSG............................................................................................................................. 47

3.4 Other Education Programs ..................................................................................... 49 3.4.1 Teacher Workshops ...................................................................................................... 49 3.4.2 NanoTeach ................................................................................................................... 50 3.4.3 Other K-12 outreach ..................................................................................................... 51 3.4.4 NanoExpress ................................................................................................................ 52 3.4.5 NNIN Education Portal .................................................................................................. 52 3.4.6 Nanooze ....................................................................................................................... 52

3.5 USA Science and Engineering Festival ................................................................. 54 3.6 Technical Workshops--Laboratory Oriented .......................................................... 54 3.7 Symposia and Advanced Topics Workshops ........................................................ 55 3.8 Diversity Related Efforts and Programs ................................................................. 55

3.8.1 Diversity in NNIN REU Program ................................................................................... 55 3.8.2 Diversity in NNIN RET Program ................................................................................... 56


3.8.3 Laboratory Experience for Faculty Program ................................................................. 56 3.9 Assessment and Evaluation ................................................................................... 58 3.10 Program Summary ................................................................................................. 58

4.0 NNIN Computation Program ..........................................................................59 4.1 Codes at the Sites .................................................................................................. 59 4.2 Hardware Updates ................................................................................................. 60 4.3 NNIN/C Impact in Science and Education ............................................................. 60 4.4 Research Highlights ............................................................................................... 61 4.5 Progress on New Computation Initiatives .............................................................. 69

4.5.1 Virtual Vault for Interatomic Potentials ......................................................................... 69 4.5.2 Virtual Vault for Pseudopotentials Development .......................................................... 70 4.5.3 GPU Initiative ................................................................................................................ 70

4.6 Collaborative Projects ............................................................................................ 71 4.6.1 Defence Threat Reduction Agency Grant Award ........................................................ 71 4.6.2 Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Sandia National Laboratory ......................... 71 4.6.3 Thermal Transport in Crystalline and Disordered Materials ......................................... 72 4.6.4 Industry collaborations .................................................................................................. 73 4.6.5 International collaborations ........................................................................................... 73

4.7 Workshops and Training Activities ......................................................................... 73 4.7.1 User Outreach Activities ............................................................................................... 73 4.7.2 NNIN/C Role in Training and Courses at NNIN sites ................................................... 73 4.7.3 Hands-on Workshops ................................................................................................... 73 4.7.4 Webinar Series on Modeling and Simulation of MEMS and Microfluidic Devices and

Their Fabrication Processes ........................................................................................ 74 4.7.5 Simulation Workshop at the IWCE Phonon School, Madison, WI................................ 75 4.7.6 Pan-American Advanced Studies Workshop on Computational Material Science for

Energy Generation and Conversion ............................................................................. 75 5.0 NNIN GeoSciences Initiative..........................................................................78

5.1 Introduction: ............................................................................................................ 78 5.2 Tasks and Accomplishments ................................................................................. 78

5.2.1 Task 1: Outreach to Geo Community ........................................................................... 78 5.2.2. Tasks 2 & 3: Initiate Collaborative Projects and Disseminate Information: .................. 79 5.2.3 Task 4: Geosciences User Expansion at NNIN ............................................................ 83

6.0 Society and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology ......................................84 6.1 Vision and Goals .................................................................................................... 84 6.2 SEI Activities .......................................................................................................... 84

6.2.1 NNIN SEI REU Participation: ........................................................................................ 84 6.2.2 NNIN Seed Grant Winners ........................................................................................... 85 6.2.3 NNIN User Database .................................................................................................... 86 6.2.4 SEI Orientation “Train the Trainer” Workshops for NNIN Labs: ................................... 86 6.2.5 SEI Orientation Video ................................................................................................... 86 6.2.6 SEI Blog ........................................................................................................................ 86 6.2.7 Additional, Ongoing Activities: ...................................................................................... 87 6.2.8 SEI Publications and Presentations from NNIN SEI Principals .................................... 87

7.0 Site Reports ...................................................................................................89 7.1 Arizona State University Site Report ...................................................................... 89

7.1.1 Site Overview ................................................................................................................ 89


7.1.2 Project Highlights .......................................................................................................... 89 7.1.3 Education & Outreach ................................................................................................... 91 7.1.4 SEI Training .................................................................................................................. 91 7.1.5 ASU-Selected Site Statistics ........................................................................................ 92

7.2 Cornell University NNIN Site Report ...................................................................... 93 7.2.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................... 93 7.2.2 Technical Highlights ...................................................................................................... 93 7.2.3 Focus Areas/Assigned Responsibilities ........................................................................ 96 7.2.4 Equipment and Facilities............................................................................................... 98 7.3.5 Site Usage and Promotion Activities ............................................................................ 99 7.3.6 Commercialization Activities ....................................................................................... 100 7.3.7 Education Contributions.............................................................................................. 100 7.3.8 Computation Contributions ......................................................................................... 102 7.3.9 Social and Ethical Issues in Nanotechnology ............................................................. 105 7.2.10 Staffing ........................................................................................................................ 106 7.2.11 Selected Cornell Site Statistics ................................................................................... 107

7.3 Georgia Tech Site Report .................................................................................... 108 7.3.1 Research Highlights .................................................................................................... 108 7.3.2 Growth of the Georgia Tech Facilities, Equipment and Capabilities .......................... 110 7.3.3 Diversity Activities ....................................................................................................... 111 7.3.4 Special Focus/Leadership: Education: ....................................................................... 112 7.3.5 Special Focus/Leadership: Bio and Life Sciences: .................................................... 113 7.3.6 Georgia Tech Selected Site Statistics ........................................................................ 114

7.4 Harvard University Site Report............................................................................. 115 7.4.1 Facility Overview ......................................................................................................... 115 7.4.2 Research Highlights .................................................................................................... 115 7.4.3 Facility and Operations Highlights .............................................................................. 116 7.4.4 Equipment Highlights .................................................................................................. 117 7.4.5 Staff Highlights ............................................................................................................ 118 7.4.6 Nanocomputation (NNIN/C) Site Activities ................................................................. 120 7.4.7 Education and Outreach ............................................................................................. 120 7.4.8 Society and Ethics ...................................................................................................... 123 7.4.9 Harvard University Selected Site Statistics ................................................................ 124

7.5 Howard University Site ......................................................................................... 125 7.5.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................... 125 7.5.2 Progress in Attracting New Users ............................................................................... 126 7.5.3 Staff ............................................................................................................................. 126 7.5.4 Education .................................................................................................................... 127 7.5.5 New Equipment .......................................................................................................... 129 7.5.6 Nanotechnology Seminar Series ................................................................................ 130 7.5.7 Renovations of HNF ................................................................................................... 130 7.5.8 Research Highlights .................................................................................................... 131 7.5.9 Howard University Selected Site Statistics ................................................................. 134

7.6 Penn State University Site Report ....................................................................... 135 7.6.1 Site Description and Technical Capabilities ............................................................... 135 7.6.2 External and Internal Research Highlights ................................................................. 135 7.6.3 Facilities, Acquisitions, and Operations ...................................................................... 137 7.6.4 Education, Outreach and SEI ..................................................................................... 139


7.6.5 Penn State Selected Statistics ................................................................................... 141 7.7 Stanford University Site Report ............................................................................ 142

7.7.1 Facility Overview ......................................................................................................... 142 7.7.2 Research Highlights .................................................................................................... 142 7.7.3 Equipment, Facility and Staff Highlights ..................................................................... 146 7.7.4 Educational/Computational/Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology

Highlights.................................................................................................................... 148 7.7.5 Stanford Site Selected Statistics ................................................................................ 151

7.8 University of California Santa Barbara Site Report ............................................. 152 7.8.1 Site Overview .............................................................................................................. 152 7.8.2 Research Examples .................................................................................................... 153 7.8.3 Operations and Capital Acquisitions ........................................................................... 155 7.8.4 Education, Diversity, and SEI ..................................................................................... 156 7.8.5. USCB Selected Statistics ........................................................................................... 159

7.9 University of Colorado Site Report ....................................................................... 160 7.9.1 Summary .................................................................................................................... 160 7.9.2 Technical Focus Areas ............................................................................................... 160 7.9.3 Research Highlights .................................................................................................... 161 7.9.4 Operations .................................................................................................................. 162 7.9.5 Diversity oriented initiatives ........................................................................................ 164 7.9.6 Education oriented contributions ................................................................................ 164 7.9.7 Society and ethics oriented activities .......................................................................... 165 7.9.8 New Initiative: Colorado Nanotechnology Alliance ..................................................... 166 7.9.9 University of Colorado Selected Site Statistics .......................................................... 167

7.10 University of Michigan Site Report ....................................................................... 168 7.10.1 Technical Focus Areas ............................................................................................... 168 7.10.2 Research Highlights .................................................................................................... 169 7.10.3 Acquisitions, Changes and Facility Operations .......................................................... 172 7.10.4 Diversity Oriented Contributions ................................................................................. 173 7.10.5 Education .................................................................................................................... 173 7.10.6 SEI highlights .............................................................................................................. 174 7.10.7 University of Michigan Selected Statistics .................................................................. 176

7.11 University of Minnesota Site Report ..................................................................... 177 7.11.1 Summary of Initiatives and Activities .......................................................................... 177 7.11.2 Selected External and Internal Highlights ................................................................... 177 7.11.3 Equipment and Facility Highlights .............................................................................. 179 7.11.4 Diversity ...................................................................................................................... 179 7.11.5 Education and Outreach ............................................................................................. 180 7.11.6 SEI Activities ............................................................................................................... 182 7.11.7 University of Minnesota Selected Statistics ................................................................ 184

7.12 University of Texas Site Report ........................................................................... 185 7.12.1 Technical leadership areas: Initiatives and Activities ................................................. 185 7.12.2 Acquisitions, Changes and Operations ...................................................................... 187 7.12.3 Diversity Activities ....................................................................................................... 187 7.12.4 Education .................................................................................................................... 187 7.12.5 Social and Ethical Issues (SEI) .................................................................................. 188 7.12.6 University of Texas Selected Statistics ....................................................................... 189

7.13 University of Washington Site Report .................................................................. 190


7.13.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................... 190 7.13.2 Aquatic, Geo and Environmental Sciences News ...................................................... 190 7.13.3 Research Highlights .................................................................................................... 191 7.13.4 Equipment, Facility and Staff Highlights ..................................................................... 196 7.13.5 Educational Highlights ................................................................................................ 197 7.13.6 SEI Highlights ............................................................................................................. 198 7.13.7. University of Washington Selected Statistics ............................................................ 199

7.14 Washington University in St. Louis Site Report ................................................... 200 7.14.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................... 200 7.14.2 Research Project Highlights ....................................................................................... 200 7.13.3 Equipment and Operation ........................................................................................... 201 7.14.4 Staff ............................................................................................................................. 202 7.14.5 Education and Other Activities ................................................................................... 202 7.14.6 Washington University at St. Louis Selected Site Statistics ....................................... 204


1.0 Introduction to the Report This report summarizes the activities and progress for the 9th year of the operation of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), from March 1, 2012 through Feb. 28, 2013, which is the 4th year following its five-year renewal in 2009. NNIN is funded via a cooperative agreement between Cornell University and NSF; the current award period extends through Feb. 28, 2014.

The network’s unique strengths – its diverse technical capabilities afforded through the laboratory and technical personnel, its unique user community with technical diversity and unparalleled reach as the largest community of nano-oriented researchers, and the academic strength and geographic reach that it can leverage through its place in the national research and development pursuit. These newer efforts in educational and outreach activities in education: development of an international perspective in national student community, in helping open and explore new science and engineering frontiers through advanced symposia and workshops, and in development of societal and ethical consciousness through citizenship building and research studies to assess implications of nanotechnology, drew on the reach and the resources of the network

This report documents NNIN’s activities and highlights for the 9th year of NNIN operation (March 2012-Feb. 2013). It includes statistics of usage and particularly focuses on progress and activities that NNIN initiated for renewed term. Earlier reports have described NNIN functions and operations extensively and these will not be described here in detail.

2.0 NNIN Overview The National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) is a collective of fourteen university-based facilities with the mission to enable rapid advancements in nanoscale science, technology and engineering through open and efficient access for fabrication. The core mission of the NNIN it to provide a distributed, facilities-based infrastructure resource that is openly accessible to the nation’s students, scientists and engineers from academe, small and large companies, and national laboratories. It enables them to design and fabricate nano-scale structures, devices, and systems for characterizing material properties and device and system performance, through providing access to fabrication tools and processes in leading academic cleanrooms, along with the hands-on training and consultation with experts that is essential for success. NNIN’s goal is to bring newcomers to experimental nanotechnology to a point of being able to fabricate on their own, at an affordable cost and with the minimum training period.

NNIN also supports its core mission through computational scientists and computing facilities at several of its nodes. These experts in modeling and simulation collaborate with nanoscience and engineering experimentalists to accelerate research in materials science, nanoscale metrology, and device structures. NNIN’s computational infrastructure is open to academic and industrial users from outside the host institutions. We also leverage our extensive infrastructure resources and geographic and institutional diversity to conduct other activities with broad impact: in education, in enhancing diversity in the technical disciplines, in the societal and ethical implications, and in the health and environmental issues associated with nanotechnology.

Figure 1: NNIN Sites


2.1 Approach and Usage NNIN’s approach for supporting research and development has been to focus its efforts on serving the external user who is not part of the academic community at the host institution. As a result, we use the resources provided by NSF to support the staff members that train users, assist them with their research and development tasks, and maintain the equipment and process resource. These staff, made possible by the NSF funds, often leveraged by university support. Nanotechnology resources are optimized through the identification of the technical strengths at each of the nodes, which reflect the intellectual strengths of the host institution. When coupled with geographic diversity, this community approach also enables a balanced and broad set of capabilities for the nation’s nanotechnology researchers.

The network is focused on providing the infrastructure for nanotechnology research by the external user community: the students and professionals from non-NNIN institutions. In NNIN’s view, infrastructure consists of much more than advanced equipment. While an extensive set of state-of-the-art equipment is a necessary condition, it is not sufficient for the operation of an effective distributed user facility. Key to NNIN’s operation and thus a key part of the “infrastructure” are the committed staff who enable the effective use of the nanotechnology tool set and who have a focus on service to external users. NNIN’s facilities are all committed to this open-access culture and operate as an organization supporting and complementing each other, so that the network can be effective across the breadth of nanotechnology’s subdisciplines, as well as geographically.

NNIN supports researchers having a wide range of experience, from novice to experts, by sharing with them the breadth of tools, along with a breadth of knowledge on integrated process design and execution, where a large number of material and environmental interactions can occur. Essential to each nanofab’s efficient and productive operation is the training of users on a large variety of equipment, maintaining a high level of equipment uptime, supporting the users by open sharing process knowledge and previous experience, and by keeping the facilities open 24 hours a day. Some projects are simple, requiring only one fabrication step or access to a single advanced instrument; others can be very complex, requiring integration of multiple process steps and the use of novel materials. Openness to new materials is also a key feature on NNIN facilities. Nanotechnology extends to all forms of condensed matter and fabrication technology in order to build structures, devices, and systems. The ability and willingness to process new materials is critical for many emerging applications of nanotechnology, and is particularly critical at this time where problems and research challenges related to energy conversion and storage and the bio-sciences are expanding the materials being explored in nano-scale science and engineering. A broad array of techniques applicable to a diverse palate of materials is necessary and is made available through

Figure 2: NNIN Stakeholders and scope of activities


NNIN facilities. To support this growing set of materials in shared nanotechnology facilities without cross-contamination occurring requires both thorough training of the user community and a vigilant staff that closely monitors critical tools and processes.

Our approach for achieving our objective of effective and efficient project execution by external users is summarized by our commitment to provide:

• A true practice of openness at all sites, based on serving external users, • A state-of-the-art equipment resource, distributed across the sites, and supported by a high level

of technical staff expertise, • A commitment to technical excellence that focuses on bringing key instrumentation and

knowledge and training to users, especially new users, The effective and leveraged use of scarce equipment and staff resources, which is made possible by a critical mass of users across the network,

• A geographically distributed resource, with distributed technical responsibilities, building upon the research and technology strengths of each site, while serving the broadest community, and

• A synergistic set of local and national activities to support education of users, potential users, human resource development, and provide public outreach.

Each NNIN site has technical area responsibilities that are tied to the technical area strengths of the institution. NNIN sites, thus, do not provide identical capabilities but do provide a set of common, essential fabrication techniques, complemented by specialized technical area capabilities. We can provide world-leading expertise that is unique to each site, based on its own toolset and history, interests of the local faculty, and resources. The network is a distributed set of laboratories, each with distinctly local flavor, but all work toward a common goal, with a common approach. This shared vision is critical to the operation of the network. To achieve this vision, all sites have committed to the following common principles:

• Open and equal access to all projects independent of origin, • Single-minded commitment to serving external users, • Commitment to support interdisciplinary research and emerging areas, • Openness to new materials, techniques, processes, and applications, • Commitment to deepening social and ethical consciousness, • Facility control, rather than ownership by individual faculty ownership, of fabrication tools,

instruments, and other resources, • Commitment to maintaining high equipment uptime and availability • Commitment to comprehensive training and staff support, • Facility governance dedicated to national networked support, independent of interference from

other local organizations at the site, and • Commitment to having no intellectual-property barriers to facility access.

These principles are critical to NNIN’s operational success and they distinguish NNIN facilities from other research facilities, which try to support external user access as a secondary rather than a primary mission. This approach also avoids any conflicts of interest that arise in conduct of research when multiple investigators are pursuing similar directions. These principles have served NNIN well and have allowed it to make a major contribution to the nation’s nanotechnology research and development infrastructure.

NNIN efficiently utilizes its resources by tying intellectual strengths at a particular host university to leadership responsibilities for serving related disciplines through its site. This strategy assures that state-


of-art instruments and advanced knowledge as well as extensive experience are available to external users. The table shows the matrix of leadership and contributory responsibilities of the sites within the network.

Together, these practices have established NNIN as a model of a distributed, shared laboratory environment that embraces interdisciplinary research and builds upon the nano-science and nanotechnology expertise resident at each of our member sites. This infrastructure support for nanotechnology research enables NNIN to play a leading role in the development of the scientists, engineers and high-technology work force of the future.

2.2 Practices for User Support Our practices to support and train users, especially new users, continue to evolve with learning and experience. External user support, training, and procedures are our focus; internal users obviously benefit, because of the efficiencies created. The procedures are not straightforward to implement in a conventional university laboratory environment where multiple conflicting interests co-exist. Through the leadership of NNIN derived from its experience over the past 9 years, and its documented impact on nanotechnology research, both locally and nationally, the NNIN sites have adopted and implemented these methods. This section summarizes the NNIN user-support practices.

2.2.1 User Facilities The facilities of NNIN are resource facilities; i.e., the primary mission of NNIN and its individual sites are to facilitate the research of others. The NNIN sites are specifically not research centers and NNIN is not a research program. This fact distinguishes its operating philosophy from that of other center-based

Table 1---NNIN sites and technical competencies and leadership areas. L=Leadership, x=assigned technical areas

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Cornell x x L x L L x x L x x L L L x

Stanford x x L x L L x x L x x x x L L x

Georgia Tech x x L x x x L L

Michigan L x x L L x x x x

Harvard x L x x L x x x x

UCSB x L x x L L

Minnesota x x x x L x x

Penn State L x x x x x x

Texas L x L x x

Washington x L L x x x x

Howard x x x L

ASU x x x L x L

WUStL x x L x L

Colorado x x L L x L


programs, including STCs, ERCs, NSECs, MRSECs, etc., which are primarily research centers. While the facilities of these research centers may be available to some collaborators, they are primarily maintained to support the research mission of the center; furthermore, such research centers rarely have the staff or user support mechanisms in place to assist users from unaffiliated research groups. The NNIN facilities therefore do not have a particular research thrust or a portfolio of research thrusts. NNIN does not fund research at the site by resident faculty or staff, with the exception of its society and ethics program. Similarly, NNIN does not directly fund user projects from outside users.

The NNIN’s goal of providing a national nanotechnology infrastructure resource is accomplished by providing equipment, processes, staff support, and instruction to all feasible projects at each of the fourteen nodes. The user base thus defines the direction of their research in NNIN; we thus avoid the conflicts that arise between conducting research and supporting research. At most of the host universities, there are resident research programs — NSECs, MRSECs, STCs, ERCs, etc., as well as non-NSF centers — which use the facilities heavily and provide critical knowledge and information. These programs, related “research centers”, and their associated students provide much of the technology base, process development, and process characterization at each site, which is critical to the success of diverse user projects. A prime tenet of NNIN is, however, that all users are equal and the facility is equally open to all. NNIN sites are expected to separate research tasks from the user facility tasks so that even researchers from competing research programs have fair and equal access to all site technologies. The NNIN facility staff is distinct from any associated research staff. This separation is a cornerstone of NNIN operation and distinguishes the NNIN from other organizations.

NNIN also removes intellectual property concerns by placing the responsibility for protecting confidential information on the user. External users are expected not to share information that they wish to protect for patents or as trade secrets. Being academic facilities, within the academic community – both internal and external – NNIN fosters an environment of sharing so that researchers can be productive in uncovering new knowledge, rather than duplicating results known to other practitioners.

2.2.2 NNIN Project Support, Process Support and Training NNIN facilities are primarily hands-on facilities. Users are trained by the staff to become self-sufficient. However, NNIN also serves users remotely, without the user needing to visit a site. Remote access to NNIN typically involves execution of a selection of reproducible and specialized processes and process sequences that are essential to a variety of tasks, but aren’t themselves the focus of the research. Examples of these processes are fabrication of thin low-stress membranes, selective etches, deep silicon etches, thin-film coatings, and fine-line lithography, etc.). These processes can be performed for a remote user by an NNIN-supported staff member. The NNIN, however, does not operate as a foundry for complex integration of materials and processes. The execution of a complex multi-step process sequence is itself a research project and must be performed by the user. Most users, from academia or industry, are performing research and development and wish to be part of the hands-on process of research, in order to learn from the staff, and become self-sufficient researchers.

Each site is responsible for providing sufficient staff resources to enable comprehensive training and support for external research projects. Currently, NNIN trains approximately 2000 new users per year, with almost 6000 different users taking advantage of NNIN laboratory facilities each full year. Safety training, including a component devoted to the development of societal and ethical consciousness, is mandated for all users prior to any activity in the laboratory. Each external user project is assigned to a staff mentor who is the primary contact for technical support. Instruction in all phases of nanotechnology is provided as necessary in addition to direct equipment instruction. The NNIN staff act only as facilitators; the technical and intellectual direction of each project remains with the user. As projects progress, users become more independent of NNIN staff support, many to the point of being self-sufficient. NNIN staff remains available, however, to provide support as necessary.


Accommodating large numbers of new users arriving weekly and training them to operate safely and creatively in a shared-facility environment is the most critical aspect of network operation. With a high level of training and process support delivered by a dedicated professional staff, complex technologies such as e-beam lithography and complex multi-step integrated processing procedures can be made available to a large user community in an efficient and timely manner. At the same time, new techniques and processes, developed either by the staff or by the user community, can be efficiently and effectively made available for the mutual benefit of all users, at the site, and across the network.

2.3 Overview for 2012 The past year was the fourth year following NNIN’s renewal in 2009. The three new sites, Arizona State, Colorado – Boulder, and Washington University, St. Louis, have become thriving nodes with increasing usage of their nanofabrication facilities, as well through their participation in network-wide activities.

While the rest of this report will explain the past year’s activities and accomplishments more detail, some of the salient milestones of the diverse network activities included:

2.3.1 Activities and Usage This report covers the 12 month period March 2012-Feb 2013, the 9th year of the NSF NNIN Cooperative Agreement

a. Network usage: During this reporting period, 6406 unique users accessed NNIN facilities across the network. This is a 5% increase over 6093 in year 8. The usage is broadly distributed across disciplines. During this period 2515 new users were trained in the use of a large instrument set. Average costs incurred by academic users, who came almost 200 universities, was approximately $3400 for the year. This cost continues to be an affordable sum for research projects. Over 400 companies with 993 industrial scientists are using the facilities for their research and development efforts. The academic research community of 5150 student users of NNIN reflects between 15 and 25% of experimental science and engineering student community that potentially needs the type of resources NNIN provides. NNIN, through its 14 advanced nanotechnology facilities and associated staff, continues to make a significant impact on both the academic community and on the economic development front.

b. Research and development impact: The network’s contributions are reflected in over 2500 publications that appeared over a year-long period and collected in July, 2012. Highlights of the research and development span the breadth of intellectual interests Research Highlights produced by NNIN users are attached as part of this resport.

c. Web: NNIN completely redesigned its web site (www.nnin.org) during 2012 adding significant new features.

d. Education and outreach: The broad portfolio activity encompasses the spectrum of age group and technical knowledge. Through the diverse events, NNIN reached over 40,000 individuals in person during the 2012 year.

i. Nanooze is a children’s magazine, a website resource, and a hands-on museum-quality exhibit for elementary to middle-school age children. Twelve issues of the print edition are now available and nearly 100,000 copies or each issue are distributed by direct mailing upon request. The “museum exhibit” part of Nanooze continued on display at Epcot Center/Disney World and at Disneyland where they are seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors.

ii. REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates), a hands-on nanotechnology research experience across the breadth of disciplines had 93 participants across the network. The

http://www.nnin.org/


end of program REU Convocation was held at the 4H National Convention Center in DC which allowed for attendance and participation by several NSF program officials.

iii. iREU (international Research Experience for Undergraduates) provides an advanced research experience for exceptional students selected out of our prior year’s REU program. This program gives them not only a more advanced exposure to nanotechnology research , but also provides them with experience in an international context, helping them develop as globally aware scientists. The 2012 program consisted of 16 students at partner laboratories in Japan ,France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

iv. LEF (Laboratory Experience for Faculty), a summer REU-like program for under-represented faculty or faculty at under-represented serving institutions had 4 participants hosted at Georgia Tech, U.Washington, U. Minnesota, and Texas). This program helps the faculty establish viable research programs and provides a nanotechnology experience, which can be incorporated into their classroom environment.

e. Societal and ethical implications of nanotechnology: Our SEI effort participated in the training of over 2500 new users through discussions, presentations, and training modules, reaching the community of new NNIN users.

Details of these accomplishments, as well as other NNIN activities, are given in subsequent sections of this report and in some cases in the individual site reports.

2.3.2 Examples of Scientific Impact from 2012 NNIN contributed to over 4500 publications and conference publications in the previous year. (July 2011-June 2012) These publications span across the breadth of the engineering, physical, and life science disciplines. In many of these publications, external users were able to exercise the capabilities of NNIN to fabricate materials, structures, devices, or systems that advanced the state of nano-science and engineering. A publication list over the period July 2011 – June 2012 is available as supplementary material to this annual report. The papers range from fundamental measurements of nano-scale phenemena to molecular and supra-molecular scale structures that demonstrate new nanofabrication technologies or nano-device designs to applications in many fields of science and engineering.

2.3.3 NNIN Web Site Until this year, NNIN had been operating on the web site that was created when it was first funded in 2004. The software platform upon which it was built made it both no longer maintainable or expandable. In 2012, NNIN undertook an effort to totally overhaul the NNIN web site with the intent of upgrading content, features, and functionality. (fig. 3). Working with the Integrated Web Services group at Cornell, a new integrated web site covering NNIN, NNIN Education, NNIN Computation and NNIN SEI efforts was built, using the Drupal platform. Some old content was migrated and much new content was added. New features such as News, Spotlights, an instructional video database, and a process blog were added. The process blog, for example, allows postings by NNIN staff of well characterized processes at different NNIN facilities. A particularly nice new feature is the database of the NNIN supplied educational activities available for teachers.The new web site has been well received and content is being added and updated regularly. The web site is available at http://www.nnin.org/.

Figure 3: NNIN Web Site


2.4 Network Management As a large group of university based laboratories in a very diverse technical area encompassing nearly all the areas of science and engineering serving a user community spanning academia, industry and national laboratories, and a multifaceted outreach mission, a cohesive, responsive and stream-lined management is essential for the NNIN to achieve its network goals and for the standards for operation and support of users to be maintained. Management is responsible for coordination of intra-network activities and for various levels of reporting to NSF, NNI, and others. The management structure of NNIN also has to take into account the large number of network university sites, the individuality of universities and their environment and yet has to be flexible, responsive and adaptive to the evolving environment of nanotechnology research. Our management structure and procedures follow the format outlined in the NNIN proposal.

This year was the first full year with Prof. Roger Howe, Stanford, as NNIN Director. In October 2011, Prof. Sandip Tiwari, Cornell, stepped down as Director of NNIN, a position he had held since the inception of NNIN. Prof. Roger Howe of Stanford assumed the position of NNIN Director. Other than a change of Director, all other management functions remain at Cornell. Since the NNIN Cooperative Agreement is between Cornell and NSF, a Cornell Faculty member must be PI on the award, for financial accountability reasons. Prof. Dan Ralph, Cornell, is thus PI of the award, with Roger Howe as co-PI. Functionally, however, Prof. Howe is Director of NNIN, and all financial and management functions remain at Cornell, under Dr. Lynn Rathbun, NNIN Deputy Director.

Figure 4 shows the broad outline of the organizational structure. Prof. Roger Howe, the NNIN Network Director and Co-Principal Investigator, is the point of contact with NSF, and is responsible for implementing the network policies and program in conjunction with the co-PI, Prof. Dan Ralph of Cornell. Dr. Lynn Rathbun, Cornell University, serves as Deputy Director and coordinates the daily activities and communication with network sites.

Three Network Coordinators are responsible for the broad outreach activities areas across the network.

• Education & Outreach: Dr. Nancy Healy, Georgia Tech,

Network Director Network Advisory Board

Education & Outreach Coordinator

Network Executive Committee

Computing Coordinator

Site Directors

Society & Ethics Coordinator

NNIN Deputy Director

Figure 4


• Society & Ethical Implications in Nanotechnology: Prof. Katherine McComas, Cornell, • Computation and Modeling: Dr. Mike Stopa, Harvard

For the purpose of implementation of the program and policies, the Network Director and the Program Manager interact directly and regularly with the site directors and the coordinators of thrust activities. The Site Directors are responsible for the operation of individual sites. A complete list of Site Directors is provided in Appendix. The network management hosts a conference call with the Site Directors as a group at least once every two months.

The Network Executive Committee (NEC), chaired by the Network Director, sets the vision, policies, operating procedures, evolution, and manages the allocation of the NNIN resources. NEC has 2 permanent members — the Network Director (also Stanford Site Director and the Cornell site director — and 3 members elected from the other sites. The Network Coordinators also participate in the Network Executive Committee discussions. The NEC meets monthly by conference call, or more often, if necessary.

For 2012-2013, the Network Executive Committee consisted of

• Prof. Roger Howe (Stanford University), ex-officio • Prof. Dan Ralph (Cornell University), ex-officio • Prof. Khalil Najafi (University of Michigan) • Prof. Bart van Zeghbroeck (University of Colorado)) • Prof. Theresa Mayer (Penn State)

This Network Executive Committee will remain unchanged for the duration of NNIN.

The Network Director and the Network Executive Committee receive advice from the Network Advisory Board (NAB), an independent body of leaders and thinkers of the disciplines and communities that the network serves. The NNIN advisory board represents eminent scientists, engineers, and administrators. The advisory board members are a cross-section representative of the nanotechnology user areas and are individuals with stature, experience and independence that can help the network evolve through critical advice and guidance of programs, activities, vision and future directions.

The members of the Network Advisory Board are:

The advisory board met in New York City in April 2012 and is consulted by phone and group email by the NNIN Director for advice at critical times.

2.5 Network and Site Funding-Year 10 NNIN is funded by a primary cooperative agreement between NSF and Cornell University at a level of

Dr. Samuel Bader; Assoc. Div. Director, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Lab Dr. Carl Kukkonen; CEO, ViaSpace Technologies Prof. George Langford; Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, Syracuse University Dr. Jim McGroddy; Retired Senior VP, Research, IBM Prof. Hans Mooij; Chairman, Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft Univ. of Technology Prof. Paul Peercy; Dean of Engineering, U. Wisconsin Dr. Kurt Petersen; Entrepreneur and consultant Dr. Tom Theis; Director of Physical Sciences, IBM Research Prof. Vivian Weil; Director, Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago


initially set to $17.0 M/ yr. As a result of a mid year budget reduction, funding for year 9 was 16.6M$. For year 10, NNIN was instructed that the available budget would be 16.3M$, a reduction of $700,000 from the previous steady state. The enclosed budgets are developed to accommodate that reduction in funding.

Almost all of these funds are distributed to sites for local programs, mostly for laboratory support. Some funds are retained at the NNIN office for network management. Other funds are retained at the NNIN office for network wide programs. Those program funds are either spent directly from the management office on programs or distributed to sites as supplements to execute national programs at the local sites.

As we near the end of the cooperative agreement, it has become clear that more funds have been retained in the management budget than have been necessary. The year 9 budget cut was accomdated entirely from the NNIN management budget and its surplus. Likewise the year 10 budget cut will be largely accomodated from the NNIN management budget and its surplus.

2.5.1 Reallocation NNIN believes that superior performace should be rewarded. NNIN sites have been funded at widely varying levels with the last major funding reallocation happening at the beginning of year 6. For the funding for year 10, we have implemented an algorithm which adjusts site funding up to a maximum of plus or minus 15%, based on a set of metics derived from prior year’s performance.

Consistent with NNIN’s mission of serving outside users we looked at two metrics: 1) Archival publications, with outside user publications weighted by a factor of 2 over internal publications, and 2) Outside user fees, with outside academic fees scaled up by the site specific ratio of academic to industrial charge rates. The resulting metrics were scaled by site funding to give a combined metric measuring, in some fashion, a normalized effectiveness of use of NNIN funds. The resulting metric was used to determine the change in funding for year 10 for each site, with a maximum excursion of plus or minus 15% for the original NNIN sites and plus or minus 10% for the three new NNIN sites. In reality, the calculation became a bit more complex as the re-allocation had to simultaneously account for this metric, as well as for a general fund reduction of $700,000 from NSF, and a distribution of surplus accumulated funds in the management account. This is described n more detail in the budget justificaiton which accomanies the 10th year funding request.

2.5.2 Funding Distribution The budget distribution by site for year 10 is outlined in Table 2. This reflects the redistribution based n metrics, the overall funding reduction ($700K) from NSF, and the redistribution of surplus management funds from prior years. Effectively, the entire $700K reduction was taken from management funds.

Table 2 NNIN Annual Funding by Site

Prior Baseline Budget Year 9 Budget Request

Cornell $2,675,000 $2,719,750 Stanford $2,675,000 $2,611,000 Georgia Tech $1,590,000 $1,621,000 Michigan $1,275,000 $1,293,500 UCSB $875,000 $ 929,250 Harvard $825,000 $ 937,250 U. Minnesota $775,000 $773,000 Penn State $750,000 $770,000 U.Washington $725,000 $754,750 U. Texas $700,000 $720,000 Howard Univ. $550,000 $506,750


Arizona State $500,000 $570,000 U. Colorado $500,000 $470,000 Wash. Univ. in St. Louis $500,000 $520,000 Network Coordination $372,855 $210,398 Network Activities and Programs (central)

$1,712,145 $893,352

Total $17,000,000 $16,300,000

The NNIN Activities budget is for network-scale activities, including participant support for various programs (REU, iREU, LEF, iWSG, Showcases), network booths at outreach activities and professional meetings, and support of Symposia and Workshops. Much of this budget is sub-awarded to sites annually, amounts in addition to those shown above as the”baseline”. The mix of activities funded under this budget changes annually based on new initiatives and feedback on existing programs and initiatives. Retaining these funds at the network level, at least initially, gives maximum flexibility in meeting the changing program needs.

A more complete explanation of funding and program allocation is given in the Budget Justificaiton for year 10 funding supplied to NSF.

2.6 Network Performance For NNIN to deliver the greatest possible value to the national user community and the nation, it is essential that the network be a dynamic organization that rewards performance and systematically adapts to changing circumstances and emerging opportunities. During formation of NNIN, we committed to making funding allocations yearly based on productivity metrics and on the basis of leadership contributions in research service in areas of assigned responsibilities and the other NNIN thrust areas. A balanced evaluation requires understanding of responsiveness to user needs, the quantity and quality of output from the individual sites, the needs of different types of usage, and the changing requirements of new and rapidly developing fields. Sites are expected to allocate resources in accordance with the assigned focus areas and are held specifically accountable for success in those areas.

We distinguish experimental R&D usage, i.e. research usage, from educational usage that is in support of our broader outcome objectives. Research usage is in support of a specific research task, supported by research funds whose end result are publications for academic users, or new technology and commercialization-oriented development for the industrial users, and new knowledge for both. Educational and other broader area usage has as its goals training or knowledge dissemination. Technical workshops that we conduct, e.g., are in educational usage. On the other hand, an external user, who comes to facilities, gets trained and uses resources to accomplish their own technical tasks, is a research user when we count in our user statistics for experimental support.

We also collect statistics related to Scientific Computation and Modeling activities separately because of the different nature and needs of this activity.

Evaluating performance in this context is a complex task since it must balance between the nature of the activity and its requirements and needs and an appropriate evaluation of the contribution. Research user support and educational user support require different resources and scientific computation users also require a very different type of attention and support. Similarly, within research user support activity, different tasks may require different level of time and intensity of commitment from staff as well as of the level of complexity of instrumentation. Thus, data needs to be looked at in a variety of ways in order to assess the performance. In addition to quantitative measures, a qualitative evaluation of the enabled research also sets a different context of performance evaluation. Impact of the activity is also critical, and hence quality and quantity of research contribution enabled by site activities, particularly in the area of


site focus, is an important consideration in performance evaluation. NNIN focuses on collecting information that helps with forming a balanced and relatively complete picture of the network operation. For research quality, this includes collection of highlights of research and development, related publications and presentations, the impact of the scientific research, as well as quantitative measures that look at research and educational user service.

A list of publications resulting from network efforts during a one year period is attached to this report together with research highlights.

The different components of the NNIN mission - research-user services, computation and web-based services, education and outreach, and the societal and ethical thrust - each requires separate measures to evaluate productivity, quality of contributions, and user satisfaction. The quantitative data shown in the following sections primarily relates to support of the user research mission.

NNIN sites also vary considerably in size and scope of effort related to NNIN. Consequently, the level of funding and the resultant expectations vary accordingly with the following guidelines:

• The range and volume of service that each site can, now and in the near future, provide to outside research users in specific technical areas assigned to it;

• The infrastructure needs of the technical focus areas that are supported by each site;

• The infrastructure needs for the educational efforts and educational user activities — activities that are different in character than research support activities;

• The level of responsibilities and range of activities that each site undertakes with regard to the NNIN education and outreach thrust, the computing and web-infrastructure thrust, and the societal and ethical issues thrust.

In the following, we summarize the performance of the network and the sites.

Figure 5 shows some of the major elements of the information collection. Since each user and each site is different, none of the metrics tells a complete story in itself. In particular, aspects of the quality of the research or the quality of the customer service are not captured well by any of the quantitative metrics. It is also acknowledged that the scope and type of use varies significantly from site to site, and that some types of users/fields have significantly different use profiles (e.g. a simple characterization or thin film deposition user vs. a user doing complex process integration for a MEMS or electronic device).

The information summarized here is for experimental research lab usage only. These are related to the projects where a user is trained and performs independent research, uses the variety instruments in the laboratory, and is the primary focus of the network research support activity. This data there does not include any educational “user”, people who attended workshops, and other significant activities, or local students taking using any resources for class-room learning, etc. These statistics do not include Computation and Modeling Users; although a significant number and requiring close work with our Computation Domain Experts, and doing in theory what we also do in experiments, they are evaluated separately as this is a distinctly different use available only at four sites currently.


Primary usage data is submitted monthly by each site to NNIN management. All graphs are subject to the accuracy of the data supplied by the sites.

Unless otherwise noted, all data is for the full year March 1, 2012-Feb 28,2013.

Persons exclusively using NNIN Computation resources for scientific simulations are not counted as part of the NNIN Users. We collect that data separately. As used here, “users” refers to laboratory users only.

No single “best” indicator

Primary Metrics • External usage • Cumulative Users • Average Monthly Users • Lab Time • User Fees • Publications • Highlights • …

Secondary Metrics Computed from primary metrics • External hours/user • User fees per user • Fees per hour • Area resource requirements

Broken Down By

• All Users • Outside Users • Outside Academic Users • Technical Area • Site • Combinations of above

Primary Metric Data submitted by Sites monthly

Diversity of data collection from network sites for usage, intensity, demand, type and impact of usage. Our focus is on the external user support from the facilities.

Figure 5


2.6.1 Program Breadth NNIN’s mission in support of experimental nanotechnology is spans the entire range of nanotechnology disciplines and applications, from complex fabrication of structures such as in MEMS, biosciences, optics and electronics, to synthesized molecular scale structures and creation of materials assemblies for advanced studies. Figure 6 shows the distribution of users by field across the network. Overlap between technical areas is inevitable and many users could be assigned to multiple categories. None the less, the broad coverage of nanotechnology subareas is apparent. Materials is a broad category when specific engineering application is not intended; it is the largest in usage and users from Chemistry, Physics and Materials Sciences are usually pursuing projects in this category

Figure 6 Network User Distribution by Technical Area.

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2.6.2 Lab Use Laboratory hours are counted by one of two means at NNIN sites; either direct use equipment time, or clean room time. The former does not include lab use for non-charged equipment or other general lab time but does count multiple simultaneous equipment use. The latter counts just time in the lab, which could be used for a single piece of equipment, or multiples or none. Thus, while there is correlation between the two measures, they are different between sites. We accept this variation in counting methods as part of the uncertainty and have not standardized to one approach because of the expense and time involved .

The chart in Figure 7 represents total lab hours during the 12 month period (Mar. 2012-Feb. 2013). The size of each NNIN facility and its associated funding varies significantly and each includes different amounts of “associated” facilities (.e.g. characterization facilities [large materials characterization

resources are not included in NNIN]). Nonetheless, they reveal information about the size, scope and character of each laboratory’s activities when looked together with user numbers and other related metrics. The activity at all laboratories is dominated by local usage. The local users are a vital foundation and critical element of the facilities. The local users develop the processes, provide quite often the initial impetus for new technology development, and provide the rigor and reproducibility that becomes the knowledge and training foundation for the external user.

Figure 7: User Lab Hours by NNIN Site. Note different sites count hours in different ways – equipment time where equipment has charges associated with it, or clean room time.

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2.6.3 Cumulative Annual Users by Site Cumulative Annual Users is a primary user counting metric employed by NNIN; this is often just referred to as “users”. This is each unique experimental research user counted once during the time period, using March as the starting time for every yearly cycle. This number monotonically increases during the year, reaching the maximum at 12 months (at the end of February of NNIN funding calendar) when the counter is reset for the next year. This measures the number of different people that the site has served; a user who visits once counts the same as one who visits many times over the year.

Figure 8 shows the distribution of users across the network by site and institution type. This figure can also be contrasted with the chart for laboratory hours (either laboratory time or equipment time) (Figure 7). There is considerable variation in the number of users and in their distribution between sites, and this should be considered together with the technical focus responsibility area at the specific site. In this metric, each user counts the same regardless of whether he/she uses the facility 4 hours per year or 400 hours per year. To gain a fuller picture of the effectiveness of each site one has to look at other metrics, such as intensity of usage, as a supplement to this information.

As discussed in the introduction, NNIN’s effort is organized around the theme of serving the external user – a focus we believe leads to crucial benefits in quality, efficiency, and local community and external community effects that are essential to bringing the maximum benefits to progress in nanotechnology from an infrastructure.

External users are the most important component of the NNIN effort together with the focus on external users in assigned areas of technical responsibility within the network. This enables effective use of limited

Figure 8: Cumulative Users at each site. (March 2012-Feb 2013 full year)

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funds with the maximum efficiency in equipment usage and delivery and sharing of critical technical knowledge and expertise.

Figure 9 show the distribution of outside (external) users only, i.e. local site users have been removed for clarity. Nearly all sites continue to make progress towards the objectives. Six major sites of the network(Cornell, Stanford, UCSB, Michigan, Georgia Tech, and Harvard) all have 140 or more outside users each in the 12 month period, with both academic and industrial users benefiting from the network.

Figure 9: NNIN Outside Users by Site.

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Building up usage at a site is a multiyear enterprise based on network and site outreach and user successes that reinforce confidence in the site’s capabilities. Particularly for the new or smaller sites, it takes considerable time to grow effective and sustainable usage and vibrant user base. The new sites to the network are the ones with the smaller usage and it is important to also view the progress in network usage since the inception of NNIN in 2004. Figure 10 shows the trends in usage of the network at the sites. In this figure, the data for current year is for a 10 month period. Many of the larger, older sites, are operating at or near saturation, given current resources. This user number is also tied to the type of needs, its usage needs in equipment and in staff, and the intensity, i.e. hours of usage per user.

Figure 10: NNIN users by site in a multi year comparison.

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Figure 11 shows total network usage (Users) in each of the 9 years of NNIN- broken down by user type, i.e. local and external academic, and industrial. It shows a continuing increase in network usage across all types over the 8 year history of the network. .

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Figure 11: Network wide research usage by year.

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2.6.4 Average Monthly Users Usage needs to be looked at from a variety of perspectives as remarked earlier. The metric of average monthly users, i.e., number of unique users each month, e.g., is indicative of “how busy” a site is (Figure 12). The larger NNIN sites also show a larger number of average monthly users. Figure 13 shows this demand from external users, the user populace that NNIN places its emphasis on.

Figure 12: Average Monthly Users.

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Figure 13: Average Monthly Outside Users

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2.6.5 User Fees Lab use fees supplement the NNIN funding at all sites. All users, both internal and external, pay user fees. Fees are charged on per user or per hour basis with the exact structure varying by site. The user fee rates at each site are set at local discretion following the federal and university regulations for cost centers. Some of the NNIN site programs are connected to existing and sometimes larger facilities and programs. As such, no attempt has been made to standardize fees across the network since cost structures are different at different locales. NNIN only expects that external academic users receive the same rate as local academic users, and that NSF funds be allocated to support open academic usage. Thus, industrial users pay the full cost of usage, while the academic users benefit from lower costs that the NSF support makes possible. In short, academic fees cover the incremental costs of operation while the industrial users are charged at higher rates to reflect full cost recovery and reflecting effort that does not compete with commercial enterprises.

User fees provide a mechanism for allocating costs to different activities. The NNIN mission is to make

successful research and development happen through open and effective usage of these facilities by the national user community. NNIN funds largely pay for the staff and training infrastructure required to support this outside user effort and not for operation of existing facilities. The level of expense recovery obviously varies with the size of the user base as well as the type of user, e.g. industrial users are an important source; examination of total fee recovery yields little new information. The amount of user fees collected at each site is shown in Figure 14 There can be several explanations for low fee recovery from outside users, among them: a) low number of outside users, and b) low average level of use by outside users. At least four sites, however, show that company usage is an important component of achieving their sustainability. In particular, it points to the large relative small company fee recovery at UCSB and Harvard. In almost all cases, overall user fee recovery is an important part of facility operation budgets.

Figure 14: User Fee Recovery by Site and Type.

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Figure 15 shows the overall high leverage of the NSF investment over the years. Each dollar of the NSF cooperative agreement is more than matched by user fees. Both user fees and the NSF support are critical to operation of NNIN. Note this charge does not reflect university or state funding to the sites. This can be significant, particularly in the case of university funded buildings and equipment. Neither does it include any federal awards directly to the site such as from MRI awards.

Figure 15: NNIN major sources of funding: NSF (NNIN Main Cooperative agreement and ARRA only) and user fees.

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One of the requirements of a successful user facility/network is that it be affordable. This is particularly critical for academic research where the effort is paid largely by various government grants. Because of the economies of scale and the critical mass of users, NNIN is able to keep academic use charges low. Figure 16 compares the local academic (NNIN institution) and outside academic average user fees per user over year (total academic fees/ total # of academic users). Note the difference here is not in the rates ($/hour fees), but in the intensity of use. All academic users are charged the same rates. In general, local academic users tend to be more intensive users than outside academic users.

Figure 16:: Average academic user fees for local and external academic users

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Figure 17 shows a subset of the same date, the average user fees per user for just outside academic users. While there is some variation between sites, the most striking part is that the average external academic user paid approximately $2400 per year, a level that is quite affordable for access to an extremely large set of research enabling tools. This is an average; many heavy users paid significantly more, and many users paid significantly less. Figure 16 and 17 together also show that the usage recovery from internal academic user is about twice that of external academic user, and for sites an important component of their sustainability.

Figure 17: Average fees for Outside academic users.

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$2,469 network average (12 months)


Similarly, average academic rates per hour (Figure 18) are clustered around $30 per hour, a quite reasonable and accessible fee for high technology equipment.

The point of these figures is not any individual variation, either between sites, or between local and outside users at a given site; there is far too much variation in complexity of projects and the available equipment sets to draw those conclusions (although actually most use falls in the $20-40 per hour range, a quite tight and reasonable result). One should thus not conclude that one site’s fees are too high or too low from this data – a larger fraction of user of expensive tools, electron beam lithography or deep ultra violet lithography can skew this data. Similarly any difference between “average rates” between inside and outside at a given site are due to differences in use profile (type of equipment) and not due to differences in actual rates. In addition, there are certainly individual users who are at both 4x the average and 1/4 the average, i.e. there is a broad distribution.

It does show, however, that access to NNIN facilities for an “average” user is quite affordable. The full out average over all sites for all academic users by being near $3,500 is quite within the budget of most research grants.

Figure 18: Average academic fees per hour at NNIN facilities.

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In contrast, the average cost for an industrial users (small and large company) is $10,598 for the 2012 period (Figure 19) or approximately $88 per hour (Figure 20), again with a broad distribution both within sites and across sites, but extremely manageable for the complex resources that the NNIN sites provide to the industrial users. Again, the equipment use profile varies significantly across the sites resulting in

some of the intra-site variation. The major point is that equipment resources are affordable and accessible.

For outside users we do not believe that the relative costs of NNIN facilities are a major factor in selection of a facility. Technical capabilities of the sites, technical alignment with the user’s requirements, and geographical considerations are significantly more important considerations.

Figure 19: Average Industrial fees per year

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Figure 20: Average industrial user fees per hour of usage in year 9.

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Howard

Texas

Harvard

WUSTL

Colorado

$88/hr Average Industrial rate


2.6.6 Hours per user Hours per user is a particularly enlightening metric as it reflects intensity of use, with the caveat that different sites collect data on hours of specific equipment usage ) or clean room time. A site can more easily sustain a large number of users doing small processes than a similar number of users doing complex processing. Hours per user is an average secondary metric, gathered by dividing lab hours in a particular category by the cumulative annual users in that category. Average usages of 100’s of hours per user would indicate a facility with more complex processing and a concomitant larger impact upon the facility and its resources. A hundred hour of usage is more than a couple of weeks of dedicated effort by the user. Average usages of <25 hours indicate a group of users who place a significantly smaller burden on the facility. That use may still in fact be critical to a given project but it requires fewer resources to support incrementally. Results across the network, for both internal and external academic users, are shown in Figure 21. It is obvious that there is considerable difference between sites in the intensity of use by an “average” user. Note, in some cases, this derived metric is the ratio of two small numbers and thus the metric is less enlightening for sites with a small number of users. In most cases, intensity of use by internal users is higher than external users reflecting the higher availability for routine and unplanned use.

Figure 21:: Laboratory hours per academic user (local and external).

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Note: some sites report equipment hours, others report lab hours


2.6.7 New Users Each facility is constantly accepting new users. This is part of the trend of growth and of turnover as projects succeed and graduate. New users require training, hand holding at least initially, and intense staff commitment during the initial periods of visit and start up. The number of new users is thus an excellent metric for measuring the demand for NNIN resources. Here (Figure 22) we show the number of new users trained in FY2010 by site. Note that some sites average 3-6 new users (inside + outside) per week, a load involving a significant amount of user training and associated staff support.

In addition, there needs to be a balance between new users and total users. Figure 23 shows the ratio of new users to total users in FY2012 at each site. A ratio too low could indicate a stagnant facility with little growth or replenishment. A high ratio hand could indicate a rapidly growing facility. On the other hand, a ratio too high could also indicate an excessive turnover often associated with short term low impact projects.

Figure 22:: Training load for new users (internal and external).

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Figure 23: Ratio of New Users to Cumulative Annual users by site.

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3.0 NNIN Education and Human Resources Programs

3.1 Objectives and Program Challenges In completing its ninth year of operation, the NNIN Education and Outreach (NNIN E&O) program continues to offer and strengthen numerous activities at the local, network, and national level. The NNIN’s Mission Statement is:

NNIN’s education programs address the explosive growth of nanotechnology and its expanding need for a skilled workforce and informed public by offering education and training to individuals (school-aged students to adults). We provide resources, programs, and materials to enhance an individual’s knowledge of nanotechnology and its application to real-world issues. We believe that a strong US economy requires a STEM-literate workforce ready to meet the technological challenges of a nano-enabled economy as well as an informed citizenry that supports continued and safe growth of nanotechnologies.

NNIN has as its goals a wide variety of educational outreach that spans the spectrum of K-gray, i.e. school aged children through adult professionals. NNIN has established the following goals for its network-based educational outreach and human resource development:

• Educate a dynamic workforce • Support the spreading of the benefits of nanoscale science and engineering (NSE) to new

disciplines where it has meaningful impact • Be a resource for all ages and educational background including:

o K-12 o Undergraduates o Graduate students o Post-docs, faculty, government/industry o General population

From these overarching goals, specific programmatic objectives have been established that impact national or local efforts. These include:

• developing and distributing activities to encourage K-12 students to enter science and engineering fields;

• developing resources to inform the public about NSE; • developing activities and information for undergraduates regarding careers in nanoscience; • developing tools and resources for undergraduates and graduate students; • designing programs to ensure the inclusion of underrepresented groups; • developing programs for technical workforce development; and • developing programs and resources for K-12 teachers

This report provides updates on our accomplishments and current programs that are both local and national in focus.

To attain each of the NNIN’s education objectives, a variety of innovative activities has been defined, developed, and implemented. NNIN E&O components include network-wide programs to address needs at the national scale and more specific efforts for communities that are local to network sites. Table 3 illustrates the type of programs offered by NNIN and the scope across the network. The various facets of the NNIN E&O program are reviewed in following sections of this report.


Table 3. Local and National NNIN education activities and program.

Site Specific Activities Network-wide Activities

Local Scope Local Activities – Site Specific Network Activities - Local Scope

Facility tours Community days Open house Seminars/Public lectures School programs K-12 2 and 4 year colleges

User support & training Diversity K-12 education- school programs Summer & after school camps

National Scope Site Activities - National Scope Network Activities - National Scope

Workshops Technical Training Teacher Training K-12 instructional materials Hands-on demos & experiments Undergraduate education Lab Experience for Faculty (LEF) Nanooze

National Conferences & Meetings Research Experience for Undergrads Research Experience for Teachers (NSF award) NNIN Education portal User support Diversity

Figure 24 summarizes events that NNIN has conducted yearly since 2005 and reported through our web-based recording system (Education Events Manager). The graphs demonstrate how the program continues to maintain a high level of activity since we began collecting data on events in 2005. Figure 24 also shows that we maintain our capacity in the number of events offered across the network sites. In 2012, we directly reached nearly 43,000 individuals. This number does not indlcude the NNIN education portal (http://www.education.nnin.org), the Nanooze web site, the print version on Nanooze (~100,000), nor the Nanooze the Exhibit at Epcot and Disneyland, nor the listeners of the NanoTalk radio show done at Howard University..

In the eight years we have been collecting data (2005-2012), we have hosted 1,444 events and directly

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# of Participants

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# of Events

Figure 24: Number of NNIN events and participants per year (2005-2012)

http://www.education.nnin.org/


reached 165,767 individuals. This does not include the nearly 1 million copies of Nanooze that have been distributed nor the tens of thousands who have seen the Nanooze exhibits at Disneyworld and Disneyland (average yearly attendance at the two parks is ~32 million).

NNIN, as a networked resource, has geographic reach and technical strengths that are derived from the diversity of subject strengths and facility strengths, and within our universities the strengths arising from the collective of faculty and students. This national and diverse scope is unparalleled and not reproducible in any other center-based programs. NNIN has chosen to place an emphasis on deriving maximum impact from the strength of these resources. Our efforts use an approximate guide of 2/3 of our effort devoted to national outreach and impact and 1/3 on local/state outreach and impact.

3.2 Coordination and Collaboration The challenges of any large-scale activity center on coordination and communication. Each NNIN site has a full-time or part-time education coordinator. The NNIN site education coordinators have established a communications network which effectively allows us to refine our work plans, establish short and long-range plans, and ensure continuous communication and collaboration among the sites. The network coordination of NNIN E&O occurs from Georgia Institute of Technology and Dr. Nancy Healy serves as the NNIN Education Program coordinator. She is assisted at the site by Joyce Allen and Leslie O’Neill. In addition, the E&O office has a post-doctoral fellow (Dr. Smanatha Andrews). This position is shared with the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing at Georgia Tech. Communication methods include phone, e-mail, and face-to-face meetings. Large network wide education programs are coordinated in cooperation with the NNIN Deputy Director (Dr. Lynn Rathbun) and assistants at Cornell.

The education site coordinators meet once a year at one of the NNIN sites for a minimum of two days. After nine years of operation, the NNIN E&O program has reached a point where sharing of ideas, approaches, and materials is a regular practice among the sites and often occurs outside our scheduled meetings. During the past year, the coordinators met at Georgia Tech on October 24, 2012. Minutes of all meetings are available. Coordinators also meet informally at various professional meetings/conferences and the Research Experience for Undergraduates convocation. An initial challenge was keeping accurate records of our activities and resources. Because of the wide variety of activities across the sites, it is important to know the types of activities, the duration, the impact in terms of numbers served, etc. In 2005, NNIN launched the Education Events Manager (EEM), a web-based electronic database for tracking activities and participants. All sites are required to regularly update the system by posting their events and activities. Tracking of events is done by Georgia Tech and Cornell which can monitor entries and use the system to generate reports.

3.2.1 Scope of Program and “Countable” Activities In a large distributed program like NNIN, consistently counting activities and even determining what activities to include as part of the NNIN program is a major task. NNIN is fairly strict about determining what is and what is not part of NNIN Education Program activities. All of our campuses have multiple nanotechnology programs supported by other funds. While synergies and collaboration are good, double counting is not. We want to be sure that those activities that NNIN reports and the sites report are actually activities for which NNIN is responsible for and for which NNIN contributes signficant resources. We do this without taking credit for activities which are supported by other centers.

To be counted as part of NNIN, activities must user include signficant NNIN staff effort and use significant other NNIN resources (funds, equipment, facilities, modules, activites). We specifically exclude activities and programs supported by or organized by separately funded centers unless there is signficant NNIN involvement. For example, we count our own REU and RET participants, but the REU programs and REU participants from other centers are not part of the NNIN education activity, they are merely users.


Similarly, we do not include any activites in support of the normal education program of our own institutions (.e.g laboratory courses, course development, tours for acadmeic classes, etc). Neither do we include any equipment instruction, orientation, safety training; those are considered part of the normal research endeavor. Likewise department colloquia and symposia are not counted. Our EEM system allows management to filter out any such activities that are reported.

3.3 NNIN Major National Programs: REU, iREU, iREG, and RET 3.3.1 REU Program The NNIN has developed, operated, and managed a highly successful Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program in nanotechnology since 1997 (begun under National Nanofabrication Users Network (NNUN)). This program is a coordinated network activity which has ~80-90 students participating each summer across 14 NNIN sites.This program is entirely funded out of NNIN Cooperative agreement funds; we do not have support from the NSF REU program. In 2012, the NNIN management budget allocated funds to sites to assure a minimum of 5 students were hosted at each of the 14 sites, for a total of 93 interns.

The technical diversity of our laboratories allows us to offer a program covering the broad range of nanotechnology fields, from biology and chemistry to electrical and mechanical engineering. Our program offers a well-supervised independent research project for a 10 week summer period. While individual sites are responsible for daily project supervision, there is strong network coordination to assure a uniform program with high expectations. Our program features a central on-line application process for the entire network program as well as specific program expectations for projects, interns, project directors, and mentors.

The NNIN REU draws top quality participants from a diverse applicant pool. Our program remains a popular choice among students with completed 738 applications received in 2012. We have been committed to providing research opportunities to students who have the most to gain from the NNIN REU experience - 75% of the 2007, 69% of the 2008, 65% of the 2009, 48% of the 2010, 58% of the 2011 and 68% of the 2012 participants had no prior orgainzed summer research experience (REU type internships). Table 4 shows the demographic make-up of applicants, participants, and their type of home institution for 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Table 4. 2010-2012 NNIN REU Program Demographics

# of applicants Applicant Pool # Participants Appl. Success Rate

Participation (%)

‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 Overall 756 814 738 80 86 93 11% 11% 13% Gender* Women 245 289 259 33% 36% 35% 37 43 31 15% 15% 12% 46% 51% 33% Men 505 525 479 67% 64% 65% 43 42 62 9% 8% 13% 54% 49% 67% Race/Ethnicity

Minorities** 128 168 223 19% 21% 30% 13 24 15 10% 14% 7% 18% 28% 16% Non-Minorities**

550 646 515 81% 79% 70% 61 62 78 11% 10% 15% 82% 72% 84%

Inst. Type*** Ph.D. Level 506 549 564 67% 67% 76% 57 63 69 11% 11% 12% 71% 74% 74% Master’s Level

101 119 83 14% 15% 11% 15 11 10 15% 9% 12% 19% 13% 11%


Bacc. Level 119 115 66 16% 14% 9% 8 9 11 7% 8% 17% 10% 11% 12% Assoc. Level 24 29 25 3% 4% 4% 0 2 3 0% 7% 12% 0% 2% 3%

* Not all report gender; * *Race/Ethnicity is only for students who reported this information. +Carnegie Ratings: The Carnegie Foundation ratings of high education institutions are used as the measure of institutional size diversity. Some Ph.D. institutions may not offer advanced degrees in the sciences and engineering.

With such large number of applications, the participation group varies from year to year. We encourage PIs to choose females, minorities, and those from non-research institutions. However, the overwhelming majority of applications come from doctoral granting research institutions – 76 percent of applicants in 2012 came from such institutions. Female applications have remained steady for the last three years but participation in the program declined somewhat in 2012. Typically, approximately one-third of the interns tend to be female. Minority participation returned to typical levels in 2012 after a high in 2011.

The REU program is funded from the central NNIN activities budget, with supplemental fund transfers to sites to cover the per student costs at a rate of $7,500 participant support per student. Sites can have as few as 5 or as many as 10 participants.

The NNIN REU program culminates with the NNIN REU Convocation which is a “mini” scientific conference attended by all site coordinators and REU interns (Fig. 25). The 2012 convocation was held August 12-15, 2012 at The 4-H National Conference Center Chevy Chase, Maryland. Because we were in the Washington, DC area for the 2012 convocation, we had speakers and attendees from the NSF - Dr. Mike Roco and Dr. Larry Goldberg spoke to the students attended talks along with Dr. Clive Woods (OISE). At the convocation, each student presents his/her research results to fellow NNIN REU participants and NNIN staff. Students do both oral and poster presentations (Fig. 26), which assist them in developing their presentation skills. For many of our students, this is their first scientific presentation. We simultaneously webcast these presentations which allows faculty, graduate student mentors, and staff from the sites, as well as any other interested viewers, to view the convocation. To complete the program, all students write a research report that is published as the NNIN REU Research Accomplishments. The archived webcasts and the Accomplishments are online at http://www.nnin.org/research-experience-undergraduates.

Each year we survey our interns as part of our program evaluation. We consistently receive very high ratings for our program including the quality of research, support by faculty and graduate student

Figure 25: 2012 REU Convocation at 4H National Convention Center in DC

Figure 26:: REU convocation poster session

http://www.nnin.org/research-experience-undergraduates


mentors, and technical training and support (among others). Table 5 highlights the technical components of our 2012 program. Comparison of 2012 results to previous years indicates consistency of the scores. Analysis of past results shows that the scores vary between sites by approximatley +.40 which clearly demonstrates that the sites adhere to program expectations and offer a high quality program from year to year.

Table 5 NNIN REU Participant Post Survey 2012 Question Avg. Question Avg. Did the program offer you a substantial independent research project with a strong intellectual focus?

4.2* How well did the program provide you with an understanding of the graduate research life?

4.4

Were you able to execute the research project using the available equipment and facilities?

4.4 How well did the program provide you with an understanding of careers in nanotechnology?

3.7

Did you consider your project a "good" project- interesting, right scale, right complexity, etc.

4.2 Did the program assist you in making future educational & career choices?

4.2

Were you reasonably able to complete the project?

4.0 How likely is it that you will choose a career in nanotechnology?

3.6

Were you satisfied with how much you were able to complete, given the time constraints?

3.9 How likely is it that you will go to graduate school in science/engineering?

4.3

Did you receive significant scientific interaction with the faculty member/ senior staff in charge of your project?

4.1 Did the program assist you in developing presentation and writing skills?

4.0

Were you included in group meetings and seminars?

4.4 Was the Convocation a worthwhile experience?

3.9

Did the program provide you with experience that allowed you to see the breadth of nanotechnology applications?

4.1 Would you recommend the program to a friend?

4.5

How well did the program assist you in learning to use advanced equipment and processes in nanotechnology?

4.3 How likely is it that when you return to your home campus that you will share your experiences with fellow students and faculty?

4.5

How well did the program assist you in understanding the scientific basis of nanotechnology equipment & processes?

4.0 How do you rate the overall quality of the program?

4.5

How well did the program provide you with an exposure to the social and ethical issues related to nanotechnology, and research in general?

3.6 Did you think that your experience with the program was positive? Would you do it again?

4.3

* Likert Scale 1-5; 1 = poor/no 5= superior/very yes

Since its inception in 1997, the NNIN REU program has had nearly 1,100 participants. As noted above, the program began under the NNUN and expanded to twelve sites with the inception of the NNIN, and to 14 following renewal in 2009. The NNIN REU is a long-term investment in human resource development. The career plans of the participants play out only five or more after participation, particularly for those who persue a graduate degree research path. In 2006, we began a longitudinal study to determine the educational and career path of interns who participated in the early (pre-2003) years of the program; since then, that window has been gradually expanded to include all participants between 1997- 2008, encompassing all past participants who are more than 4 years out of the program. This is an ongoing,


labor-intensive study which has significance for not only the NNIN REU program but to other undergraduate research-experience programs, as well.

We have chosen this time period because participants will have graduated from their home institutions and will have entered or completed additional education and/or entered into the workforce. Of the 670 participants from 1997-2007, 432 (65%) have completed the online survey. Locating past participants is sometimes a challenge and for the past few years we learned to gather sufficient information from current participants to facilitate future contact. We inform interns to use the “REU Check In” link on our website to update their information and status. Academic and career results are shown in Table 6. Ninety-five percent of the respondents have remained in science and engineering with approximatley 50% reporting their current position involves nanotechnology (broadly defined). The results presented in Table 6 have shown little varability as the number of responses has increased from the initial sample of ~200. While we continue to look for more respondents, we do not expect the general conclusions to vary significantly with additional data.

3.3.2 iREU Program Each summer, the NNIN REU program described above provides the introductory research experience for approximately 80 students. The training and experience these students receive is excellent and they are highly sought by employers, graduate schools, and other internship programs. While they almost all perform well, from our observations over the summer and from PI/mentor surveys it is clear that 15-25% are very high-quality students and have an exceptional ability and commitment to research.These are destined to be future research leaders; and with the right experience, we believe they can become research leaders in nanotechnology.

In 2008, we established the NNIN international REU program (iREU) to further the nanotechnology experience of these exceptional individuals. NNIN established this program because we believe that globally aware scientists and engineers should be a priority in the 21st century. In this program, selected students are offered a “2nd summer” REU-like experience in the laboratories of one of our international partners, generally a National Laboratory in Europe or Japan. This program is only open to our prior year REU students – we are effectively using our REU program as a “filter” to select only the very best students for this enhanced research experience.

Our main partners for this program have been the National Institute for Materials Science (MINS) in Tsukuba, Japan and the Forshungszentrum Julich (FZJ) in Germany. The March 2011 earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan significantly modified our plans for 2011; upon consulation with our partners and with NSF, we suspended the program in Japan for 2011, repositioning the selected students to other sites. Two additional European sites were established: Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands and the Microelectronics Center Provence of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne in France. In 2012, we placed students at NIMS (Japan) , FZJ (Germany), TU Delft (Netherlands), and EMSE(France).. We have supplemental funding from the NSF International Research Experience for Students program (IRES) for five participants at NIMS in Japan. NNIN management program funds support the other iREU participants. These 4 sites hosted a total of 17 participants--8, 4, 3, and 2 students, respectively (Figure 27 - 30).

Students are selected and assigned to projects in January. They spend approximately 11 weeks at the international laboratories working on more advanced nanotechnogy research projects.. NNIN provides travel, stipend, housing, and a food allowance. This program is slightly more expensive than REU ( ~$11,000 per participant) but all the laboratory and project supervision costs are borne by our

Table 6. Academic/Career paths NNIN REU Longitudinal Study Degree/Career 1997-2008 Doctorate 50% Master’s 23% Baccalaureate 14% M.D./J.D./MBA 8% Other 5%


international partners. We have completed 5 summers of this program; our international partners have been well pleased with the arrangement and have been eagar to maintain and even expand the partnership.

Participants in 2012 included:

Japan

• Lauren Otto, Bethel University • Karl Schliep, U. of Minnesota, Morris • Kendal Pletcher, Olin College • Alex Bryant, UC Berkeley • Darayl Vulis, SUNY Stonybrook • Will Schiedeler, Duke University • Olivia Lambdin, U. of Nebraska • Kelly Suralik, Middlebury College

Germany

• Andrew Acevedo, Washington University St. Louis • Kevin Huang, Trinity College • Francisco Palaez, U.T. Austin • Matthew Kiok, Tulane University

The Netherlands • Kevin Tien, Cooper Union • Reyu Sakaibara, UC Berkeley • Morgan McGuinness, Lafayette College

Figure 27: iREU Japan 2012 with NSF Director Dr. Subra Suresh

Figure 28: iREU Germany

Figure 29: iREU at TU Delft-Students with Prof. Mooij and his wife


France

• Audrey Dang, Vanderbilt University • Jennifer Gilbertson. Beloit College

Their research is reported along with our REU project reports in the NNIN REU Research Accomplishments (http://www.nnin.org/reu/past-years/2012-nnin-reu-program). This program provides an excellent career growth opportunity for the participants. iREU interns have indicated that their prior NNIN REU experience allowed them to meet the challenges of a more advanced project, work in a different research environment, and live and work with colleagues from another culture. Consistent with the goals of the program, the participants indicated that they would pursue other international programs in their future education and career paths, something that would likely not have happened otherwise. We will continue to monitor these students in terms of education and careers, including international placements.

Of the 69 participants in the 5 years of this program, 48 are (or will be Fall 2013) in graduate school and 5 are still undergraduates. The remainder are employed but some of them intend to return to graduate school in the near future. The 48 in graduate school include 24 NSF fellows, a testament to the high quality of the participants and the boost that participation in this program offers. We will continue to track the career paths of these students.

We are now doing a follow-up survey of participants a year after completion of the program. We began this in 2011 with 46 of the 52 (2008-2011) responding. The next iteration of this survey will occur in mid 2013 to include 2012 iREUs. Table 7 summarizes the results of the iREU follow-up survey. The results clearly demonstrate the positive impact this program has on the partcipants.

Table 7. Post iREU Survey 2008-2011 participants

Question Avg.

My REU experience was important in securing my current position (grad school, work) or in successfully performing in current position

4.5

The program helped me feel confident to work in an international setting 4.8

The program helped me feel confident to work with international colleagues 4.8

The program helped me develop relationsips with international researchers and colleagues 4.6

Figure 30: iREU France

http://www.nnin.org/reu/past-years/2012-nnin-reu-program


The program helped me understand the global nature of science and engineering 4.6

The program helped me to develop an interest in working internationally 4.5

I consider my participation to have a positive influence on my future educational or career choices

4.9

The program helped me to develop a global perspective regarding research and society 4.8

* Likert Scale 1-5; 1 = poor/no 5= superior/very yes 3.3.3 iREG-International Research Experience for Graduates As an integral part of our relationship with NIMS Japan for hosting our iREU program, NNIN hosts a number of graduate students from the Nanotechnology Platform, the Japanese equivalent of NNIN, which is managed by NIMS. In 2012, 2 graduate students from Japan came to NNIN sites; University of Texas, and Washinton University St. Louis

• Ryo Nakanishi, Nagoya University, worked at Washington University with Prof. Biswas on the project “Nanoparticle Technology Enabling Solar Energy Applications”

• Isao Mori, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; worked at the University of Texas with Professor Brian Korgel on the project “Photovoltaic Devices Made of Silicon Nanowire Fabric”

Each of these students was at the NNIN sites for 8-10 weeks during which time they were treated much like our REU students. In particular, they were integrated both socially and technically with the REU students, which added greatly to their experience. Unlike undergraduate REU students, these graduate students come with a significant prior skill set and more focused scientific interests. During this time they integrated into the appropriate research group, were trained in equipment and techniques, and contributed to both their own research project and the overall goals of the research group. Mr. Mori was able to participate in the NNIN REU convocation in Maryland, further enriching his experience.

Since 2008, 22 students have been hosted at nine NNIN sites: Penn State (x2), University of Texas (x5), Harvard, UCSB, Cornell (x2), Georgia Tech (x4), University of Michigan (x3), Washington University St Louis and University of Colorado. NIMS and the Japan Nanotechnology Platform (Nanonet) are highly pleased with the program and the interactions developed with this exchange. The goal of this program is much the same as iREU, that is, to increase awareness of the global nature of research. In this, it has been very successful. These students interact strongly with our resident REU students, which results in considerable synergy between the REU, iREU, and iREG programs.

3.3.4 RET Program Four sites participate in an NSF-funded Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Program which began in March 2006. We have been fortunate to have received three awards from NSF to support this program: 2006-2009; 2009-2012; and 2012-2015. The first two awards supported five NNIN sites: Georgia Tech (lead), Harvard, Howard, Penn State, and UCSB. The 2012 award supports RETs at four sites: Georgia Tech, Arizona State, University of Minnesota, and UCSB.The new award differs by including community college faculty and hosting the NNIN Nanotechnology workshop from secondary and post-secondary educators (to be held this year at Georgia Tech in March 2013). In 2012, we had 14 participants: 8 from community colleges and 6 from K-12 shcools.

Although it is funded separately, the NNIN RET program is an integral part of the NNIN Education Program. It is directed out of the NNIN Education Office at Georgia Tech, is implemented by the NNIN Education Coordinators at participating sites, and the work product of the RET program forms a major part of the nanotechnology education resources distributed by NNIN. Not all sites, however, participate in


this program for two reasons: We wanted to have a critical mass at each site – at least four teachers to work with each other. The NSF RET program has a monetary limit which precludes having this crtical mass at all of the sites.

The new award includes an evaluation done by an external evlauator. As of the preparation of this NNIN annual report, the evalutaors report is not available. It will be completed after the March 2013 workshop and submitted to NSF with the NNIN RET annual report.

Past years evaluations have indicated that teachers were actively engaged in research and that they were able adapt for their classrooms, a main goal of the program. The project mentors showed that they had an understanding of teacher roles and responsibilities and wanted to help the teachers in improving education. Teachers also indicated that they increased their knowledge of current issues in STEM research. Overall, the previous programs received very high ratings and we expect similar results for the new award.

Lessons and modules developed by the NNIN RET participants are an important part of the expanding set of nanotechnology education resources offered by NNIN. RET modules are edited, reviewed, and vetted, and eventually posted on the NNIN education web portal, making them available for wider use. These activities also become an important part of the activities NNIN uses at its various workshops, camps, and public engagement activities. The lessons developed under the new award will include lessons suitable for undergradaute classes thus expanding NNIN’s lessons to a new community.

3.3.5 iWSG The international Winter Schools for Graduate Students (iWSG) are organized jointly by NNIN and institutions in develping countries with the goal of promoting international bridge-building and understanding by bringing together students and faculty in an intense teaching and societal experience. Each year, approximately15 US graduate students and 5 US faculty participate in a rigorous course in an emerging and research-intensive interdisciplinary nanotechnology topic. This course lasts six days and includes laboratory sections. This is followed by travel to a rural, underdeveloped part of the country (~4-5 days) where students spend time observing, experiencing and discussing the societal challenges and the part science and technology can play in a developing society. A large group of students from the host country participate in the course part and a smaller group joins in the rural experience. In 2011 we added outreach activities (demonstrations) for children and adults in the visited communities,

NNIN has had four courses:

• iWSG 1, IIT Kanpur, India, Organic Electronics and Optoelectronics (12/2008)

• iWSG 2, IIT Mumbai, India, Nanoelectronics (12/2009)

• iWSG 3, IISc Bangalore, Science and Technology of Nanofabrication (1/2011)

• iWSG 4, Unicamp, Cambinas, Brazil, Optoelectronics and Photonics (1/2012)

Overall, the courses receive very good ratings including providing a broad perspective to the field and its challenges as well as allowing participants to interact across international boundaries and see other world perspectives. This latter is an important goal of the program in that we are seeking to develop globally aware scientist through this experience (an important focus of the program).

Participants in the field trip portion of the trip completed an essay on their thoughts and observations. These essays indicate that students are extremely positive about the workshop and the field trip. The interactions with their counterparts are an important aspect of the program for all participants. Sample comments by the US participants in the Brazil iWSG are in the text box to the right. The comments reveal the various impacts that the experience has on the students.


The 4th International Winter School was conducted in January 2012 in the São Paolo state in Brazil in conjunction with our partner UNICAMP, the University at Campinas. Fifteen US participants were selected from graduate schools across the country. Student participants included:

• Arrielle Optowsky, U. Wisconsin • Meredith Lee, Stanford • Jared Schwede, Stanford • Kevin Luke, Cornell • Romy Fain, Cornell • Joseph Young, Rice • Tatyana Sheps, UC Irvine • Kishore Padmaraju, Columbia • Morgan Stanton, WPI • Jenna Hagemeir, UCSB • Anna Shneidman,Harvard • Brian Lambson, Berkeley

• Zephram Marks, U. Colorado • Sonia Buckley, Stanford

• Jaime Teherani, MIT

They were joined by 7 US faculty and about 50 participants from South America. The technical part of the course was on Optoelectronics and Photonics with basic and advanced lectures on topics including lasers, waveguides, LEDs,VCSELs, modulators, detectors, non-linear optics, and optoelectronic circuits.

US Faculty included

• Prof. Bard van Zedgbroeck, U. Colorado, (technical organizer)

• Prof. Connie Chang-Hasnain, U.C. Berkeley • Prof. Michal Lipson, Cornell University • Prof. Michael Hochberg, U. Washington • Prof. Kent Choquett, Univ. Illinois • Prof. Alex Gaeta, Cornell • Dr. Laura Grossenbacher, U. Wisconsin (Social and

Ethical Issues Coordinator)

For the second week field trip, 15 US student participants, 3 faculty, and 4 Brazilians ventured into rural

Figure 31: Scenes from the 4th iWSG held in Campina Brazil

• “I really enjoyed the chance to interact with the Brazilian grad students during the first week; I learned that while some of them are very confident in their English-speaking skills, others struggle.”

• A Brazilian student shared his perspective that his interaction with our group has erased some of the prejudices he had about Americans. We agreed that prejudices on both sides were broken down by the two week experience.”

• “While we’ve routinely interact with graduate students from developing nations (e.g. China, India, Turkey), we’ve noted that we rarely get to interact with Brazilian students. For that reason, the ability to network with so many Brazilian students (an opportunity we rarely get at conferences, even those that are international) was a transformative experience.”


parts of Brazil including visits to the Atlantic rain forest. A high point of the experience was several hands-on science demonstration activities done by our students in 2 rural villages (Fig. 31), primarily using kids and modules developed as part of the NNIN Education program.

In Fall 2011, we instituted a new survey to follow-up with participants in the iWSG to gain information on how they perceived the technical and societal portions of the course years to months after their participation. To date, 31 of the 48 participants have completed the survey. Results for the technical and societal pieces of the survey are presented in Tables 8 and 9 below. The results demonstrate that the technical portion of the course did an effective job in presenting the technical aspects and that the topics have been at the forefront of new knowledge. It does appear that participants would like to have more time for discussion. The societal portion of the program received very high marks and clearly demonstrates that exposure to the underdeveloped world is extremely important in developing a global perspective in these young scientists and engineers. Ninety percent of the respondents indicated that the IWSG was time well spent in their academic career and 68% indicated that the experience has had an impact on their views of technology and society.

Table 8. Technical Portion Questions iWSG 2008-2012 Avg. The course was the correct level for my background and experience 3.7 The presenters were very knowledgeable and added to my understanding of

4.5

The course provided the right balance of lecture, labs, and discussion 3.5 The course provided the host country's perspective on the topic 3.8 The course provided an effective forum to discuss critical technical issues 3.4 The course duration was sufficient for the topics covered 4.2 The course topic was timely and provided current and cutting-edge information 4.3

Table 9. Societal Portion Questions 2008-2012 Avg. It allowed me to identify/perceive the world context of technology 4.6 It allowed me to see how technology can help improve the lives of under-

4.3

It allowed me to put my research in the context of the global arena 4.1 It allowed me to have discussions with the foreign participants about technology and society

4.7

It opened up my understanding of technology and the impact on society 4.4 It has influenced my future in terms of my career choices 4.0

*Likert scale 1-5 1 = poor/no 5 = superior/very yes

The winter school is a comprehensive education program whose content is archived at the NNIN education portal. See, e.g. http://www.nnin.org/education-training/graduate-professionals/international-winter-school for materials for each of the courses.

Due to financial considerations and NSF review panel recommendations, the iWSG program has been discontinued.

3.4 Other Education Programs 3.4.1 Teacher Workshops NNIN (Georgia Tech) has developed and provided teacher workshops on nanoscale science and engineering (NSE). The intent of these activities is to give teachers the background and tools necessary to increase student awareness and interest in science and technology in general and NSE in particular. We believe it is very important to provide professional development training for teachers in order to move NSE into classrooms to help meet the projected workforce demands of nanotechnology.

http://www.nnin.org/education-training/graduate-professionals/international-winter-school

http://www.nnin.org/education-training/graduate-professionals/international-winter-school


Georgia Tech has offered a variety of workshops which range from two hours to one week which focus on how NSE can be included in standards-based science curriucla. All of the instructional materials are tied to National Science Education Content Standards or state standards. Georgia Tech workshops in 2012 were presented at the annual meetings of the Georgia Science Teachers Association, Texas Science Teachers Association (with University of Texas), and National Science Teachers Association (national and regional conferences). Other venues were at University of Texas Health Science Center (San Antonio), Gwinnett County School District (GA), and two rural Georgia Regional Education Service Centers. To date we have reached at least one teacher in 48 of the 50 states and and Puerto Rico and 99 of the 159 Georgia counties. In most cases, we have reached more than one teacher in each of these states and counties.

Georgia Tech was the recepient of two awards from the U.S. Department of Education’s State Grants Program – Improving Teacher Quality. These funds have supported two week-long workshops for teachers in rural southwest Georgia. The University of Michigan offered workshops at their state science teachers association meeting and a obne day “Nano Camp” for middle school teachers. The University of Minnesota exhbited at their state science teachers assocation where they distributed information on NNIN education resources. Stanford provides hands-on activities, lectures, and facility tours to teachers attending the week-long Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers. Penn State provided a one day NanoDays workshop for teachers in grades grades 5 and up.

Georgia Tech uses pre and post surveys to determine if the workshop participants have gained understanding of the nano-concepts and science content presented. Using these data, the workshops have been refined over time. Table 10 provides an example of pre- and post- survey results for workshops between 2007-2009 and 2009-2011. Theses results are used to illustrate how assessment data are used to alter our workshops to enhance understanding of NSE concepts. For example, in earlier workshops we presented self-assembly as a method of nanofabrication. In discussions with participants, they indicated that the self-assembly activity indicated to them that this method is the only form of nanofabrication. We changed the lesson to include a Lego® representation of top-down nanofabrication. Pre- and post-survey results for the revised lesson show that the understanding of fabrication methods improved.

Table 10

Question Pre-survey Post-survey

3. Self-assembly is how to fabricate nanoscale objects (2007-2009)

Correct 37% 33%

Incorrect 63% 67%

Self-assembly is how to fabricate nanoscale objects (2009-2011)

Correct 54% 70%

Incorrect 46% 30%

Table 10 pre- and pos-survey results from NNIN/Georgia Tech teacher workshops

The results of our teacher workshops were presented at the 2012 International Conference on Engineering Education (http://www.icee2012.fi/) including a perr-reviewed paper on the NNIN workshops.

3.4.2 NanoTeach In September 2008, NSF (DRK-12) funded the Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning’s

http://www.icee2012.fi/


(McREL) NanoTeach project. Stanford, Georgia Tech, and University of Colorado at Boulder (MRSEC) are the university partners for this professional development program. Since its inception, the NNIN sites at Stanford and Georgia Tech have been involved in the development of the two week professional development workshop. NanoTeach (http://www.mcrel.org/NanoTeach/index.asp) uses a combination of face-to-face and online professional development experiences for high school science teachers who teach physical science topics. The primary goal of this research project is to determine how best to prepare teachers to use an instructional design framework to integrate NSE content into their curriculum in significant ways. The Stanford site has developed remote access events for NanoTeach and also provides content support. Georgia Tech developed a PowerPoint on the Big Ideas in Nanoscale Science and Engineering: A Guidebook for Secondary Teachers (Stevens, et. al, 2009), developed posters on the Big Ideas, provided content and instructional materials support, and recruited NNIN site researchers to present webinars. Both NNIN sites are active in evaluating pre- and post-survey answers and providing content support for the instructional model. This fall, NanoTeach began the fifth and final year program. In 2012, the NNIN sites were active in recruting participants for the summer program which included two delivery models – direct face-to face and group/self-study. Stanford provided webinars, remote lab tours and demonstrations during the direct workshops. Georgia Tech provided a one-day introduction to the self study groups in Georgia. Both NNIN sites provided content support for the workshops. The final resultls of this professional development model will inform NNIN practice.

3.4.3 Other K-12 outreach Numerous outreach activities have occurred in 2012 including K-12 field trips to facilities, visits to schools, summer/weekend camps, workshops, and demonstrations. In order to provide these activities, the NNIN sites have developed hands-on activities (http://www.nnin.org/education-training/k-12-teachers), demonstrations, and presentations on NSE. We also adopt and adapt activities developed by other centers and programs such as University of Wisconsin-Madison’s MRSEC & NSEC, Nanosense (SRI), NISE Net, among others. Hands-on summer, weekend, or after-school camps/programs to engage students in NSE are offered by sites in addition to school on-site visits and tours. These camps/programs focus on middle and high school students and have a variety of formats (one day to one week) and content (e.g., chip camps, introduction to nano, ). In addition, most sites provide on-site activities for visiting school groups as well as the general public. These typically involve lectures, hands-on activities, demonstrations, lab tours, and cleanroom tours. Most include discussions on career and educational opportunities to encourage students to consider careers in STEM and in particular NSE. Sites are also involved in career days at schools, family science nights, science fairs, and community days.

Examples of some of these program for 2012 include:

• UCSB “Chip Camps” provided hands-on nanofabrication to students from area high schools.

• University of Michigan offered NanoCamp (parent and student versions) and participated in local school Science Olympiads, science nights, and the Southeast Michigan Science Fair.

• University of Minnesota hosted two NanoDays events – one at the Sabathani Community Center and the other on its campus. The Center is a community organization which provides programs and services for in need/underserved populations.

• University of Washington hosted tours of the facility to school groups and provided demonstrations at the Life Science Research Weekend – a three day event co-hosted by the Pacific Science Center and The Northwest Association for Biomedical Research

• Stanford provided supports to the “Nanotechnology at Stanford Open House” by contributing hands-on activities, demos, and a tour of the SNF cleanroom facilities

• Arizona State held two NanoDays events at the Arizona Science Center and the Tempe Festival of the Arts. They also did similar demonstrations at the Arizona SciTech Festival.

http://www.mcrel.org/NanoTeach/index.asp

http://www.nnin.org/education-training/k-12-teachers


• Harvard presented demonstrations and lectures to several Boston area schools and presented at Cambridge Public Schools Science and Engineering Showcase – a program to encourage students to STEM; 53% of the district’s students are from underrepresented groups.

• Cornell participates annually at the Lower Hudson Valley Engineering Expo and the FIRST Junior LEGO® Event

• Washington University worked with the St. Louis Science Center providing demonstrations and lectures at its First Friday events and NanoDays.

• University of Colorado presented lectures and hands-on activities to students from Denver School for Science and Technology and hosted a NanoDays event.

• Georgia Tech hosted a variety of middle and high school students for an introduction to nano and provided activities for the Model Atlanta Regional Commission – a leadership program for Metro Atlanta high school students.

• Penn State participated with demonstrations at the campus Materials Day and at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts Kids Day.

• University of Texas provided a tour and activities for the Austin Children’s Museum and assisted with a school’s science fair.

At the September 2009 coordinators meeting it was agreed that all sites would seek materials from NISE Net to host a NanoDay event beginning in 2010. In 2010, 13 sites participated, 9 in 2011 and 9 in 2012. Sites are either the primary sponsor of the NanoDays event or host in collaboration with a local science , museum, or other on-campus group.

3.4.4 NanoExpress Howard University launched the NanoExpress in summer 2006. This is a mobile laboratory which presents the world of nanotechnology to schools and the general public. The NanoExpress (Figure 32) is a mobile van with 208 square feet of lab space designed to facilitate hands-on experiments but also capable of doing nanotechnology research. Experimental areas include: Introduction to Passive Nanoparticles, Introduction to Self Assembly, Introduction to Micro and Nanofabrication, “Chips are for Kids”, Instruments for NanoScience, Shape Memory Alloys, and Soft Lithography. Undergraduate, graduate lab assistants, and RETs help supervise experiments. In 2012, NanoExpress visited D.C. area schools, community colleges, and the USA Science and Engineering Festival.

3.4.5 NNIN Education Portal In 2012, the NNIN website was completely revised including the education portal. The NNIN education portal (http://www.nnin.org/education-training) serves as another avenue in reaching a variety of audiences by offering information for children and adults. The teacher resource section now has a searchable database of our ~60 lessons as well as a comment section for each of the lessons. The education portal has general interest articles, links to additional resources, and information for K-12 students, undergraduates, and graduate students. Multimedia resources are also available for undergraduates and graduate students.

3.4.6 Nanooze NNIN produces and distributes a children’s science magazine related to physical sciences and in particular nanotechnology. Editorially the content is produced by Prof. Carl Batt of Cornell, with printing

Figure 32 Nanoexpress

http://www.nnin.org/education-training


and distribution handled by the NNIN office at Cornell. Nanooze began as a web based magazine (http://www.nanooze.org/), with kid-friendly text, topics, and games. It is designed for grades 5-8 but we have found that even high school students enjoy the magazine. The web edition of Nanooze is available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Nanooze has evolved into an 8 page printed “magazine” that is distributed directly to schools in hard copy. A total of 11 issues are available, each with colorful graphics and interesting stories written at an accessible level. They are used as enrichment material at all levels from elementary to high school. Teachers may request classroom packs of any or all of these issues - free of charge. Through a variety of distribution mechanisms, including NNIN’s exhibit booth at NSTA, over 100,000 copies were distributed to upper elementary through high school students in 2012 (more than 900,000 copies have been printed). Approximately 3,000 copies were distributed by the Atlanta ACS chapter as part of its materials for the 2012 National Chemistry Week. PDF versions can also be downloaded from the web site for local printing. Additional details are available in the Cornell site report.

In addition, NNIN has two 1500 sq.ft. interactive ”museum” displays that are currently deployed at Epcot in Disney World and at Innoventions in Disneyland Anaheim. There exhibits were developed under other programs, but now fall under the “Nanooze” brand. They promote nanotechnology and Nanooze to hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Figure 33: Recent issues of Nanooze

Figure 34: “Nanooze Lab” at Disneyland Innoventions

http://www.nanooze.org/


3.5 USA Science and Engineering Festival The NNIN was one more than 500 participants at the second USA Science and Engineering Festival held April 27-29, 2012 in Washington, DC.. Nine NNIN sites assisted in this effort: Cornell, Georgia Tech, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, UCSB, Washington University St. Louis, University of Washington, Pennsylvania State University and Stanford. In addition, an RET from Harvard and an REU from University of Michigan assisted. We did demonstrations and hands-on activities that included shape memory alloys, hydrophobic materials, thin films, nanoproducts, forces at the nanoscale, hand-held USB scopes and SEM picture matching. We also distributed copies of Nanooze. This was an extremely busy event (~500,000 participants) and we estimate that we saw approximately >4,000 individuals during the three days.

3.6 Technical Workshops--Laboratory Oriented The NNIN is committed to workforce development training through a variety of activities which have been developed and implemented across the network. Training and development activities focus on undergraduate and graduate students, industry and government personnel, and faculty from other institutions. Information on these workshops is found on the NNIN website and upcoming events are advertised on the home page so that individuals can find quick links to the technical workshops. A variety of multimedia is also available on the website including talks, symposia, short courses, and equipment training http://www.nnin.org/news-events/video-galleryIndividual sites also offer online training materials which are downloadable. Many of these video demonstrations and lectures are downloaded by individuals worldwide for use in classrooms and training activities.

Technology and Characterization at the Nanoscale (TCN) is a workshop offered twice a year by Cornell. The content of TCN is designed to encompass all nanotechnology techniques relevant to current research in the field. While traditional topics in nanotechnology - thin films, lithography, pattern transfer (etching), and characterization - provide the basic structure of the course, we include emerging technologies and new approaches in nanotechnology. Nano-imprint lithography, bottom-up nanofabrication, carbon nanotubes, soft lithography, and surface preparation for biology applications are among the topics addressed.

The University of Minnesota provided several workshops during the past year. The workshops included the 8th Annual Minnesota Nanotechnology conference as well as shortcourses on: E-beam Lithography, Micromachining, and Thin Films. The University of Michigan presented seven workshops including IntelliSuite a workshop on MEMS/Microfluidic Design and Analysis Tool, Debugging MEM pProcess Flow wiwth Physical Simulations, System Level Analysis and Simulation of MEMS, among others. Georgia Tech hosted two NanoFans(Nano Focusing on Advanced NanoBio Systems) a twice yearly forum to connect the medical/life sciences/biology and nanotechnology communities. The two workshops were on Nanotechnology and Food Safety and and Nanotoxicology. (http://nrc.ien.gatech.edu/nanofans-forum).

Washington Univesity provided a lecture at the Technical Seminar on ICP-MS and ICP-OES operation and data analysis techniques workshop at WUSTL and hosted Advanced Bio-Imaging for Nanomaterial Environmental Health and Safety. The University of Colorado hosted three workshops Graduate School Advising, Electromagnetic Waves, and CNL Nanofabrication. At the University of Texas there was a workshop on Materials and Manufacturing for Energy and Electronics.

Figure 35: . NNIN at USA Science and Engineering Festival 2012

http://nrc.ien.gatech.edu/nanofans-forum


3.7 Symposia and Advanced Topics Workshops NNIN has over recent years held a number of special focused advanced topic workshops or symposia which bring together significant contributors in fields covered by NNIN. In general, the purpose of these special workshops is to explore emerging areas in which NNIN may be able to make significant contributions. They aim to foster interactions with NNIN and between the participants, and are one source of information to guide NNIN management in new initiatives.

In January 2012 a total of 5 different major symposia were held. These included:

• Materials and Manufacturing for Energy and Electronics, held a UT Austin and co organized with Penn State,

• NNIN Symposium on Frontiers in Nanoscale Transistors and Electronics held at UCSB,

• Bio-inspired Engineering, held at Harvard

• Synergy Between Experiment and Computation in Energy – Looking to 2030, a symposium organized at Harvard as part of the NNIN/C computational nanotechnology effort

• Micro Nano Technology Conference, a three day meeting held at Penn State in collaboration with NACK (PA), MATEC (AZ), Nano-Link (MN), NEATEC (NY) and SCME (NM)

3.8 Diversity Related Efforts and Programs A primary focus of NNIN E&O is inclusion of underrepresented populations and this theme runs throughout the education goals and objectives of the NNIN. While there are specific outreach activities that focus on underrepresented populations, inclusion is an underlying objective of all of our outreach programs. Discussed below are some of the specific programs that are occurring which highlight some of our inclusion activities.

Individual sites make every effort to ensure participation by underrepresented groups in the K-12 programs. With our data management system, gender and ethnicity are being tracked for all activities (when possible). Sites that are located in diverse areas of the country have the best opportunities for recruiting underrepresented participants to the events. However, all sites make an effort for reaching out to diverse populations. UCSB is situated near school districts with highly diverse enrollemtns (Hispanic/Latinos). They provided provided demonstrations at family scinece nights at three area middle schools with high Hispanic enrollments (40%, 49%, and 59%) and at one elementary school (79%). UCSB also provided a Chip Camp to the local Upward Bound Science and Math program which focuses on under-represented/disadvantaged populations. WUSTL worked with two programs that focus on under-served populations: the Youth Exploring Science Program and WUSTL Medical School’s Young Scientist Program. The later including mentoring and guiding a minority female high school student who did research for eight weeks at the NNIN facility.

University of Minnesota worked with Kick off Southstar STEM alliance which provides resources and information on undergraduate research opportunities to Minnesota’s underrepresented minorities receiving bachelor's degrees in STEM. Their NanoDays event worked with - College of Science & Engineering Outreach Office, Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Society of Women Engineers,and American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Harvard provides lectures and demonstraion as part of early college and career awareness for disadvantage Boston 4th-6th graders.

3.8.1 Diversity in NNIN REU Program Our REU program places a special emphasis on providing research opportunities for women and minorities. Specifically, the program requirements indicate, “Sites are encouraged to select applicants


who are female, minority members, or from non-research institutions.” The REU program has quantifiable benchmarks regarding participants which include 50% women participants, 20% from underrepresented minorities, 50% from schools with no Ph.D. program in science and engineering, and 50% from outside the 100 largest research universities. The results reported in the REU section of this report demonstrate that women typically have a higher participation rate in our program in comparison to the applicant pool and in 2012 we had 33% female participation in the REU program with 51% in 2011, 49% in 2010 and 54% in 2009. Minority students participation is typically at a higher rate than the applicant pool except for 2012 when we had 16% minority participants from an applicant pool of 30% minorities. We will strive to increse the minority partiipcation rate for 2013. We continue to fall short of our benchmark of having 50% of the interns come from schools with no Ph.D. program in science and engineering with 26% of our interns coming from these schools in 2012. We typically have two-thirds of our applicants coming from Ph.D. granting institutions which is then reflected in the participation percentage of around 67-70% each year.

3.8.2 Diversity in NNIN RET Program The NNIN RET program recruits teachers who are themselves from underrepresented groups or teach at schools with a high percentage of underrepresented students or low socio-economic status. In 2012, the 14 RETparticipants were - 10 women (71%), 3 men (29%), and 43% from underrepresented populations. These data are consistent with our previous six years - 116 diverse participants: with 54% females and 42% from underrepresented populations.

3.8.3 Laboratory Experience for Faculty Program In fall 2007, NNIN introduced a new program, the NNIN Lab Experience for Faculty. The program focuses on supporting underrepresented faculty or faculty from minority serving institutions to perform research at one of our facilities. In some cases, the participants may become NNIN users in the future; in others, they will relate their experience to their students. Either way, NNIN has an impact on participation of underrepresented populations in nanotechnology. This program runs annually, in the summer in parallel with our REU and RET programs. Four awards of $13,000 each (covering stipend, travel, housing, and lab expense) were made to University of Washington, University ofTexas, University of Minnesota, and Georgia Tech. Faculty spent 8-10 weeks in the summer of 2012 undertaking their own research project in nanoscale science. Table 12 summarizes the faculty and their projects.

Table 12. NNIN 2011 LEF participants

Faculty Participant Home Institution NNIN Site Project

Prof. Shyam Aravamudhan

North Carolina A&T University

Georgia Tech Harsh Environment Packages for N/MEMS Ocean Sensors

Prof. Gina Mancini-Samuelson

St. Catherine University University of Minnesota

A Study of the Mechanical Properties of Graphene Oxide Sheets

“I just wanted to drop you a note and thank you for the opportunity to do research this past summer and fall in the Nanofabrication Center at the University of Minnesota. I have to say it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my academic career. The materials studied and methods used for fabrication and analysis were all 100% new to me so there was a steep learning curve but I enjoyed working through the project. The staff was so helpful and friendly. I wouldn’t have gotten as far as I did without their help and assistance at key moments during the project. I appreciate their guidance. I hope to continue to be connected with the Center. 2012 LEF Gina Mancini-S l


Prof. Nikoleta Theodoropoulou

Texas State University University of Texas Use of Organic Semiconductors to Engineer the Interfaces between Ferromagnets and Organic Materials for Applications in Organic Spintronics

Prof. David Suleiman University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez

University of Washington

Morphology of Block Co-polymer Ionomer Thin-Films for Micro Fuel Cell Devices

Beginning in fall 2011, we sent a request to all LEF participants to complete a short follow-up survey to gain information on the technical aspects of the program with the results presented below. To date, 22 of the 28 participants have completed the survey. The results indicate that the LEFs were easily integrated into the facilities and had good support from the cleanroom and site staff allowing them to complete their project.

Table 13: LEF Follow-up Survey Results Technical Aspects: 2007-2012 Avg.*

Were you able to easily establish a working relationship with the site to develop your project? 4.5

Did you develop a good working relationship with your host NNIN faculty member 4.4

Were you able to execute the research project using the available equipment and facilities? 4.2

Please rate the quality and availability of the overall facility. 4.5

Did site staff provide assistance, if needed, to help develop your project? 4.5

Please rate the availability of necessary equipment in other labs, if necessary. 4.4

Support by cleanroom staff 4.6

Support by site education staff 4.7

*Likert scale 1-5 with 1= Poor/No and 5 = Superior/Very Yes

We also asked them questions about their interactions with the host site and NNIN. As can be seen in the table below, many of the participants have continued interaction with the site with more than 2/3rds still users of the facility and nearly the same epercentge using the experience to enrich their teaching. While 50% have presented their results at a conference, very few have published their results. Importantly, 96% have shared their experience with their students.

Table 14 LEF Follow-up Survey Results Post-Experience: 2007- 2013 No Yes NA I have continued to interact with NNIN site faculty/staff. 16% 84% 0% I am still a user of an NNIN facility. 27% 68% 5% The results of my research have lead to a conference presentation 41% 50% 9% The results of my research have lead to a publication 77% 14% 9% The results of my research has lead to a funding opportunity 68% 18% 14% My students now use the NNIN facility 55% 41% 4% My students are aware of my research conducted at the NNIN site. 4% 96% 0% My students are considering or have applied for graduate school at the NNIN

32% 46% 22%

I have shared my LEF experience with colleagues at my institution. 4% 96% 0% Have you used your LEF experience to enrich your undergraduate courses 36% 59% 5% Have you recommended undergraduate students to the NNIN REU program. 36% 46% 18%


3.9 Assessment and Evaluation NNIN has developed a variety of evaluation instruments for its major programs which include: REU, RET, iREU, LEF, past REUs, iWSG, teacher workshops (pre and post), camps (pre and post), and school visits (pre and post). Instruments have been shared among all of the sites which can adopt and adapt them for their particular programs.

In 2008, NNIN developed a logic model and evaluation plan with the assistance of an external consultant (Tom McKlin, The Findings Group). The model and plan were presented in the 2008 annual report. We use the plan to ensure that we are collecting the correct data to assess the impact and quality of our outreach endeavors. Data presented in this report represent some of our findings using our instruments and other data collection methods.

In Janualy 2012, NNIN assembled a team of experienced science education profesionals to conduct an independent focused review of the NNIN Education Program. This group included: Prof. Doug Huffman, College of Education, University of Kansas; Prof. Frances Lawrenz , Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Minnesota; Dr. Lis Palmer, Aspen Associates; and Prof. Deb Newberry, Dakota County Technical College. While generally praising the quality and breadth of the NNIN Education Program they stressed the need to develop and implement a more rigourous assessment scheme for our activities. We are moving forward with this recommendation with the hiring of Abt Associates in late 2012 to undertake a study of Nanooze and how teachers are using it in their classrooms.

3.10 Program Summary NNIN’s education program is widely recognized as a leader within the nanotechnology and academic research center community. NNIN has and will continue to offer a variety of education and outreach activities at the local and national level. The synergy between the local and national programs makes NNIN a dynamic and effective education and outreach . Table 15 provides a summary overview of NNIN network-wide education programs and the target audience for each.

Table 15. Summary of NNIN Network-wide Programs. Program Participants Purpose Status REU Undergraduates Research experience for a diverse

population of undergraduates; introduction to nanotechnology research & careers

Upcoming 17th summer in 2013

iREU Undergraduates – former NNIN REU participants

Develop globally aware scientists and engineers from the most successful REU participants


iREG Graduate students from Japan (NIMS)

International outreach; reciprocity for iREU Japan; No cost to NNIN


RET Middle and high school science teachers

Introduce teachers to nanotechnology and experimental design; develop nanotechnology classroom activities

8th year in 2013 with a new three-year award in 2012

LEF – Lab Experience for Faculty

Underrepresented faculty and/or faculty from minority serving institutions

Increase diversity in NNIN user base and in STEM/ nanotechnology pipeline


Nanooze Upper elementary and middle school students

Stimulate and maintain interest in STEM at a young age

Special print editions =12; Classroom packs widely distributed

iWSG Graduate students Develop globally aware scientists and engineers; Provide technical workshops in nano to US and foreign students; Encourage international collaboration

Fourth two week workshop held in Campinas, Brazil in January 2011.


4.0 NNIN Computation Program Nanoscience, as we know it, would not be possible without computation. Numerical calculations are crucial for every stage of nanoscale research, including device design, analysis of experimental data, and complex predictive simulations. The computation project of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, (NNIN/C), enables nanoscience research by providing on-site domain experts, access to computing resources, a broad suite of simulation tools, numerous workshops, and unique cyberinfrastructure resources. This framework has led to an active and expanding NNIN/C user community that regularly generates seminal research and high-impact publications.

Since its inception in 2004, the NNIN/C has focused on a broad range of simulation expertise and tools to address the spectrum of research projects in the nanoscale regime. While other NSF funded projects such as the Purdue Nanohub operate under a similar mandate, the computational effort of the NNIN/C is unique due to the fact that it is embedded at leading nanofabrication user facilities across the country. At each site, Ph.D. level research liaisons work directly with users to help them overcome the initial learning curve associated with new simulation approaches so that these tools can be an effective part of their research plan. These experts provide insight on multiple aspects of nanoscience, including MEMS and NEMS devices, electronic structure of materials, nanoscale thermal and electronic transport, semiconductor devices, and advanced parallel computing architectures (i.e. GPUs). This unique juxtaposition of simulation and fabrication efforts helps us reach and impact the efforts of a cross-section of nanoscale researchers that may be missed by other on-line or remote simulation efforts. This effort exceeds that of desktop capabilities, provides expert staff to assist new users in simulation approaches, and also serves as a gateway to larger NSF computational grid facilities such as XSede. In addition, the NNIN/C also provides targeted simulation workshops, cyberinfrastructure resources like the Virtual Vault for Nanoscience, and access to unique computing resources like the GPU cluster at Harvard.

The success of NNIN/C is measured by its ever-increasing user numbers, by the popularity of NNIN/C sponsored events and, most notably, by the number and strength of the publications resulting from NNIN/C support – manifested by an incredible h index of 29 after only eight years. Since its inception in 2004, NNIN/C has stressed the synergy and close interaction between experiments and simulations and has thereby enabled cutting edge research and scientific and engineering discoveries in all fields of nanoscience.

This report describes code and hardware additions (including the addition of 600 cores to the Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences “Odyssey” cluster in January of 2013 to support a priority queue for NNIN/C users), publication statistics and specific highlights, sponsored workshops and advanced projects – such as the virtual vault for nanoscience and the GPU project – during the past year of the project. References are given to the NNIN/C webpage where a complete record of publications and a list of codes, for example, can be found.

4.1 Codes at the Sites Nanoscale science pertains to the regime where the number of atoms or molecules under study are too numerous for a single-atom/molecule treatment, on the one hand. On the other hand, the number and arrangement of atoms is also neither regular (periodic) nor sufficiently large for meaningful statistical (thermodynamic) analysis. The foundations of nanoscale computation consist of electronic structure codes, which are initially appropriate for small atom number or periodic systems, and molecular dynamics codes, which are statistical insofar as they typically require ensembles of initial conditions and treat systems interacting with heat baths. Additionally, photonics and phononics codes address the primary bosonic degrees of freedom of nanoscale matter, processing or fabrication codes treat the physics of ion implantation (among other areas), and multiscale or finite element tools treat micro-fluidics, which while larger than the nanoscale often interfaces with nanoscale structures and are important in their own right.


Our choice of supported codes is driven by user needs and by identifying emerging trends in simulation and the research topics.

In addition to the core areas of computation related to nanotechnology (molecular dynamics, ab inito electronic structure, semiconductor device modeling, photonics and fluidics) there inevitably occur simulations of new systems that obey equations that don’t fit into the standard categories. One such example is the recently installed Oommf (Object Oriented MicroMagnetic Framework) software (developed by NIST) at the Harvard University site. A highlight of research perfomed by the Aidala group at Mount Holyoke College is included below. Three new codes, MIT Photonic-Bands (MPB), nextnano3, and Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG) have been installed on the NNIN/C computation cluster at Michigan. At the Cornell site, the WANNIER90 code, phonon dispersion processing tools (PHON, Phonopy) and a code to predict phonon focusing in nanostructures and materials were added to the site.

Beta Version of Anharmonic Code With support from a separate NSF CBET collaborative grant, Derek Stewart has been working with David Broido at Boston College to develop a code (anharm) to calculate the third order force constants using density functional perturbation theory. In 2012, the code was optimized to run faster and also interface with FFTW 3 (fast fourier transform) libraries. An initial trial version has been released to a beta tester at ORNL and full public distribution through the NNIN/C is expected by the end of 2013.

Phonon Branch Sort In collaboration with Keith Refson, (STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory), UK, Derek Stewart developed a python conversion tool that allows Quantum Espresso users to sort phonon branch data properly for analysis. This ability is critical for extracting phonon group velocities relevant for thermal conductivity estimates in both materials and nanostructures. A formal distribution site for this script will be developed in early Spring 2013.

Duchinsky Matrix Calculation Code We have extended the Duchinsky Matrix Calculation Code developed by Professor Jeffrey R. Reimers of University of Sydney for computing electron-phonon couplings in electronic transport calculations and extened the interface of the code to popular electronic structure codes in chemistry. The code is being used to design tools for measuring identity of toxic proteins based quantum tunneling effects.

The complete list of codes, listed in a matrix according to site, can be found at: http://www.nnin.org/nnin_computation_code_list.html.

4.2 Hardware Updates The cluster at Stanford was updated by increasing the memory on all the nodes to 16 GB in order to accommodate memory intensive jobs.

The Harvard University node of NNIN/C will receive a major addition to its computational “iron” early in 2013. The Center for Nanoscale systems, which manages NNIN and NNIN/C at Harvard, has initiated the purchase of a cluster of AMD Opteron-based blades that are connected by Infiniband rapid communication and will comprise a total of over 600 cores. This facility, which will reside within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences “Odyssey” cluster, will provide a much-needed boost, with a priority queue, for the growing NNIN/C user base.

4.3 NNIN/C Impact in Science and Education The NNIN/C continues to have an important impact on research activities both at nodes in the NNIN/C and other institutions across the United States. Since its inception, NNIN/C user activities have been measured based primarily on the number of researchers who obtain accounts and perform research on NNIN/C computational facilities. However, this measure unfortunately does not capture consulting

http://math.nist.gov/oommf/overview.html

http://www.nnin.org/nnin_computation_code_list.html


activities or collaborative work which also leads to a measurable impact in research. Since the computational liaisons are embedded at nanofabrication facilities, these direct exchanges can occur quite often. Other major nanotechnology simulation efforts, like the NCN, measure user number based on the number of researchers who log into the Nanohub site. In order to develop similar statistics, the NNIN/C has moved to a platform where researchers interested in consultations or computing resources can fill out a standard request form.

We have listed user statistics both in terms of researchers using computing resources at NNIN/C and the broader framework (consulting, collaborations, and local resourcess.). In addition, we have listed seperately the number of participants at each site that have taken part in educational activities (conferences, workshops, courses). Cornell is the only site that charges for cluster access.

Table 16: User Statistics for the different NNIN/C sites (2012)

Total Users (consulting, collaborations, computing time)

Users with computing time on NNIN/C resources

Educational Participants

Internal External Internal External

Harvard 71 83 61 81 15

Cornell* 29 29 26 10 60

Stanford 58 33 27 10 10

Michigan 28 27 8 15 272

*These statistics do not include user numbers for the NNIN Virtual Vault (~2100 site visits). See Sect. 4.5 for additional details.

4.4 Research Highlights The NNIN/C initiative focuses on providing doctorate level expertise and consultation, cutting-edge simulation tools, and computing resources to help researchers succeed. The effectiveness of this effort can be measured through the publications of NNIN/C users and the impact they have had in the scientific community. During 2012, 52 publications resulted from NNIN/C users in leading journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Nano Letters, ACS Nano, Applied Physics Letters, and Energy and Environmental Science. This represents a 63% increase in publications from 2011. Since the NNIN/C program started in 2004, there have been 210 publications through the NNIN/C program that have been cited a total of 2825 times with an average of 13.45 citations/paper. Six of the papers have 95 or more citations. The total collection of NNIN/C papers has a Hirsch or h index of 29 which indicates that 29 papers have 29 or more citations. (Citation data and statistics obtained from Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Knowledge). The majority of the papers (59%) are independent projects that do not involve direct collaboration or co-authorship with NNIN/C simulation liasons. This is comparable to other NSF nanoscience users facilities like the NCN Nanohub where 63% of the publications were due to independent (non-NCN) projects (source http://nanohub.org/groups/ncn/research).

A full list of NNIN/C publications is available at the NNIN website:

http://www.nnin.org/nnin_computation_publications.html

http://nanohub.org/groups/ncn/research

http://www.nnin.org/nnin_computation_publications.html


Awards J. G. Cueva et al.’s article in Current Biology was listed a featured article and previewed by Gaertig and Wloga in the same journal issue. The article has also been recommended by the Faculty of 1000, The Faculty includes 7 Nobel Prize winners, 81 fellows of The Royal Society, 12 Lasker Award winners, 146 members of the National Academy of Sciences and 104 members of the Institute of Medicine.

Joint theoretical and experimental works 1. Highlight 4.4.4: This work published in Nano Letters used a combination of finite difference time

domain (FDTD) modeling and fabrication both done at the CNF to develop optical nanotweezers for manipulating biomoleculers, nanorods, and nanotubes. This work is currently being commercialized by the start-up company Optofluidics Inc.

2. Highlight 4.4.10 (published in the Technical Digests of VLSI 2012 and IEDM 2012) involves a direct collaboration between theoretical and experimental teams at Stanford to elucidate the effect of strain on the device performance of Sn dopped Ge, a potential candidate for next generation CMOS devices.

3. Work function modulation effects were examined first theoretically then experimental solutions were seeked in a joint project at Stanford- X. Zhang, J. Mitard, L. Ragnarsson, T. Hoffmann, M.l Deal, M. Grubbs, J. Li, B. Magyari-Kope, B. Clemens, and Y. Nishi, "Theory and Experiments of the Impact of Work-Function Variability on Threshold Voltage Variability in MOS Devices", IEEE Trans. Electr. Dev. 59, 3124, (2012).

4.4.1:Research Highlight: Enabling the Formation of Uniform Microtubule Populations Juan G. Cueva, Jen Hsin, Kerwyn Casey Huang, and Miriam B. Goodman. “Posttranslational Acetylation of a-Tubulin Constrains Protofilament Number in Native Microtubules”, Current Biology, 22:1066-1074 (2012)

Microtubules are built from linear polymers of a-b tubulin dimers (protofilaments) that form a tubular quinary structure.(fig.36). Microtubules assembled from purified tubulin in vitro contain between 10 and 16 protofilaments; however, such structural polymorphisms are not found in cells. This discrepancy implies that factors other than tubulin constrain microtubule protofilament number, but the nature of these constraints is unknown. Results: Here, we show that acetylation of MEC-12 a-tubulin constrains protofilament number in C. elegans touch receptor neurons (TRNs). Whereas the sensory dendrite of wildtype TRNs is packed with a cross-linked bundle of long, 15-protofilament microtubules, mec-17; atat-2 mutants lacking a-tubulin acetyltransferase activity have short microtubules, rampant lattice defects, and variable protofilament number both between and within microtubules. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations suggest a model in which acetylation of lysine 40 promotes the formation of interprotofilament salt bridges, stabilizing lateral interactions between protofilaments and constraining quinary structure to produce stable, structurally uniform microtubules in vivo. Conclusions: Acetylation of a-tubulin is an essential constraint on protofilament number in vivo. We propose a structural model in which this posttranslational modification promotes the formation of lateral salt bridges that fine-tune the association

Figure 36:MEC-12 a-Tubulin Dimer Homology Model Incorporated into a Microtubule Lattice.


Figure 37Isosurface plots of the local density of states at the valence band maximum (green) and the conduction band minimum (blue) for a 6x8 rutile TiO2 nanowire.

between adjacent protofilaments and enable the formation of uniform microtubule populations in vivo.

4.4.2: Research Highlight: Quantum Confinement and Surface Relaxation in Rutile TiO2 Nanowires A. Hmiel and Y. Xue, “Quantum confinement and surface relaxation effects in rutile TiO2 nanowires”, Physical Review B 85, 235461 (2012). [SUNY Albany]

TiO2 Nanowires have found applications in solar cells, proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, and gas sensors. Hmiel and Xue from the SUNY Albany have examined how the electronic properties of TiO2 TiO2 rectangular nanowires change with size and surface relaxation. (Fig. 37). For small nanowires, quantum confinement effects can be significant. The team has used density functional theory to examine a wide range of nanowire configurations to understand how functionalization of the surfaces will affect the electronic properties. Their study has found that the presence or absence of a mirror Ti-O plane is a key factor in determining the electronic character of the TiO2 nanowire. It also indicates that it may be possible to tailor the character (direct vs indirect) and size of the nanowire band gap for specific applications.(Fig. 38)

4.4.3: Research Highlight: Topological Phase Transitions in Heterostructures Q. Zhang, Z. Zhang, Z. Zhu, U. Schwingenschlogl, and Y. Cui, “Exotic topological insulator states and topological phase transitions in Sb3Se3-Bi2Se3 heterostructures”, ACS Nano, 6, 2345 (2012)

Topological insulator is a new state of matter attracting tremendous interest due to its gapless linear dispersion and spin momentum locking topological states located near the surface. Heterostructures, which have traditionally been powerful in controlling the electronic properties of semiconductor devices, are interesting for topological insulators. Here, we studied the spatial distribution of the topological state in Sb2Se3–Bi2Se3 heterostructures by first-principle simulation and discovered that an exotic topological state exists. Surprisingly, the state migrates from the nontrivial Bi2Se3 into the trivial Sb2Se3 region and spreads across the entire

Figure 38:Band Gap Energy of TiO2 nanowires as a function of perimeter and cross-section area.

Fig. 39 Energy band structure and RDOS as a function of depth for Si2Se3-Bi2Se3 heterostructure.


Sb2Se3 slab, extending beyond the concept of “surface” state while preserving all of the topological surface state characteristics. (Fig. 39)This unusual topological state arises from the coupling between different materials and the modification of electronic structure near Fermi energy. Our study demonstrates that heterostructures can open up opportunities for controlling the real-space distribution of the topological state and inducing quantum phase transitions between topologically trivial and nontrivial states.

4.4.4: Research Highlight: Using Light to Orientate Nanostructures P. Kang, X. Serey, Y.-F. Chen, and D. Erickson, “Angular orientation of nanorods using nanophotonic tweezers”, Nano Letters, 12, 6400 (2012). A key challenge in nanoscale research is the ability to manipulate nanostructures (carbon nanotubes, buckyballs) and biolomolecules (DNA, viruses, bacteria) for assembly and analysis. Using near-field optical techniques, nanophotonic resonators based on photonic crystals can confine and amplify light fields at sub-wavelength scales while using minimal power. Since the optical force that results from the interaction between light and particles increases linearly with the gradient of the field intensity, this leads to excellent optical trapping. When this is combined with the use of circularly polarized light, it is also possible to rotate and orientate rod-shaped nanostructures on demand. In the recent Nano Letters, P. Kang et al have demonstrated for the first time the abilty to simultaneously confine and rotate both biological molecules (25 nm diameter, 8 micron long microtubules) and (140 nm diameter, 5 micron long multiwalled carbon nanotubes). (FIg. 40) The success of this project relied on leveraging both the fabrication and simulation resources available through the Cornell Nanoscale Facility. The photonic crystals were designed on the CNF cluster using a combination of in-house analytical models along with MEEP finite-difference time domain calculations. The devices were fabricated at the CNF using electron-beam lithography (JEOL 9300), silicon etching with a chlorine receipe in the Plasma Therm 770, silicon nitride etching using the Oxford 100 (CHF3/O2), and a final deposition of a silicon oxide layer with the CVC (lift-off process). This technology is currently being commercialized by the company Optofluidics, Inc.

Fig. 40:(first panel) Schematic of the orientation of a microtubule on a photonic crystal resonator. The EM wave propagates in the x-direction with the transverse electric field orientated along the y-axis. The field of the TE mode gives rise to an optical torque (curved blue arrow) that orientates the microtubule. (second panel) Sequential images, of a microtubule, as it is reorientated until it aligns with the TE polarization. The silicon nitride photonic crystal resonator is centered and vertical.


4.4.5: Research Highlight: Light-Trapping Nanocone Gratings Ken Xingze Wang, Zongfu Yu, Victor Liu, Yi Cui, and Shanhui Fan, “Absorption Enhancement in Ultrathin Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells with Antireflection and Light-Trapping Nanocone Gratings”, Nano Lett. 12, 1616, 2012.

Enhancing the light absorption in ultrathin-film silicon solar cells is important for improving efficiency and reducing cost. We introduce a double-sided grating design , where the front and back surfaces of the cell are separately optimized for antireflection and light trapping, respectively. The optimized structure yields a photocurrent of 34.6 mA/cm2 at an equivalent thickness of 2 μm, close to the Yablonovitch limit (Fig. 41). By manipulating he size of the silica nanoparticles the periodicity can be controlled. Then reactive ion etching can be used to control the shapes of the nanocones. The structure involves only a slight surface modification of a silicon film with nanocones of relatively low aspect ratio, therefore the issues associated with surface recombination and degradation of electronic properties should be less severe than those of other high aspect ratio nanoscale structures. The double-sided nanocone grating design provides an experimentally realistic strategy in efficiency improvement and cost reduction for crystalline silicon solar cells.

4.4.6: Research Highlight: Interaction of DNA with Nanotubes Professor Ravindra Pandey research group at Michigan Technological University (MTU) has been using the NNIN/C computation cluster to study the “Interaction of DNA with Nanotubes”

Nanoscale materials and structures have attracted a lot of interest for their potential applications in sensing of biomolecules. The purpose of this project is to gain fundamental understanding of the interaction of bio-systems with nanomaterials in aqueous environment, with a special emphasis on the solvent effect. (Fig. 42) The research group is carrying out a detailed study of DNA fragments interacting with BN nanotubes based on first-principles methods. An implicit continuum model is used to take into account the solvent effect for the system.

4.4.7: Research Highlight: The Microstructure of Solvated PEGylated PAMAM Dendrimer Nanocarriers from fully Atomistic Computer Simulations Yang, L and da Rocha, S.R.P. “The Microstructure of Solvated PEGylated PAMAM Dendrimer Nanocarriers from fully Atomistic Computer Simulations” In: 2012 AICHE Annual meeting, 2012, Pittsburgh, PA.

Fig 41: Photocurrent as a function of thickness and grating.

Fig. 42:DNA fragment composed of 3 Guanines with BNNT in aqueous solution.


Professor Da Rocha’s group at Wayne State University is using the NNIN/C at Michigan computation resources to study “Microstructure of PEGylated PAMAM Dendrimer Nanocarriers” through fully atomistic simulations. (Fig 43) . Poly(amido-amine) (PAMAM) dendrimers are well-defined, highly branched, nanostructured polymers comprised of a core, branching units, and terminal functional groups. Their unique structure, which is characterized by high monodispersity and the readily modifiable surface functional groups, make them very attractive in a variety of biomedical applications, including gene and drug delivery, and as imaging agents. Understanding the microstructure of dendrimers nanocarriers (DNCs) and the PEG layers upon conjugation will help us optimize design for drug delivery applications. In this work the research group has investigated a microscopic view of the structure of solvated PEGylated PAMAM DNCs obtained through molecular dynamics simulations using atomistic models. They have reported the results for from generation 2 (G2) to G5 PAMAM (GxNH2) dendrimers at different densities of PEGylation. The results obtained showed a good match in size with experimental measurements reported.

4.4.8: Research Highlight: Piezoelectricity in ZnO nanowires Kasra Momeni from Iowa State University has been using the Michigan site computation resources to investigate the piezoelectricity in ZnO nanowires through the large scale molecular dynamics simulations.

The purpose of this project is to calculate the piezoelectric properties of ZnO nanowires (NW) using molecular dynamics (MD) technique. Zinc oxide nanostructures play a key rule in the field of nanopiezotronics. Properties such as biocompatibility, piezoelectricity, and high band gap has made ZnO NWs an attractive material for the research community. In this project, size-scale effect on piezoelectric properties of ZnO NWs will be studied using MD technique. (Fig.44). This can enlighten the possible applications of ZnO NWs as a new energy source for Micro/Nano devices.

Fig. 43: PEGylated Generation 3 PAMAM Dendrimer.

Figure 44 Zinc oxide nanowires with different diameters are studied to capture the size-scale effect


4.4.9: Research Highlight: Materials Search for New Energy Storage Systems S. Burkhardt, M. Lowe, S. Conte, W. Zhou, H. Qian, G. G. Rodirguez-Calero, J. Gao, R. G. Hennig, and H. D. Abruna, “Tailored redox functionality of small organics for pseudocapacitive electrodes”, Energy and Environmental Sciences, 5, 7176 (2012).

In order for intermittent alternative energy sources like solar and wind to be successful, we need to develop new energy storage systems that have high energy and power densities and that are also inexpensive. Organic materials like conducting polymers for have received a great deal of interest due to the fact that (1) the material properties can be tuned through chemistry and (2) the source materials are light weight and cheap. In this work, researchers at Cornell have undertaken a systematic theoretical exploration of ~100 compounds to screen for possible high energy density organics. By combining knowledge from these simulations with experimental electrochemical data, the researchers have been able to establish structure-property relationships which should guide in the development of new organic energy storage systems.(Fig. 45,46)

4.4.10: Research Highlight: GeSn Channel nMOSFETs S. Gupta, B. Vincent, D. H. C. Lin, M. Gunji, A. Firrincieli, F. Gencarelli, B. Magyari-Köpe, B.Yang, B. Douhard, J. Delmotte, A. Franquet, M. Caymax, J. Dekoster, Y. Nishi and K.C. Saraswat, “GeSn Channel nMOSFETs: Material Potential and Technological Outlook”, 2012 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, 2012.

Semiconducting germanium tin (GeSn) alloy has recently emerged as a candidate for optoelectronic and high performance CMOS devices because of its tunable direct gap and potential for high electron and hole mobilities. High hole mobility in GeSn channel pMOSFETs has already been demonstrated. However, GeSn as channel for nMOSFETs has

Fig. 45:Screening results for experimental and theoretical energy storage pendants.

Figure 47:Schematics of the band structures in Ge and GeSn alloys; XRD mapping of 8.5 Sn % alloy.

Fig.46: Isodensity surfaces of (a) the HOMO for each substituted thiophene and (b) the SOMO for each substituted thiophene. Greater coplanarity of the donor group is consistent with greater electron donating strength of the substitution


not yet been explored. In this work we perform detailed theoretical analysis to gauge the benefits of GeSn channel over Ge for nMOSFETs. Our analysis predicts GeSn nMOSFETs to outperform Ge. GeSn n-channel devices have been successfully fabricated and factors limiting its performance are investigated, potential solutions are presented. (Fig.47)

4.4.11: Research Highlight: Design and Optimization of ReRAM Stack Structures K. Kamiya, M. Y. Yang, B. Magyari-Köpe, M. Niwa, Y. Nishi, and K. Shiraishi, “Physics in Designing Desirable ReRAM Stack Structure-Atomistic Recipes Based on Oxygen Chemical Potential Control and Charge Injection/Removal”, Technical Digest of IEDM, 12-478, 2012

We clarify the importance of three-layers ReRAM stack structures and provide guidelines for further optimization by both charge injection/removal and oxyge n chemical potential. We determine atomistic structures corresponding to the ON-OFF switching process of ReRAMs using ab initio calculations. The cohesion-isolation of oxygen vacancies is found to be a strong driving force in the ON-OFF switching observed in oxide-based ReRAMs, and this phase transition can be controlled by injecting/removing charges while altering the oxygen chemical potential. Based on this concept, we propose universal guidelines for designing desirable ReRAM stack structures by introducing an oxygen vacancy barrier layer. (fig. 48).

4.4.12: Research Highlight: High Pressure Ices A. Hermann, N. W. Ashcroft, and R. Hoffmann, “High pressure ices”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences PNAS, 109, 745 (2012).

The crystalline or ice forms of H2O has drawn the interest of scientist for decades. The phase diagram of H2O exhibits a wide range of stable and meta-stable ices. Previous studies have also predicted that high pressure ices could be metallic, which could have important implications for planetary models for Neptune or Uranus. A typical challenge of material science is the large number of

crystalline phases that need to be explored to find the minimum energy structures. In this work, the Hoffmann group at Cornell University used an genetic search algorithm, XtalOpt coupled with density functional claculations to explore this vast parameter space. This study found new stable high pressure ice phases. They also found that ice does not become metallic until much higher pressures that previously predicted by other groups. (Fig. 49,50)

Figure 6: Oxygen vacancy cohesion-isolation transition in TiO2 based RRAM devices; Schematic picture of double layer oxide RRAM operation principle and proposed optimization of stacking

Figure 49: Different ice crystal phases predicted at 700 GPA. The Pmc21 becomes stable in the regime from 1-1.3TPa. As pressure increases, water ice transform from a 3D interpenetrating network to two-dimensional corrugated sheets

Figure 50:Band gap energy for various ice phases as a function of pressure. The metallic phase (C2/m) does not become stable until 4.8 TPa.


4.4.13: Research Highlight: Manipulation of magnetization states of ferromagnetic nanorings by an applied azimuthal Oersted field T. Yang, N.R. Pradhan, A. Goldman*, A.S. Licht*, Y.Li*, M. Kemei*, M.T. Tuominen, K.E. Aidala, Applied Phys. Lett. 98, 242505 (2011).

Micromagnetic simulations of the vortex switching process of thin ferromagnetic rings under the application of a circular field, as if created from a current-carrying wire passing through the ring center, reveal that for rings with sub-micron dimensions and thicknesses on the order of the exchange length, the vortex to vortex switching process occurs through the nucleation and annihilation of multiple 360 degrees domain walls (DWs).(Fig 51), The DWs can be characterized by their circulation relative to the vortex circulation; the DWs form in pairs with opposite topological indices. The DW with the same circulation annihilates first, which has a smaller energy barrier to overcome before annihilating. The contributions from both the exchange energy and demagnetization energy must be considered to predict which DW will annihilate first. Either wall could be annihilated by offsetting the current toward the wall being targeted. The simulations for this and related works by the Aidala group have been performed on the Harvard University “Odyssey” cluster with the Oommf code (The Object Oriented MicroMagnetic Framework) developed by NIST and installed by NNIN/C on odyssey.

4.5 Progress on New Computation Initiatives 4.5.1 Virtual Vault for Interatomic Potentials Atomistic simulations using empirical interatomic potentials are playing an increasingly important role in realistic scientific and industrial applications in many areas including advanced material design, drug design, renewable energy, and nanotechnology. The predictive capability of thes approaches hinges on the accuracy of the interatomic model used to describe atomic interactions. Modern potentials are optimized to reproduce experimental values and electronic structure estimates for the force and energies of representative atomic configurations deemed important for the problem of interest. However, no standardized approach exists yet for comparing the accuracy of interatomic models, or estimating the likely accuracy of a given prediction. In addition, a lack of standardization in the programming interface of interatomic potentials and the lack of a systematic infrastructure for archiving them makes it difficult to use potentials for new applications and to reproduce published results. These limitations are preventing the field of atomistic modeling from realizing its true scientific and technological potential.

The Knowledgebase of Interatomic Models (KIM) is a four-year NSF Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI) program which seeks to address the limitations described above in two stages:

• Development of an online infrastructure consisting of a web portal, repository and processing pipeline.

• Development of a framework for evaluating the transferability and precision of interatomic models.

Figure 51: Topographic AFM image of two identically designed sets of Ni81Fe19 symmetric rings. Ring 2 and 4 have 300 nm arm width and 1200nm outer diameter, while 1 and 3 have 300 nm arm width and 800 nm outer diameter.


The original proposal for KIM included a letter of support for the project from NNIN/C coordinator Michael Stopa. Since then, NNIN/C has participated in KIM workshops and we are currently working on a plan to have the new computational nodes at Harvard serve as a mirror site for the KIM database.

4.5.2 Virtual Vault for Pseudopotentials Development Virtual Vault for Pseudopotentials: The CNF hosts the Virtual Vault for Pseudopotentials for the NNIN/C. The NNIN database provides the global scientific community with access to pseudopotentials used in a wide range of electronic structure codes (See http://www.nnin.org/nnin_comp_psp_vault.html .) The clearinghouse consists of a PHP-SQL database of pseudopotentials which now contains over 1100 pseudopotential files from a variety of density functional tools, including Quantum Espresso, Siesta (added in 2012), Abinit, and Qbox. This database provides the first centralized resource for pseudopotentials that spans multiple electronic codes and numerous websites in the electronic structure community now provides links to the Vault as a valuable resource. Key milestones in 2012 include the addition of 300 new pseudopotential files, including PAW (projected augmented wave) datasets, relativistic pseudopotentials for non-collinear spin calculations, and a collection of pseudopotentials for the Siesta density functional code.

In April 2012, Google Analytics was added to the Virtual Vault database to track usage and impact. From April 2012 – January 2013, there were nearly 2100 visits to the Virtual Vault with the average visitor spending more than three minutes perusing the site. Robust webpages should show both a high rate of returning users who value the content as well as an expanding user base. The Virtual Vault shows a healthy mix with 57% of the visits coming from new visitors and 43% from returning users accessing additional pseudopotential resources.(Fig. 52). Visitors have come from 35 states in the U.S. and from 67 different countries. Top ten countries in order of access are United States, China, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, India, Russia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

4.5.3 GPU Initiative The Graphical Processing Unit, highly parallel computing initiative of NNIN/C got underway in 2009 with the installation of the Orgoglio cluster. Since then, several users have made remarkable research achievements based on the use of Orgoglio. In particular, the research group of Dr. Alfredo Alexander-Katz published: “Dynamics of Polymers in Flowing Colloidal Suspensions,” Hsieh Chen and Alfredo Alexander-Katz, Physical Review Letters 107, 128301 (2011), and the research group of Dr. Miriam

Figure 52: Global Distribution of Visitors to the NNIN Virtual Vault for Pseudopotentials

https://exchange.cornell.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=I-mI5Fxls0uodYx_VU_VuZ-aiJbAxs8IGzS_xWKalKvJNT0anZvdzXi0s5PgZ8-YSw01KAuoKpI.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.nnin.org%2fnnin_comp_psp_vault.html


Leeser at Boston University has begun transitioning her code on GPU algorithms to the Orgoglio cluster (see Research Highlights, above). The cluster specifications are as follows:

• Single quad-core Xeon ‘Harpertown’ processors at 3 GHz

• 16 GB of EEC DDR2 800 RAM

• Two Tesla C1060 GPUs (each with 4GB of RAM)

• (total of 24 nodes/motherboards, 96 cores, 192 GB RAM, 48 S1070 cards).

• QLogic 24-Port 9024 DDR InfiniBand networking between the nodes.

The field of high performance computing has been transformed by the advent of GPU computing and the introduction of the CUDA programming language by Nvidia. On January 10-14, 2011, the Institute for Mathematics and it’s Applications (IMA) at the University of Minnesota held a major workshop entitled High Performance Computing and Emerging Architectures. NNIN/C director Michael Stopa was an invited participant and presented a poster detailing high performance computing in NNIN/C.

4.6 Collaborative Projects 4.6.1 Defence Threat Reduction Agency Grant Award In February of 2010 the Defense Threat Reduction Agency granted an award (Contract No HDTRA1-10 1-0046) for a proposal on Coherent Molecular Profiling Using Nano-Structured Environments submitted by Dr. Alan Aspuru-Guzik in collaboration with NNIN/C director Michael Stopa and Research Scientist Semion Saykin. The project calls for the development of analytical and numerical approaches to describe interaction of analyte molecules with excitations in nanostructured environments, as well as describing the influence of the nanostructured environment on the ground state properties of molecules. As an example the researchers explore several model systems for better understanding of the physical processes involved. The models were selected to benefit from our ongoing experimental collaborations.

As described by Dr. Eric Moore, Chief of Basic and Supporting Sciences for DTRA, the mission areas of DTRA are: (1) to provide a robust fundamental knowledge base for countering current and future Chemical and Biological (CB) threats through scientific discoveries leading to technological breakthrough; (2) to provide fundamental scientific understanding of CB threat agents with specific attention to information gaps or requirements pertinent to the DoD, DHS, and other Intelligence Agencies. This is accomplished through two components: the Life Sciences Branch and the Physical Sciences Branch.

Recent work (Fig. 53) by Stopa and collaborators (presented most recently during a visit to Sandia National Labroatories in September 2012) focused on the emissive properties of collections of coherently-coupled two-level systems. The effect of that coupling on Dicke-superradiance for an ensemble of those systems was examined (using numerical methods and finitie system size).

4.6.2 Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Sandia National Laboratory Project Title: Multiscale Calculation of the Strained, Multi-band Electronic Structure of Semiconductor Nanowires: Hetero-interfaces Investigators: Michael Stopa (Harvard University) in collaboration with N.

Figure 53


Modine (CINT)

The purpose of this work is to apply the computational tools developed in previous stages of this collaboration to calculate the effects of the inhomogeneous strain at hetero-interfaces on the electronic structure in an epitaxially grown quantum wire. Specifically, within a multi-band k·p model, we calculate the variation of the band edges as well as the coupling between different angular momentum components of a band as a function of position. The calculation is unique in that we calculate the strain field via molecular dynamics simulations on all the atoms that comprise the wire. We then emply that strain in the k·p calculation to obtain the effect of the strain on the electronic band structure. A manuscript summarizing the results is currently in preparation.

4.6.3 Thermal Transport in Crystalline and Disordered Materials Project Title: Collaborative Research: Ab-Initio Computation of Thermal Transport in Crystalline and Disordered Materials: Investigators: Derek Stewart (Cornell University) and Prof. David Broido (Boston College)

In 2011, Dr. Derek Stewart received a National Science Foundation research grant “Collaborative Research: Ab Initio Computation of Phonon Thermal Transport in Crystalline and Disordered Material” (CBET-1066406). This grant funds a collaborative effort between Dr. Stewart at Cornell and Prof. David Broido at Boston College on first principles thermal transport in low thermal conductivity materials, such as thermoelectrics. Accurate theoretical modeling of the lattice thermal conductivity is essential to numerous fields including microelectronics cooling, thermoelectrics, and even planetary science. The Cornell site focuses on calculating harmonic and, where required, anharmonic interatomic force constants (IFCs) of materials from first principles. The IFCs are required inputs for phonon dispersions, phonon density of states, and phonon thermal transport calculations from which the lattice thermal conductivity is obtained. The project focuses on lower thermal conductivity materials with applications in next generation thermoelectrics and thermal barrier coatings. A post-doc, Saikat Mukhopadhyay was hired as part of this grant in September. In 2012, the collaboration published work on the thermal transport of Mg2SixSn1-x alloys and nanowires which could be used as a non-toxic, cheap alternative to current thermoelectrics on the market.(Fig. 54). The predicted thermal conductivity was found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements for the bulk alloys. As a further check to the method, this work also used two different density functional approaches (plane waves (Quantum Espresso) and numerically truncated orbitals (Siesta)) to calculate the interatomic force constants. The thermal conductivity calculated in both cases gave nearly identical results.

The thermal conductivity of a potential nanoscale heat conduit (diamond nanowires) was also investigated using first principle approaches (Phys. Rev. B, 85, 195436 (2012)). The thermal conductivity was found to vary significantly with the crystal orientation of the nanowire. These effects are significant even at room temperature and could be verified experimentally.

Figure 54: Phonon dispersion for Mg2Si along different symmetry lines. The dispersion calculated using density functional perturbation theory (plane waves, Quantum Espresso) is give by the solid blue lines. The orange lines denote the phonon dispersion calculation.


4.6.4 Industry collaborations A number of industrial collaborations had been established in 2012 between Stanford University NNIN/C coordinator Dr. Blanka Magyari-Kope and companies in the Silicon Valley: Intermolecular, Synopsys, Rambus. The ongoing collaboration over the past couple of years with Quantum Wise from Denmark was further continued with Stanford University.

4.6.5 International collaborations International collaborations between Dr. Blanka Magyari-Kope and the University of Tsukuba in Japan were intensified in 2012 resulting in a number of high impact conference presentations and journal publications.

4.7 Workshops and Training Activities The education activities of the NNIN/C in 2012 included numerous workshops, webinars, and training classes organized at various sites. These events are designed to help eliminate the learning curve associated with simulation approaches and also encourage greater interaction between experimental and simulation groups.

4.7.1 User Outreach Activities Describing the NNIN user facility and modeling research done at Stanford, in the year of 2012 Dr. Blanka Magyari-Kope had informational sessions and discussions with the industrial community in the Silicon Valley. The interactions included two invited presentations: one at the San Francisco Bay Area Nanotechnology Council Annual Full Day Symposium in April 2012 and the other one at the monthly meeting seminar of the society in December 2012 with an average attendance of 80 people at each.

4.7.2 NNIN/C Role in Training and Courses at NNIN sites Stanford: Training classes with weekly discussions meetings at Stanford were geared toward the education of novice users on the applications of various modeling tools., These classes with approximately 10 participants were specially designed to engage the local and external experimental community to use simulation in conjunction with lab work. Basic and advance topics to study novel material properties were adressed to help them improve device performance and fabrication.

Cornell: During the 2011 Cornell Spring semester, Derek Stewart worked with Prof. Richard Hennig (MSE, Cornell) on a simulation module for a Solid State Chemistry course (CHEM 6070). Approximately 25 students participants in this modules and students used the CNF cluster during tutorial sessions.

4.7.3 Hands-on Workshops NNIN/C site at Michigan has provided series of hands-on workshops on the modeling and simulation of MEMS/NEMS and Micro/Nanofluidic devices. The workshops have been used to keep the NNIN users informed of micro/nanosystems simulation tools and provided a platform for networking amongst academics, researchers and private sectors interested in micro/nanosystem development. Table 17 shows the list of hands-on workshop which are held at Michigan. The total number of attendees for all three workshops is 88.

Figure 55: One day MEMS simulation workshop at Michigan


Table 17: List of NNIN/C workshops at Michigan

Hands-on Workshops Date Attendees Internal External

1 COMSOl’s Hands-on Workshop on Microfludic Devices October 2012 32 16

2 EM.Cube: Advanced Workshop July 2012 10 6 3 One Day MEMS Simulation Workshop May 2012 15 9

4.7.4 Webinar Series on Modeling and Simulation of MEMS and Microfluidic Devices and Their Fabrication Processes

NNIN/C site at Michigan Webinars are used to leverage time and resources to effectively reach and train more NNIN/C users about modeling and simulation of MEMS, Microfluidic devices and their fabrication processes. We used the medium as an alternative to on-site events when distance and schedules are barriers to interactive with the computation external users. Table 18 shows the list of webinars provided at Michigan. The total number of attendants is 245.

Table 18: List of NNIN/C webinars at Michigan

Webinar Date Attendees Internal External

1 CAD Tools for the Co-design of Heterogeneous Systems of MEMS and Sensors, Electronics and Packaging

February 2012 9 10

2 How Can IntelliSuite v8.7 Benefit MEMS Research and Teaching March 2012 12 6

3 Modeling and Simulation of Electromagnetic Devices July 2012 14 6

4 Anisotropic Etch Simulator for MEMS August 2012 9 9

5 MEMS Virtual Prototyping for Debugging your Process Flow September 2012 6 14

6 System Level Analysis and Simulation October 2012 7 56

7 Debugging MEMS Process Flows with Physical Simulation December 2012 2 24

8 Multiphase CFD for Droplet Based Microfluidics January 2013 14 47

Figure 56: NNIN/C has provided 8 webinars on modeling and simulation of MEMS, Microfluidic devices and their fabrication processes.


4.7.5 Simulation Workshop at the IWCE Phonon School, Madison, WI Dr. Derek Stewart organized a hands-on workshop on first principle phonon calculations using Quantum Espresso for the Phonon School at the 15th International Workshop on Computational Electronics. Users learned how to perform self-consistent electronic structure calculations and to calculate phonon properties (i.e. phonon dispersion and phonon density of states). Approximately 20 participants took part in the event held at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Stewart also gave an invited talk during the Phonon School and chaired one of the sessions. The tutorial materials from this workshop are available through the NNIN/C website.

4.7.6 Pan-American Advanced Studies Workshop on Computational Material Science for Energy Generation and Conversion

Dr. Derek Stewart received a $100K National Science Foundation grant (#1123536) to host a Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute on Computational Materials Science for Energy Generation and Conversion (CMS4E) in Santiago, Chile from January 8-22nd. http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf_pasi2012.html Additional funding was also obtained from the NNIN, Office of Global Naval Research, the International Center for Materials Research, and two Cornell centers (CCMR and EMC2).

This event was noted in the 2011 report, but workshop statistics were unavailable at the time and are presented here.

This two week school brought together over 40 graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from the

Figure 58: Participants at the 2012 PASI-CMS4E Workshop

Figure 57: NNIN/C at Michigan YouTube channel has been created in July 2012. The channel has already 2500 visitors.

http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf_pasi2012.html


United States (12 states), Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. The workshop provided lectures in first principles approaches, molecular dynamics, optical techniques, and finite element approaches. Advanced topics included piezoelectrics for energy harvesting, lithium battery design, and engineering thermal properties of materials for thermoelectrics. In addition, students participated in daily hands-on sessions to gain experience in various simulation approaches. Computational resources on the Texas supercomputer, Ranger, were made possible through a NSF XSede computing time grant. Lectures and tutorials developed through this course will be made available on the CNF and NNIN websites

The PASI workshop brought together participants from 7 different countries in the Americas. Figure 59 notes the student distribution as a function of country. Over 46% of the participants came from the United States. Given that the workshop took place in Santiago, it is not surprising that the second largest group of students (16%) came from Chile. In addition, there was strong participation from Argentina, Columbia, Mexico and Brazil. One Brazilian participant who was currently studying in Canada was noted separately in the figure.

The organizers worked to ensure that participants from several regions in the United States. The organizers invited participants from 11 states and Puerto Rico. The two participants from Puerto Rico unfortunately were unable to attend and canceled just prior to the conference. The figure above shows the distribution of U.S. PASI participants among the different states in the U.S. The largest participation came from the states of New York (22%), Virginia (17%), California (11%), and Washington (11%). The high participation from New York was aided by funding from local Cornell programs (CCMR and EMC2) which covered the travel costs for participants.

Given the multidisciplinary nature of energy research, it is not surprising that the participants also come from a wide range of backgrounds. Figure 59 shows the breakdown of participants as a function of their discipline. The PASI workshop had strong participation from researchers in Physics (31%), Chemistry (23%), Mechanical Engineering (13%), and Chemical Engineering (13%). Additional participants came from the fields of Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Material Science, Civil Engineering, and Aeronautical Engineering.

PASI Participant Survey

At the end of the workshop, participants were given evaluation forms to assess the impact of the PASI

Figure 59: PASI Participant Distribution


program and comment on their experience. Out of 40 participants, 34 completed the evaluation form. On the question of how this workshop compared relatively to others that you attended, 55% stated that it was the best workshop they had attended, 35% stated that it was better than most workshops they had attended, 3% stated it was comparable to other workshops, and 7% did not provide a response for the question. When asked to rank interactions with other participants as either poor, adequate, good, or excellent, 97% ranked interaction as excellent with 3% ranking it as good.


5.0 NNIN GeoSciences Initiative

5.1 Introduction: The significant advances in the development of nano and micro devices and sensing systems already available for automotive, industrial and medical applications are slowly permeating the boarder geoscience community. Indeed, a growing community of researchers in the geological, atmospheric, and environmental sciences are interested in nanotechnology infrastructures and sensing materials while systems are being identified as one of the major needs for ocean, atmosphere, earth and space observatories. One of the goals of the NNIN’s focused activity in geosciences (NNIN-Geo) is to expand the awareness of the geoscience community to nanofabrication capabilities and to provide enabling technological solutions to long-standing problems in geosciences by bringing together researchers from the nano- and geo-community.

The NNIN-Geo program was initiated in 2009 under the leadership of two sites: University of Michigan and University of Washington. The first step was to hire a domain expert with significant experience in geosciences. This position was funded for the University of Michigan and filled in September 2010 with the recruitment of Dr. Hélène Craigg.

The four primary goals pursed by the NNIN-Geo program are:

1. to reach out to the geosciences community, raise awareness of NNIN, and disseminate information about the network’s tools, capabilities and researchers;

2. to promote research collaborations between select geo and micro/nano researchers with the aim of generating success stories in nano-enabled geosciences;

3. to disseminate results from these collaborations to the broader geo community in order to encourage more researchers to consider using nanotechnologies and NNIN capabilities;

4. to expand the NNIN user base by training users from the geo community on network tools.

NNIN-Geo intends to accomplish the above goals within five years.

5.2 Tasks and Accomplishments 5.2.1 Task 1: Outreach to Geo Community Over the past year, NNIN-Geo conducted a number of outreach activities and participated in several meetings and events.

• A booth staffed by U. Michigan personnel showcased NNIN at the Geological Society of America North -Central 2012 meeting (April 23-24, 2012 - Dayton, OH) (Figure 60). Informative material such as flyers and the NNIN-Geo tri-fold brochure emphasizing nanotechnologies and sensors suitable for geosciences applications were distributed. A dozen of new contacts were established with scientists dealing with the most traditional geoscience disciplines.

• Webinar series focused on geoscience research projects utilizing nanotechnology capabilities has been initiated. The first one-hour webinar entitled "Nanotechnology as an Enabler for Geosciences and Environmental Sciences” was hosted May 3, 2012 at U. Michigan. Twenty one participants have attended this webinar that is also available as a podcast on the NNIN@Michigan website. Three other webinars are scheduled for 2013 that will address the use of

Figure 60: NNIN Booth at the GSA meeting


nanofabrication capabilities for sample preparation and characterization, the development of sensors for harsh environment and the detection of toxins in aquatic environments.

• A one-hour guest lecture entitled "Properties of nano-sized minerals: where Geosciences meets Nanoscience" with hands-on demonstrations was given by H. Craigg on July 2, 2012 during the Michigan Math and Science Scholars High School Summer program. This lecture was part of the "From Stone to Star" course instructed by Jackie Li from the department of Earth and Environment Sciences (U. Michigan). 15 high school students participated in this lecture.

• After an introductory meeting in December 2011 between NNIN-Geo (K. Najafi and H. Craigg), Yogesh Gianchandani (Wireless Integrated MicroSensing and Systems Institute, U. Michigan) and Allen Burton (Cooperative Institute for Limnology & Ecosystems Research and the Water Center, U. Michigan), two more brainstorming sessions (March 26 and December 11, 2012) on environmental sensors for the Great Lake community were held at U. Michigan. Y. Gianchandani and A. Burton are now working on initiating concrete projects and exploring funding opportunities for future collaborations.

• Two seminars promoting NNIN will be given at the School of Earth Sciences (Ohio State University) and the Geological Sciences department (Indiana University) in late January 2013. One expected outcome of these visits, besides increasing the NNIN user base, is to improve our awareness of the geoscience user needs and to shape a hands-on workshop planned for late 2013.

5.2.2. Tasks 2 & 3: Initiate Collaborative Projects and Disseminate Information:

5.2.2.1 Update on the “Nano-enabled Sensing Microsystems for Geo Sciences” workshop (Feb 2010, U. of Michigan)

In order to develop a geo community user base, we have been working at initiating projects involving researchers from both the geo and micro/nano communities. A first step was taken in February 2010 with a U. Michigan workshop entitled “Nano-enabled Sensing Microsystems for Geo Sciences.” At the conclusion of the workshop, five white papers were written and three were later converted to formal proposals. Two proposals have been funded by NSF and NOAA. A third proposal on electrochemical detection of bioavailable metals in aquatic environments was submitted by François Baneyx (U. Washington), Thomas Dichristina (GeorgiaTech), Karen Orcutt (U. Southern Mississippi), Becky Peterson (U. Michigan) and Martial Taillefert (GeorgiaTech) as a collaborative proposal to NSF OTIC program but was not funded.

Here are the updates on the funded projects:

Sensors for Multi-functional and Autonomous Analysis of Geofluids: A New Approach to the Design and Performance of Chemical Sensors in Extreme Environments

Investigators: Yogesh Gianchandani (U. Michigan) and Bill Seyfried and Kang Ding (U. Minnesota)

The project focuses on hydrothermal vents at mid-ocean ridges. Even though these systems have been studied for a long time, the lack of performing and reliable chemical sensors limits the quantitative studies. The project targets the improvement of chemical components measurement associated with hydrothermal vent fluids using high performance miniaturized sensor assembly and ultimately the development of on-board signal processing. The Michigan team has visited the Minnesota geosciences team. They have

Figure 61: Final chemical sensor


jointly revised MEMS design concept based on geosciences goal and properties of structural materials. The sensor design is finished. The fabrication of customized YSZ disks, Macor® ceramic backing, and other components are completed. The device integration process using microfabrication-based techniques is done (Fig. 61). Preliminary test results obtained by the Michigan team suggest that the sensor can provide pH measurement of a solution in a regular laboratory setting, indicating the validity of the sensor design. A project review meeting between the Michigan team and the Minnesota geosciences team was held at Michigan. The sensor is now being tested under extreme conditions and/or real deep-sea settings at U. Minnesota. The results of this testing will be used to further improve the sensor before its field deployment. This work was presented at an international conference by the whole team. A publication is under preparation.

EAGER Proposal, starting date: 8/1/10. Total Funding: $101,805, which is split roughly evenly. IDC has been waived at U. Minnesota, and reduced to 11% at U. Michigan.

Raman-based Barcoding for the Identification of Toxic Marine Pathogens and Phytoplankton

Investigators: Qiuming Yu (U. Washington), Vera L. Trainer and Mark S. Strom (West Coast Center for Oceans and Human Health), Mark L. Wells (U. Maine)

A Raman-based barcoding technique for the identification of toxic marine pathogens and phytoplankton was developed using a unique quasi-3D plasmonic nanostructure arrays that can be specifically tuned to enhance the detection of bacteria or small molecules via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The investigators have demonstrated the validity of the technique by identifying seven strains of the marine pathogen vibrio parahaemolyticus. The high sensitivity and reproducibility provided by the unique SERS-active substrates enabled the construction of a color SERS barcoding for each strain. Unknown samples and mixtures of two out of seven strains were quickly identified by comparing SERS barcoding patterns. Two NNIN REU students contributed to the project. Two papers have been published. This proposal was funded by NOAA Oceans and Human Health Initiative for two years.

Based on the results of this project, Q. Yu has received funding from the NSF Directorate for Engineering, Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems to improve this technique ($298,218 for 3 years starting September 2012). To overcome some of the limitations exhibit by the conventional SERS, the investigator is proposing to develop a new biosensor platform based on long-rang SERS for a more efficient sensitive detection and rapid identification of pathogenic bacteria.

5.2.2.2 Highlighted Collaborative Projects and Areas for Development A large number of geoscientists are now using the capabilities offered by the 14 NNIN sites (see section 5.2.3). Highlights of some of the geoscience projects are provided below.

Oxygen sensor to study coral bleaching (NNIN site: U. Michigan)

Investigators: Mark L. Wells (School of Marine Sciences, U. Maine), Anke Klueter (Department of Geology, U. Buffalo), Xudong Fan (Biomedical Engineering, U. Michigan) and Helene Craigg (Electrical and Computer Engineering, U. Michigan)

Monitoring coral health is a major concern of tropical reefs studies. Stress can induce a diminution of the symbiotic algae photosynthesis; the main food source for many corals. One approach to assess the coral physiology is to measure changes in oxygen production/release at the coral/water interface. The investigators propose to create and test a compact sensing unit that can be deployed in reef systems for integrated assessment of photosynthetic production, thereby providing quantitative assessment of the coral health, using established fiberoptic sensing technology,


combined with NNIN inspired engineering. A proposal is currently in preparation and will be submitted February 15, 2013 to the NSF-Ocean Technology and Interdisciplinary Coordination program as a collaborative proposal.

Lithographically fabricated gratings for the interferometric measurement of iron shear moduli under extreme conditions (NNIN sites: Cornell U. and Stanford U.)

Investigators: Arianna E. Gleason and Wendy L. Mao (Geological & Environmental Sciences Department, Stanford U.)

Direct measurements of iron shear properties offer the prospect of further defining the temperature, composition, texture, and dynamics of the Earth’s inner core under high pressure and temperature. These shear properties are obtained using transverse wave motion of the target material during in situ dynamic (shock-wave) compression experiments; an unprecedented approach. Extreme pressure conditions are generated using dynamic laser-driven shock compression technique and transverse wave speed during shock loading is measured using an custom optical interferometric device. A highly reflective diffraction grating is necessary to enhance the detection of the transverse wave component breakout. Nanofabrication techniques were required to fabricate gratings for the interferometer. Two lithographic technologies were employed in parallel: (1) direct-write electron beam lithography (Stanford U.) and (2) 248 nm DUV Stepper (Cornell U.) to fabricate a Si template for subsequent sputter deposition of target materials. The preliminary results show the good quality of the fabricated grating and the validation of the method. This work has been published in the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B.

Mechanism of olfactory and behavioral injury elicited by cadmium in zebrafish model (NNIN site: U Washington)

Investigators: Evan Gallagher and Lu Wang (Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, U. Washington)

Neurotoxic metals and pesticides can induce a chemical olfactory injury in zebrafish causing critical survival behavior changes. The surface of zebrafish olfactory epithelium was investigated as a surrogate to monitor toxicity to olfactory system by using scanning electron microscope. This study incorporates model olfactory toxicants, including trace metals (cadmium and copper) that are common pollutants in uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The data are supporting the investigators’ collective studies to date indicating oxidative stress is an important mechanism of olfactory injury by metals.

Experimental investigations of carbon in Earth’s core (NNIN site: U. Michigan)

Investigator: Jackie Li (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, U. Michigan)

The global carbon cycle may involve iron carbide (Fe3C or Fe7C3) as a dominant component of the inner core, although experimental data on the phase relation of the Fe-C binary system are limited to 70 GPa. Sound velocity data are only available for Fe3C, under conditions up to 68 GPa at 300 K and up to 47 GPa at high temperatures. Density measurements on Fe3C and Fe7C3 have reached ~ 200 GPa in pressure, although limited to 300 K in temperature. The investigator proposes to extend the data coverage into the core pressure regime and up to 2000 K. The new data will help understanding the effect of carbon on the melting behavior, density and sound velocities of iron under core conditions, thus enabling us to conduct stringent test of the carbon-rich inner core scenarios. Nanofabrication and analyzing techniques will be used to prepare the micro size samples before and after multi-anvil and diamond anvil cell experiments. The first step was to develop a process to adapt the high precision dicing saw to hold small samples with odd shape (ongoing work). Photolithography on Al2O3 disks will be the next step to create multibore sample


chambers.

This project has been funded by the NSF Division of Earth Sciences, Petrology/Geochemistry program ($318,745 for two years starting June 2012).

Mineralogical samples preparation (NNIN site: U. Michigan)

Investigator: Jane Niu (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, U. Michigan)

The study of uranium reduction precipitation features on pyrite by in-situ fluid tapping AFM requires a mirror-finish polish surface. Natural pyrite samples will easily develop an oxidation layer that alters the sample surface. Nanofabrication polishing techniques such as chemical mechanical polishing technique are efficient ways to remove this layer. A specific process to polish pyrite samples was developed in order to provide the surface finishes needed for this study.

Investigator: Sanda Botis (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, U. Michigan)

Nanofabrication polishing capabilities were also adapted to polish small oriented samples of quartz from 500 micron down to 70 micron thick. These samples were used to observed radiation-induced damages in the context of a radioactive waste management study.

Quantified ostracod surface morphology is a measure of ontogenetic change (NNIN site: U Michigan)

Investigators: Janice Pappas and Daniel Miller (Museum of Paleontology, U. Michigan)

The surface morphology of ostracods can reveal important information about sex, ontogenetic stage and past salinity and climatic changes. Laser interferometry technique will be used for quantified surface metrology study. The result will provide a relationship between carapace surface roughness and ontogenetic parameters as well as a searchable database and digital library. The method is innovative of paleontological studies and will provide new data not accessible with traditional observation method. Two researchers have started working on the project. They have tested the laser interferometer microscope at U. Michigan to collect data and a proposal was submitted in January 16, 2011 to the NSF paleontology directorate, sedimentary geology and paleobiology program for three years at $296,678. The proposal was not funded. The proposal resubmission July 16, 2012 at the same directorate for three years at $288,211 was not funded either.

5.2.2.3 Disseminate research results NNIN geoscience users have produced over 42 publications between March 2012 and January 2013. As well, papers featuring accomplishments using the NNIN facilities are presented during international conferences. Here are two examples of presentation from projects initiated during the February 2010 workshop (see section 5.2.2.1)

• “A micromachined chemical sensor for sea floor environments: initial results”. T. Li K. Ding W.E. Seyfried and Y.B. Gianchandani. Hilton Head 2012 Workshop, Solid-State sensor, Actuator and Microsystems Workshop in the session Biological Diagnostics, Systems, and Analysis.

• “SERS barcoding for quick identification of pathogens enabled by engineered plasmonic nanostructure arrays”. Q. Yu, J. Xu, J. Turner and M. Strom. SPIE, Defense, Security and Sensing 2013 in the session Advanced Environmental, Chemical, and Biological Sensing Technologies X.


5.2.3 Task 4: Geosciences User Expansion at NNIN Across the network, more than 126 users who listed their technical field and/or affiliation as “Geosciences and Environmental Sciences” have been active in 2012. Fig 62 shows the distribution of these users according to their nanotechnology needs.

We believe that our geo activities during the past year have been very effective. The geosciences user community is growing and diversifying and we are expecting that users will keep growing in number as the activities listed above bear fruit.

Figure 62 Current geosciences and environmental science users (a total of 126 geo users from 11 NNIN sites) by technical category.


6.0 Society and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology 6.1 Vision and Goals The Societal and Ethical Issues (SEI) component of NNIN seeks to increase national capacity for exploring the societal and ethical issues associated with nanotechnology. A particularly important part of this effort is to increase the awareness of SEI within the large NNIN user community. The NNIN SEI effort acts as a resource for education and information for our user community. As the largest single group of nanotechnology researchers in the world, NNIN has both a unique opportufnity and a unique obligation to assure that its users have full awareness of the societal implications of their work and their associated ethical obligations.

To accomplish this goal, the SEI component has developed an infrastructure for conducting research and disseminating information about SEI. That infrastructure serves both the NNIN and the broader community interested in nanotechnology. Since its renewal, NNIN has placed particular emphasis on making the NNIN user base available as a research resource to social scientists for surveys and interviews, as well as internal educational activites for the NNIN user base.

6.2 SEI Activities

6.2.1 NNIN SEI REU Participation: Two NNIN REU students worked on SEI related projects during the summer of 2012 (Fig. 63). Ms. Merrill Brad is a politics and pre-medicine studies major at Bates College. As an SEI REU intern, Merrill assisted Dr. Katherine McComas (NNIN SEI Coordinator) and graduate student mentor, Gina Eosco, at Cornell Univeristy with a study on the best practices of integrating societal and ethical issues into NNIN REU programs. To do this, she conducted interviews with NNIN education coordinators, as well as with past NNIN REU participants, followed by a survey of the 2012 REU participants. To better the communication of ethics and increase societal awareness, her study found that mentors and education coordinators should focus on the connections (the student’s work environment), conversations (length and frequency of SEI conversations with mentor and PI), and critical thinking skills (raising awareness of SEI related to their REU summer project).

The Georgia Institute of Technology also hosted an REU student during the summer of 2012, Duy Do, an electrical engineering major at San Antonio College. As an SEI REU intern, Duy assisted Dr. Susan Cozzens and graduate student mentor, Mr. Thomas Woodson, with a study on what nanotechnology products are being developed and who will benefit from them. Based on patent data from the Center for Nanotechnology and Society-Thematic Research Cluster 1, they received a list of fifty-five firms that are leaders in nanotechnology in water, energy and agri-food. It was found that nineteen of these companies are developing nanotechnology products, like low cost water filters or solar cells that could help the poor and reduce inequality.

In addition to the SEI REU interns, there was also an SEI

Figure 63: NNIN REU Convocation Poster Session: SEI REU interns, Mr. Duy Do (Top), Ms. Merrill Brady (middle), and Ms. Brady with mentor/SEI presenter, Gina Eosco (bottom).


presentation given at the REU Convocation in Chevy Chase, MD. The presentation was a mixture of lecture and group activities. Given the variety of SEI coverage at the NNIN sites, the presentation provided an opportunity to ensure that all students were introduced to the same ethical and societal impact terms and concepts. To further their understanding and build comraderie with their new colleagues, the second half of the presentation was an interactive, group activity. Using scenarios created by the NISE (Nanoscale Informal Science Education) Network, the REU interns were asked to get in groups, discuss the scenarios, and enter their responses and thoughts into iPod application called Frontstage. Frontstage is an iPod application created and built by Cornell researchers in Communication and Information Science. The master mind behind it is a PhD candidate in Communication, Megan Halpern, who used these nano activities as one of her three case studies for her dissertation.

As one example, REU interns were asked to respond to a scenario where their 14 year old daughter wants to earn extra money by wearing an RFID tagged bracelet that will collect her consumer habits. The bracelet will also allow the parents, the REU intern, to access her account allowing them to see where she has been and what she has purchased. Do you allow your daughter to participate? The REU interns discussed their responses and documented their thoughts through the “Word Cloud” feature on Frontstage. Below is a snapshot of the words that came up in the discussion. Among many serious terms, the word cloud also indicates the fun and comraderie built during the session by some of the non-

relevant terms.

Efforts are already underway to advertise for at least one SEI REU position for Summer 2013 at UT Austin. The SEI REUer will assist the Seed Grant Winners from UT Austin in the next section.

6.2.2 NNIN Seed Grant Winners The NNIN Seed Grant program assists and stimulates the conduct of research on social and ethical issues (SEI) by faculty at NNIN sites. We were able to award four Seed Grant winners this year:

• Firm-Originated Knowledge Flows as Antecedents of Technological Breakthroughs: Evidence from the U.S. Nanotechnology Principal Investigators: Jeongsik Lee, Assistant Professor and Hyun Jung, PhD Candidate Georgia Institute of Technology

Figure 64: World Cloud from the SEI group activity


• How Small is Small Enough?: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Defining “Nano” for Research, Society, and Regulation Principal Investigators: Leili Fatehi, JD and Jennifer Kuzma, PhD University of Minnesota

• From Blueprints to Bricks: Building a Community for DNA Nanotechnology Principal Investigator: W. Patrick McCray University of California, Santa Barbara

• Talking “Nano”: Nanoscientists as Public Communicators Principal Investigators:LeeAnn Kahlor, Ph.D. and Anthony Dudo, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin

6.2.3 NNIN User Database The NNIN user base consists of over 6000 students, faculty, government scientists and industry scientists, all actively working in the field of nanotechnology. As a significant fraction of the US nanotechnology research community, it is a surrogate for the entire nanotechnology research community and is thus a body of subjects itself suitable for research by social science researchers. In 2012, we were able to update the user database with the most recent users from 12 out of the 14 NNIN sites. The user database will be used for two of the awarded Seed grant winners.

6.2.4 SEI Orientation “Train the Trainer” Workshops for NNIN Labs:

NNIN has a user base of well over 5000 users each year and trains over 2000 new users each year. Early on, it was identified that there was a need to build the capacity of each of the NNIN sites to conduct an interactive SEI orientation. Following up on the first three “Train the Trainer” workshops (at Cornell in January 2010 and Washington University-St. Louis in October 2010, and Arizona State University in November 2011), we are planning our fourth “Train the Trainer” workshop for April 2011 at Penn State University.

6.2.5 SEI Orientation Video We have officially completed an SEI Orientation Video that is available on the SEI portion of the NNIN website. The web video offers an online version of the SEI PowerPoint for use at all 14 NNIN facilities. Gina Eosco and Dr. Laura Rickard recorded their voices over the current SEI power point. The power point was adapted for an online audience offering suggestions to pause and interact with the other users in the room or offer questions for further discussion. After it was initially recorded, it took several months of editing by Meghnaa Tallapragada to transfer it to a file format and size suitable for the web. The completed version is available for all NNIN SEI trainers on the SEI website. The video serves not only as a valuable resource for all the sites (especially those that do not directly specialize in SEI research) but also provides the foundation for additional web modules or videos targeted to continuing education for facility users, such as SEI “refresher” training opportunities.

6.2.6 SEI Blog During the Summer of 2012, the SEI team started a blog titled, “Nano Notes: Reflections on Societal and Ethical Issues in Nanotechnology.” Blog posts have covered our SEI REUers reflections on ethics training to an analysis of now nanotechnology is positively and negatively marketed in our society. It offers additional insights for how nanotechnology is integrating into society and why ethics is such an

Figure 65: NNIN Participates and Helps Sponsor First Congress on Teaching Societal and Ethical Implications of Research


important consideration. The SEI training can often be abstract, depending on the users’ background and experiences. The blog offers the SEI trainers an opportunity to provide concrete examples for consideration.

6.2.7 Additional, Ongoing Activities: • Promoted the visibility of NNIN as a site for SEI research on nanotechnology via web sites, list

serves, conferences, publications. • Advertised the SEI Research “Seed” and Travel grants • Maintained open and frequent communication between SEI contacts at NNIN sites to facilitate

SEI research, address any challenges, and discover any opportunities for network collaboration. • Maintained the SEI website as a key destination for current research and conference alerts. • Presented research at academic and professional conferences.

6.2.8 SEI Publications and Presentations from NNIN SEI Principals • Publications

o Brainard, S.G., Allen, E., Savath, V. & S. Cruz. “Factors and perspectives influencing nanotechnology career development: Comparison of male and female academic nanoscientists.” Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. (under review, 2012).

o McGinn, R. (2012). Discernment and denial: Nanotechnology researchers’ views about ethical responsibilities related to their work: New users at the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility, 2010-12. Submitted for publication.

o Savath, V. & S.G. Brainard. “Managing Nanotechnology Risks in Vulnerable Populations: A Case for Gender Diversity.” Review of Policy Research. (forthcoming Special Edition 2013).

• Presentations

o Besley, J., & McComas, K. (2012, May). Comparing views about nanotechnology and nuclear energy. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Annual Meeting. Phoenix, AZ.

o Eosco, G. M., Tallapragada, M., McComas, K. A., & Brady, M. (2012). Stimulating reflective research among undergraduate researchers of nanotechnology. Poster presented at the Society for Risk Analysis 2012 Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA.

o McComas, K. (2012, April) Researcher views about funding sources and conflicts of interest. Invited presentation at Maastricht University, The Netherlands.

o McComas, K. (2012, April) Examining researchers’ perceived norms and responsibility for considering ethical implications of funding and conflicts of interest in science and engineering. Paper presented at the 12th International Public Communication of Science and Technology, Florence, Italy.

• Other Activities:

o Brainard: The Nanotechnology and Gender Workshop, ‘Toward Increasing Diversity in STEM Faculty: A workshop Addressing Underrepresentation of Women of all Ethnicities in Nanoscience Fields’ received recognition for its efforts and feedback in a write up in Science and also in an article in Nano Reviews (June, 2012) written by the science writer, Constance Jeffery titled, Workshop attendees suggest methods to improve the number


and advancement of women scientists in NanoScience/NanoTechnology.

o Brainard: The Nanotechnology and Gender Workshop continue to collaborate with the Center for Workforce Development (CWD) to implement a survey risk perceptions. “Initial interviews led to the conclusion that risk is often conflated with laboratory-specific safety. The survey will be sent to all 198 females in the nanotechnology workforce, identified through a CWD-led search on nanotechnology and academic research centers, and a comparison group of males.”

o Thursby: TI:GER, a unique Gatech graduate program, “continues its tradition of moving nanotechnology research toward the market.” They team “Ph.D. engineering students, business students & law students for commercialization.” Current projects as provided by Thursby include:

David Sotto, research utilizing magnetic fields and stem cell therapy to induce cell migration to provide a novel treatment method for diabetic patients with ulcers.

Jeff Gaulding, research using thin films, formed from assemblies of microgels to reduce the inflammatory response associated with medical.

Graham Sanborn, research on an electron source utilizing carbon nanotubes that has greater efficiency, and portability with reduced weight. Applications include spacecraft propulsion systems, portable x-ray sources (such as for medical x-ray devices) and flat panel displays.


7.0 Site Reports

7.1 Arizona State University Site Report 7.1.1 Site Overview The ASU NanoFab maintains ~20,000 sq. ft. of laboratory and office space, including a 4,000 sq. ft, class-100 cleanroom. The technical focus of the ASU NanoFab within the NNIN is the interface between organic and inorganic materials. The facility also manages a general purpose semiconductor and MEMS processing capability. The NanoFab has a full time staff of six process and equipment engineers, one NNIN domain expert, and a part-time education and outreach coordinator.

During 2012 the ASU NanoFab acquired two new tools using internal funds. An atomic layer deposition (ALD) tool was bought from Cambridge NanoTech and commisioned in the cleanroom in October 2012. During the commissioning process two ALD experts from the Stanford site visited ASU to assist with the installation and to provide our users with an introductory level seminar about the science of atomic layer deposition as well as a more detailed seminar focused on ALD process development. Dr. Stefan Myhajlenko, the NanoFab Associate Director, participated in a follow-up workshop at Harvard during Nov. 29-30 to explain the ASU capability to the wider ALD community. A deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) instrument was purchased from SemiLab USA and will be delivered in February 2013. Both the ALD and DLTS tools will be available to NNIN users as part of our combined tool set.

In 2012 ASU joined the NNIN Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program as one of the partners for the renewal of the program managed by the Georgia Tech site. As well as recruiting K-12 grade school teachers, the ASU site will focus on recruiting RET faculty from community colleges in the metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson areas. The Arizona community college system is one of the largest in the nation. With significant nanotechnology related industries in the State there is considerable demand from the community college faculty to introduce nano-related curriculum to their classes. The growing links between the ASU site and the Arizona community colleges will be strengthened by ASU participation in the NSF funded Nanotechnology Career Knowledge (NACK) network (www.nano4me.org). The ASU NanoFab joined the NACK network in 2012 as the southwest regional node. By working with the NACK network the ASU site will be able to offer more resources to the NNIN RET community college faculty participants. The ASU site continues to participate in the NNIN Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program with six participants during 2012 that included three minority students.

7.1.2 Project Highlights The number of users at ASU continues to grow. For the period March to December 2012 there were a total of 122 users from ASU, an increase of 20% over the same period last year. To date 35 external users from 24 organizations have made use of the facility. Many of the external users take advantage of

Figure 67: Deep level transient spectroscopy instrument recently acquired by the ASU NanoFab. Image courtesy of SemiLab Inc.

Figure 66: New atomic layer deposition capability recently installed in the ASU NanoFab cleanroom


foundry service offered by the ASU NanoFab. This allows external academics and industrial users to develop complex process flows through consultation with the NanoFab staff. Once the process flow has been agreed upon staff complete the processing using a schedule and cost estimate approved with the user. External users benefit from the foundry service in a number of ways including; i) faster turn around since there is no requirement to train student users; ii) minimal travel costs since the users are not required to be on-site while the processing is completed; and iii) detailed input from highly experienced process engineers increase the likelihood of successful processing. A summary of a few of the external projects is presented below.

In-situ Electrochemical Residue Sensor: Shadman and Mahdavi, University of Arizona; A new sensor-based metrology technology that can significantly reduce water and related energy usage during semiconductor manufacturing has been developed. This real-time monitoring approach has shown 30% less water and energy used for ultra-clean chip production. The approach is applicable to current cleaning processes for 300mm silicon wafers, and the gain is expected to be especially beneficial when the industry transitions to 450mm wafers.

Indium Gallium Arsenide Photodiodes: Joshi and Grubisic, Laser Components DG Inc.; Laser Components DG Inc. uses the ASU NanoFab facilities to develop Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) photodiodes with different active area diameters and material configurations from lattice matched InGaAs to strained structures with sensitivity ranging from 1700nm to 2600nm. InGaAs PIN photodiodes are near infrared (NIR) detectors that feature low noise, low terminal capacitance, high shunt resistance and high-speed response. When cooled with a thermoelectric cooler, InGaAs photodiodes exhibit very low dark current and deliver higher detectivity. InGaAs detectors are used for near infra-red spectroscopy, gas sensing, optical communication and other industrial applications.

Positronium Test Structures: Cassidy and Bayless, University of California, Riverside and First Point Scientific, Inc.; Second generation silica-based matter-antimatter (blister) test structure arrays have been designed by First Point Scientific Inc., fabricated at ASU and tested at the Positron Laboratory at the University of California, Riverside. Positronium is a short lived bound state of a positron and an electron. Preliminary positronium diffusion length measurements show differences based on the type of oxide used in the cavity structures. PECVD oxide structures exhibited much shorter diffusion lengths than the gate oxide based arrays. These results suggest differences in the density of the silica traps/defects that interact with the positrons.

Figure 68: Highly sensitive, in-situ sensors reduce the amount of water and energy used in the cleaning of 300mm silicon wafers by up to 30%.

Figure 69: InGaAs photodiode in TO-46 housing

Figure 70:: Optical micrograph of a silica blister structure array with individual blisters of 20 microns diameter.


7.1.3 Education & Outreach The ASU site has been involved in numerous local outreach activities including a NanoDays booth at the Arizona Centennial celebrations. In collaboration with the NSF supported ASU Center for Nanotechnology in Society (CNS) an informal science communication (ISC) program called “Taking to the Streets”has been implemented. The program was initially developed around the NISENet Nanodays Kits, which help facilitate discussions about nanotechnology primarily with K-12 children and their teachers/chaperones. After a short training in basic presentation skills, engaging the public in a museum setting and learning objectives of the Nanodays kits, students are scheduled to host tables at the AZ Science Center on a monthly basis (more frequently as time and resources permit) throughout the year, with a special emphasis during NanoDays each Spring. When possible, visits also coincided with the height of school fields trips to the AZ Science Center. This audience is specifically K-12 students, their parents and/or teachers/chaperones. As they are ready, students are encouraged to develop their own table demonstrations about their own research, then “take it to the people”.

7.1.4 SEI Training ASU NanoFab users are required to take an hour-long course on the latest health and safety issues associated with nanofabrication lab work. The SEI component is included as an additional 30 minute segment to the H&S training and is implemented by a part-time SEI coordinator, Brenda Trinidad. The short time span is used to convey a few very basic lessons and to let lab users know about a wide array of resources available through CNS and other venues that can help them to wrestle with the ethical implications of their work. The main goal of this process is to help the researchers see that there are direct links between what they do in the lab and the big picture, including the affects it will have on people they will never meet. To further emphasize this point, and to make it directly meaningful, the SEI leader engages the researchers to describe their work and perform a thought exercise. The discussion involves researchers skilled at taking small technical ideas and fleshing out the potential uses (or misuses) of such ideas, how regulatory frameworks grow up around such products, and how disadvantaged communities can be further disenfranchised by specific technologies, and how small adjustments to design can lead to dramatically different affects on people’s values. Over time, the researchers slowly become active participants in this part of the discussion, and acknowledge an increased awareness of the potential impacts of their specific work past the lab walls.

Figure 71: Brenda Trinidad oversees a student volunteer demonstrate a NanoDays kit activity to a high school visitor at the NanoFab/CNS booth.


7.1.5 ASU-Selected Site Statistics a)Historical Annual Users

b) Lab Hours by Institution Type c) User Distribution by Institution Type

d) Average Hours per User e)New Users

Figure 72: ASU Site Statistics

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7.2 Cornell University NNIN Site Report 7.2.1 Overview CNF serves as an open resource to scientists and engineers from a broad range of nanotechnology areas, with emphasis on providing complex integration capabilities as well as support of the SEI initiative, computation, and other specific thrust areas within NNIN. CNF has operated as a dedicated user facility since 1977 and so 2012 marked CNF’s 35th anniversary. In addition to technical management and administrative staff, it currently has a technical staff of 21 who maintain the equipment and baseline processes, while assisting users at all levels - particularly focusing on the needs of our external user community. CNF maintains a full spectrum of processing and characterization equipment, with emphasis on electron beam lithography at the smallest dimensions, and a wide array of deposition and etching resources necessary to handle the needs of a wide spectrum of materials. CNF continues to be an interdisciplinary facility with activities evenly spread across the physical sciences, engineering, and life sciences. Both the replacement of old tools and the addition of new capabilities keep CNF at the technology forefront.

7.2.2 Technical Highlights Research reports are provided annually for many projects and are published as the CNF Research Accomplishments and online at http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf5_research.html . This year CNF users compiled over 800 publications, conference presentations, and patents. Here we highlight some of the most significant examples of research enabled by CNF in the past year.

• In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Hone group at Columbia University used devices made at the Cornell NanoScale Facility to analyze how the rigidity of a cell’s surroundings affects cell growth. The devices consisted of a series of elastomeric pillar arrays with 2, 1, and 0.5 μm pillar diameters. They found that the cellular response is fundamentally different between micron-scale and submicron pillars. Submicron pillars can capture many details of cellular force generation that are missed on larger pillars because they more closely mimic continuous surfaces.

• In Nature Communications, the Loncar group from Harvard University used the Cornell NanoScale Facility to demonstrate a new mechanism for achieving reconfigurable optical filtering, a capability that is important for applications in optical communication and information processing. The filters operate using mechanical reconfiguration of coupled photonic crystal nanobeam cavities actuated using optical gradient forces. Propagating waveguide modes that exist over a wide wavelength range were used to actuate the structures and control the resonance of localized cavity modes. Using this all-optical approach, a tuning range of more than 18 linewidths was demonstrated.

• In electronics, radiofrequency signals are controlled and manipulated by ‘lumped’ circuit elements, such as resistors, inductors and capacitors. In Nature Materials, the Engheta group from the Univ. of Pennsylvania used the Cornell NanoScale Facility to demonstrate experimentally, for the first time, a two-dimensional optical nanocircuit composed of lumped elements operating at mid-infrared wavelengths. They designed and fabricated arrays of Si3N4

Figure 73 CNF 35th Anniversary

http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf5_research.html


nanorods with specific subwavelength cross-sections, quantitatively evaluated their equivalent impedance in the mid-infrared, and demonstrated that these nanostructures can indeed function as two-dimensional optical lumped circuit elements. They further showed that the connections among nanocircuit elements, in particular whether they are in series or in parallel combination, can be controlled by the polarization of impinging optical signals.

• In Nano Letters, the Novotny group at the Univ. of Rochester used the Cornell NanoScale Facility to develop a method for measuring the fluorescence from a single molecule hundreds of times without surface immobilization. The approach is based on the use of electro-osmosis to repeatedly drive a single target molecule in a fused silica nanochannel through a stationary laser focus. Single molecule fluorescence detected during the transit time through the laser focus is used to repeatedly reverse the electrical potential controlling the flow direction. Nanochannel-based single molecule recycling holds promise for studying conformational dynamics on the same single molecule in solution and without surface tethering.

• In Physical Review X, a collaboration of the Kent group from New York University and the Wohlgenannt and Flatté groups from the Univ. of Iowa has discovered an entirely unexpected form of magnetoresistance within organic semiconductors. The devices consist of a ferromagnetic layer adjacent to, but electrically insulated from, a nonmagnetic organic semiconductor (Alq3) layer. By applying a magnetic field to change the magnetic domain structure in the ferromagnet, the changing magnetic fringe field from the ferromagnet dramatically changes the resistance of the Alq3 layer, in the absence of any spin injection. The mechanism behind the effect is currently not understood in detail, but this work suggests a new approach for integrating magnetic metals and organic semiconductors to make hybrid spintronic devices.

• In Sensors and Actuators A, MicroGen Systems, Inc. reported their development of a prototype piezoelectric vibrational energy harvester (PZEH) made using the Cornell NanoScale Facility. Their PZEH is a “multi-morph” cantilever, with one end clamped to a base and the other end containing a designed end-mass that oscillates under continuous sinusoidal excitations of the base motion. The prototype reached a peak power of 63 μW resonating at 58 Hz under 0.7 g external excitations. This PZEH generator has successfully powered a wireless sensor node with an integrated sensor, radio frequency (RF) radio, power management electronics, and an advanced thin-film lithium-ion rechargeable battery for power storage.

• Graphene produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is polycrystalline, and scattering of charge carriers at grain boundaries could degrade its performance relative to exfoliated, single-crystal graphene. In Science, the groups of Jiwoong Park and David Muller at Cornell have reported a technique to first image and identify the structure of individual grain boundaries in graphene by transmission electron microscopy and then (using the tools of the Cornell NanoScale Facility) to make devices for measuring the electrical properties of these individual grain boundaries. Unexpectedly, the electrical conductance improves by one order of magnitude for grain boundaries with better interdomain connectivity. This study demonstrates that polycrystalline graphene with good stitching can allow for uniformly high electrical performance rivaling that of exfoliated samples.

• In Science, the Buhrman and Ralph groups at Cornell used devices made at the Cornell NanoScale Facility to implement a nonvolatile magnetic memory device that can write information very efficiently using a new mechanism – the spin Hall torque effect. Spin current is produced by passing electrical current through a thin tungsten layer, and this spin current is then used to apply a torque to switch an adjacent magnetic memory element. This simple design is more reliable and efficient than competing technologies and eliminates the key obstacles that have slowed the


development of magnetic memory and nonvolatile spin logic technologies.

• In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Stroock group and collaborators at Cornell have used the Cornell NanoScale Facility to fabricate living microvascular networks in vitro within three-dimensional tissue scaffolds and have demonstrated their biofunctionality. The researchers formed microfluidic vessels coated by endothelial cells within a native collagen matrix; characterized the morphology, mass transfer processes, and long-term stability of the endothelium; elucidated angiogenic activities (formation of new blood vessels); and demonstrated a transition to a thrombotic (blood clotting) state during an inflammatory response. The success of these microvascular networks in recapitulating these phenomena points to the broad potential of this platform for the study of cardiovascular biology and physiology.

• Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA and histone methylation, are responsible for regulatory pathways that affect disease. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Craighead group and collaborators, using the Cornell NanoScale Facility, reported a new strategy for studying epigenetic modifications using a nanofluidic device that combines real-time detection and automated sorting of individual molecules based on their epigenetic state. This device evaluates the fluorescence from labeled epigenetic modifications to actuate sorting. This technology has demonstrated up to 98% accuracy in molecule sorting and has achieved postsorting sample recovery of femtogram quantities of genetic material.

• Infrared light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are currently fabricated from direct-gap semiconductors using epitaxy, which makes them expensive and difficult to integrate with other materials. LEDs based on colloidal semiconductor quantum dots, on the other hand, can be solution-processed at low cost, but they have demonstrated poor performance. In Nature Nanotechnology, the Wise group and collaborators at Cornell have fabricated quantum dot LEDs at the Cornell NanoScale Facility in which they tune the distance between adjacent PbS quantum dots using well-selected linker molecules. By thus optimizing the balance between charge injection and radiative exciton recombination they achieve radiances eight times higher and external quantum efficiencies two times higher than the highest values previously reported for quantum-dot LEDs. The electroluminescent powers of the best devices are comparable to those produced by commercial InGaAsP LEDs.

• The use of engineered nanoparticles in food and pharmaceuticals is expected to increase, but the impact of chronic oral exposure to nanoparticles on human health remains unknown. In Nature Nanotechnology, the Shuler group at Cornell has used the capabilities of the Cornell NanoScale Facility to show that chronic and acute oral exposure to polystyrene nanoparticles can influence iron uptake and iron transport in an in vitro model of the intestinal epithelium. Intestinal cells that are exposed to high doses of nanoparticles showed increased iron transport due to nanoparticle disruption of the cell membrane. They confirmed these results in an in vivo chicken intestinal loop model -- chickens acutely exposed to carboxylated particles (50 nm in diameter) had a lower iron absorption than unexposed or chronically exposed birds. The agreement between the in vitro and in vivo results suggests that the in vitro intestinal epithelium model can be useful for toxicology studies.

• Metal nanoparticles are used as catalysts in a variety of important chemical reactions and can have a range of different shapes, with facets and sites that differ in catalytic reactivity. To develop better catalysts it is necessary to determine where catalysis occurs on such nanoparticles and what sites are most reactive. In Nature Nanotechnology, the Peng Chen group at Cornell has used the capabilities of the Cornell NanoScale Facility to help quantify the catalysis of individual gold nanorods at a spatial resolution of ∼40 nm using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy.


They found that within the same surface facets on the sides of a single nanorod, the reactivity exhibits a gradient from the centre of the nanorod towards its two ends. Furthermore, the ratio of the reactivity at the ends of the nanorod to the reactivity at the sides varies significantly between nanorods. This work shows that defects on the surface of the nanorod provide the most reactive catalytic sites.

• The phase diagram of water (H2O) exhibits a wide range of stable and meta-stable ices and may have metallic phases at high pressure, which could have important implications for planetary models for Neptune or Uranus. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Hoffmann group at Cornell University used the computational resources of the Cornell NanoScale Facility to employ a genetic search algorithm (XtalOpt) coupled with density functional calculations to explore the stable phases of H2O over a vast parameter space. This study found new stable high pressure ice phases. They also found that ice does not become metallic until much higher pressures than previously predicted by other groups.

7.2.3 Focus Areas/Assigned Responsibilities As one of the large nodes in NNIN, CNF has been assigned special leadership responsibilities in the network for: Electronics, Optics, and MEMs; for Computation; for SEI activities; and for Education, as well as broad responsibility to support all NNIN technical areas. CNF actively supports users and provides specialized and generalized resources as discussed below.

7.2.3.1 Lead Responsibilities: • Electronics, Optics, MEMS: CNF has extensive facilities and processes to support the

traditional areas of Electronics, Optics, and MEMS. CNF has the most advanced e-beam lithography facilities in the network and is positioned to maintain that leadership for several years with future upgrades and system acquisitions. In January 2013 we received delivery of a new flagship tool, the JEOL JBX 9500FSZ, which will replace CNF’s JBX 9300FS. The new instrument will complement our recently acquired JBX 6300FS by bringing a new level of speed and precision to the NNIN arsenal of patterning capabilities. These systems along with other advanced photolithography capabilities (described below), support fabrication of advanced electronics, optics, and MEMS structures and a growing number of life sciences projects. For example, the combination of lithographic precision and plasma etching expertise have enabled CNF users to achieve record-breaking low-loss optical resonators. CNF also has a broad silicon CVD/oxidation capability with up to 20 process tubes. We continue to acquire and develop processeses for leading edge tools such as a Graphene/ Carbon Nanotube Furnace from FirstNano, and we replaced an aging open load PECVD system with a new Oxford 100 PECVD. The new system will deliver capabilities for rapid oxide and nitride deposition as well as

Figure 74: New AJA Sputtering System installed in CNF in 2012


amorphous silicon and n and p doping. We have added several targets for our AJA Orion 8 RF/DC Sputter Deposition System to expand our ability to provide stress controlled metal deposition. We also had dedicated electroplating station custom-built and installed this year. We now have individual stations for copper, gold, and nickel.

• Our ASML DUV stepper provides commercialization-level lithography to the MEMs effort for researchers and industrial users. This year we added 3D align (backside alignment capability) to that ASML stepper. Our two Deep Silicon Etchers (DSE) provide MEMs projects with deep trench, backside release, and through wafer via capability. We also invested considerably in a major upgrade to our Oxford 100 ICP Dielectric Etcher to expand the gas handling. This was done to foster a collaborative effort with Oxford instruments to find new source gases that will improve on aspect ratio achievable in nanoscale features while retaining good resist selectivity. We continued to work with leading vendors such as Suss MicroTec on both advanced spray coating techniques and substrate conforming imprint lithography (SCIL) as a nanoscale replication technology. Students and Post Docs from nearby centers such as the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR), and the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), help provide a critical mass of research and technology in advanced materials and device structures. We also maintain support for fluidics capabilities for the life sciences through our life sciences liaison, Dr. Elizabeth Rhoades, our VersaLaser cutting tool and a short course offering on PDMS casting (co-instructed with the Nanobiotechnology Center staff). CNF staff are particularly skilled in complete process integration issues involving deposition, etching, and lithography.

• Computation: CNF is one of four NNIN nodes with major nanotechnology computation capabilities. CNF has invested in computational resources and a nanotechnology computation technical liaison (Dr. Derek Stewart) to support and expand facilities for users. Details of the expanded hardware, software, and outreach for the CNF computational program are described in a separate section below.

• Social and Ethical Issues in Nanotechnology: CNF is a major site for NNIN SEI activity. Both the NNIN SEI Coordinator for the network and research associate are based at Cornell and paid from Cornell site funds. Detailed SEI activities for the year are discussed below.

• Education: CNF has extensive education activities, primarily directed to the university level and above but with significant outreach among younger students as well. These are reviewed in the Education section below.

7.2.3.2 Other Assigned Areas: • Life Sciences: CNF actively supports projects involving biological applications of

nanotechnology. To provide discipline specific support for life sciences users, CNF has a technical liaison (Dr. Elizabeth Rhoades). The Cornell Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC), a parallel user facility, helps provide a critical mass of nanobiology users who contribute to the technology base available to users. Current CNF projects include considerable work in bio-sensors and microfluidics. CNF maintains a number of processes which significantly or exclusively support nanobiotechnology (e.g., molecular vapor coating, parylene deposition, embossing, PMDS casting, and microcontact printing). CNF has implemented an extensive process and sample compatibility study with input from NBTC staff. A lab demonstration on soft materials was added to our TCN course this year and a quarterly short course on PDMS stamping was developed and jointly conducted with the NBTC staff. We also entered into a partnership with CorSolutions LLC, to develop and make available to users a fluidic probe station. The system provides high precision pumps and a unique probe manipulator that can make rapid temporary seals to fluidic chips for testing or fluidic based experiments.


• Materials and Materials Analysis: CNF supports a broad range of materials and materials related research both in-house and through facilitated access to electron microscopy facilities within the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR). STEM, TEM and Dual Beam FIB facilities can be accessed by our users via CCMR. Within CNF are housed excellent SEM facilities in the form of two Zeiss Gemini series digital field emission microscopes. To assist users in true nanoscale probing of materials and device structures, CNF has a Zyvex nanomanipulator system, allowing probing within a SEM with 1 nm motion resolution. CNF’s Dimatix materials ink jet printer supports novel fabrication processes with organic and inorganic materials “inks” on rigid and flexible substrates. Along with the Reynolds Tech cluster tool for deposition of organic conductive coatings, we have made significant strides in establishing an organic electronics capability. The Oxford ALD continues to serve materials research with highly conformal metal nitrides, hafnia and, aluminum oxide and silicon dioxide film deposition with monolayer control. Our Woolam spectroscopic ellipsometer, newly acquired Zygo optical profiler, and Filmetrics thin film mapper all support film characterization for both organic and inorganic thin and thick film materials.

• Remote Processing: Remote usage serves as a way to engage future users, achieve higher tool utilization, and enhance the NNIN network value to users. Remote processing is generally limited to single steps or short process sequences that have a high probability of success. In this reporting period, over 75 remote jobs were completed. While mask making, lithography, and thin film deposition are the most common remote requests, more complex structures are being accomplished. We also make use of inter-site capabilities. For example, shipping a user’s wafers to U. Michigan or UCSB for etching or to Stanford, Georgia Tech, and Harvard when a CNF system is down for repairs. We have gotten excellent cooperation from the other NNIN sites when users require this backup support.

7.2.4 Equipment and Facilities CNF operates in a suite of labs in Duffield Hall, a state of the art research building on Cornell’s Engineering College part of campus. CNF user facilities include a 16,000 sq. ft. clean room, but also include wet and dry non-cleanroom labs for additional chemistry and biology support facilities. There is also a characterization lab, a CAD room, and an ion implantation laboratory. In addition, CNF has nanoscale computation facilities (hardware, software, and support) that specialize in assisting users in interfacing with the various modeling programs. CNF maintains a broad set of processing and characterization tools with emphasis on patterning at the smallest dimensions. Our two 100keV ebeam lithography tools are the cornerstone of our materials patterning capabilities; they are supported by contact lithography (3), steppers (3), mask makers (2), 16 dry etch tools of various types, and extensive thin film deposition and inspection capabilities. In total, over 90 major processing tools are available.

• In 2012, CNF was active in upgrading and adding process equipment and computing resources. We are receiving a next generation electron beam lithography system from JEOL, the JBX 9500 FSZ (shown at the factory during acceptance testing. This is a major advance in EBL that will likely set the standard for the next decade.

• We received and installed a SUSS MicroTec SCIL imprint module for our MA6 mask aligner.

Figure 75: New JEOL 9500 ebeam lithography system


The system allows automated separation of imprint mask from wafer after a UV cure step. Through a joint development agreement with SUSS Microtec working to develop this technology and determine its limits.

• The CNF has just completed a major infrastructure construction project to improve the quality of the building-supplied cooling water. This required staff to work even over the holidays to clean or replace all the cooling lines in the entire laboratory. We expect better service owing to fewer pump and rf failures due to cooling line clogs.

• To improve the availability of sputter deposition targets we added multiple target materials to our list for the AJA Orion 8 sputter deposition system.

• Three new dedicated electroplating stations were custom built by Reynolds Tech. We have migrated our previouly-shared set up for Gold, Copper, and Nickel to these separate benches.

• ASML has installed a 3D align system (backside alignment) onto our PAS 5500/300C DUV stepper.

• Our VersaLaser cutting tool has demonstrated great flexibility in patterning thin materials including paper, plastics, metals, and even leaves (see our newsletter cover to the right) etc. from CAD layouts.

• We have installed a major Oxford 100 upgrade that includes a new PLC and expansion of the gas handling capabilities. The major focus will be to allow exploration of new process gases that vary the fluorine to carbon ratios for better nanoscale high aspect ratio structures.

7.3.5 Site Usage and Promotion Activities CNF distributes a set of eight professionally designed color brochures covering each of the primary technical areas. These brochures are widely distributed as a marketing tool to potential users both in NYS and around the country. We also distribute a professionally produced tri-fold brochure as a “light” alternative for wide mailings and trade show distribution and are just completing the art work for an updated version. CNF staff manned the NNIN Promotional Booth at AVS, Fall and Spring MRS, and EIPBN.

CNF annually publishes its annual CNF Research Accomplishments consisting of research reports from many of its users. This more than 250 page publication includes one hundred and twenty five reports, over 800 references to publications, patent and conference presentations of our users and is available on the CNF web site at http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf_2012ra.html.

“The Nanometer”, the CNF glossy newsletter was also published and distributed to 1400 users, former users, corporate supporters, and visitors. Recent issues of the NanoMeter are available at http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf5_nanometer.html

The visibility of CNF is enhanced by Cornell’s use of Duffield Hall as a venue for campus events. Numerous visits by company executives and

Figure 76: Two of the new Reynolds Tech custom electroplating stations

Figure 77: CNF Nanometer Newsletter

http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf_2012ra.html

http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/cnf5_nanometer.html


government leaders to campus have been accompanied by visit and tour requests. In 2012 alone, CNF hosted over 1300 visitors in 20 corporate visits and over 175 academic, educational and government visits and events. This is over and above our users and external outreach activities that engaged an additional 1200 participants.

7.3.6 Commercialization Activities Staff members from CNF have toured the facilities at STC, the Smart Technology and Commercialization Center in Canandaigua, NY and completed a tool mapping document with engineering and business development people there. STC specialized in ramping MEMS products to pilot production levels. CNF and now other NNIN sites can become part of the pipeline process for scale up of products from small companies.

7.3.7 Education Contributions CNF supports a broad range of educational activities, primarily at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels.

• Research Experience for Undergraduates: Research Experience for Undergraduates: CNF plays a leadership role and participates actively in the NNIN REU program. In summer 2012, CNF hosted ten students including five women. CNF staff provide most of the administrative support for the entire network REU program including advertising, processing of over 1000 applications, initial interaction with participants, and preparation and printing of the REU research accomplishments for the 14 sites. CNF also underwrites the laboratory charges for all the cleanroom and tool charges incurred by the Cornell faculty-hosted REU participants.

• Nanooze: As part of its national educational outreach CNF has committed to producing and distributing Nanooze, a children’s science magazine relating to physical sciences and particularly nanotechnology. Nanooze (http://www.nanooze.org/) is a both web-based and printed magazine, with kid-friendly text, topics, and navigation. Nanooze is predominantly the work of Prof. Carl Batt with support from CNF. Nanooze is available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. This year a new issue (our eleventh) was printed and distributed highlighting the sizes and shapes of molecules and Nanotech applications. The issues also features Q&A with nanotechnologist Seth Darling from Argonne National Lab. Circulation has grown to 100,000 copies per issue as requests from classroom teachers continue to grow. CNF employs an undergraduate who works every week to keep up with the requests for classroom packs.

• TCN – Technology and Characterization at the Nanoscale: TCN is CNF's introductory course to Nanotechnology. The course is open to the public and

Figure 78: 2012 CNF REU Students

Figure 79: Nanooze , Issue 11 "Molecules"

Figure 80: Seth Darling in Nanooze 11

http://www.nanooze.org/


aims to educate students, industrial personnel, technology managers and entrepreneurs with an interest in Nanotechnology. CNF offers the TCN semiannually during the summer and winter recess, so that interested students from universities and industry can easily participate. Combined, about forty students and scientists participate in the two courses offered per year, representing Biomedical Engineering, Optics, Physics and Applied Physics, Material Science, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Health and Safety, and Electrical Engineering. On average, about one third of the participants are Cornell graduate students, one third are graduate students from universities other than Cornell, and one third are undergraduate students, teachers, and industrial participants. The content of the TCN is designed to encompass a wide range of nanotechnology techniques relevant to current research in the field. While traditional topics in nanotechnology - thin films, lithography, pattern transfer (etching), process integration, and

characterization - provide the basic structure of the course, we include emerging technologies and new approaches in nanotechnology. Nano-imprint lithography, bottom-up nanofabrication, carbon nanotubes, soft lithography, and surface preparation for biology applications are among the topics addressed. The printed notes for the TCN course have been developed over 18 years and are updated before each course and are a highly valued resource. The course includes lectures and laboratory demonstrations as well as hands-on photolithography sessions. The evaluation forms for the TCN conducted after the June course showed that 85% of the participants rated the lectures and 90% rated the lab course good to excellent. 100% would recommend the course to others. The TCN course will next be offered in June 2013.

• Special 35th Anniversary CNF Users Meeting: On July15, 2011 CNF hosted a special symposium with an all invited speaker program to celebrate its 35th Anniversary. Presenters included keynote speaker DOE Director of the Office of Science, Willam Brinkman. Congratulatory letters were received from President Obama, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and Senator Charles Shumer. Over twenty vendors presented their latest technology after the technical presentations.

• Clarkson Workshop: CNF hosted a hands on workshop for 10 graduate students from Clarkson University in April 2012. Prof. Cetin Cetinkaya at Clarkson conducts a one semester Nanotechnology course that prepares students for the CNF lab experience.

• Microfluidics and Surface Modification Mini-Courses: A hands on lab course in microfluidics was offered twice in 2012 as a joint effort between the CNF and the Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC). The 3-day course covered the fabrication, assembly and uses of microfluidic devices. It was taught by Beth Rhoades, the Life Sciences Liaison of the CNF, and two staff members from the NBTC. CNF acquisition of a CorSolutions microfluidic probe station will soon be incorporated into the course. A second mini-course was also offered for surface modification for biotechnology.

• Plasma Etch Workshop: In collaboration with Plasma Therm, CNF staff hosted and helped conduct a tutorial and workshop provided advanced training for CNF staff and users in the area of plasma processing. Many users took the opportunity to “ask the experts” about specific issues they are seeing in their work, The one-day workshop drew 108 participants

Figure 81: Lab portion of TCN short course


from industry, academia, and staff .

• Vacuum Technology Workshop: CNF hosted an advanced training workshop led by Edwards Vacuum on principles of vacuum technology that drew 65 attendees.

• BEAMER Beginner and Advanced Training Workshops: CNF hosted software developers and application engineers from GenISys to present the various user based lectures and complete with hands on workstation exercises. 30 users and staff attended and were able to bring their own CAD work in for real time examples.

• International Computational Workshop: CNF computation liaison, Derek Stewart. received a National Science Foundation grant to host a Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute on Computational Materials Science for Energy Generation and Conversion in Santiago, Chile from January 8-22nd 2012. Additional funding was also obtained from the Office of Global Naval Research, NNIN, the International Center for Materials Research, and several other Cornell centers. CNF staff provided the administrative support for the travelers. This two week school brought together over 40 graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from the United States, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. The workshop provided lectures in first principles approaches, molecular dynamics, optical techniques, and finite element approaches. Advanced topics included piezoelectrics for energy harvesting, lithium battery design, and engineering thermal properties of materials for thermoelectrics. Lectures and tutorials developed through this course are now available on the CNF and NNIN websites.

• Junior FIRST LEGO® League: The CNF sponsored a Junior FIRST LEGO League (Jr.FLL) Expo for 50 kids ages 6 - 9 from 9 teams. The teams came in from a wide area covering Rochester to Ithaca, NY. The theme of this year's expo was Snack Attack, dealing with Food Safety. Beginning in the fall, the teams had to take a "hands on" approach to the topic of food safety by exploring how proper preparation and storage can help keep us healthy. Teams learn about simple

machines as they build a model made of LEGO® elements with a motorized moving part, and will create a team Show-Me Poster to represent their Snack Attack findings. Teams from around the area presented their LEGO model and poster and received an award for their work. Staff from CNF organized the event and served as project reviewers. This event was also partially underwritten by a grant from the Shell Oil Company.

7.3.8 Computation Contributions During 2012, the computational effort at the Cornell Nanoscale Facility continued to help foster nanoscale research and education through direct consultation and access to a wide array of simulation tools on the CNF cluster.

7.3.8.1 Resource Enhancements • New Software Three new software packages were added to the CNF computational resources

available for users in 2012. In addition, several simulation codes were updated to their most recent version. Currently, CNF users have access to over 35 different computational packages

Figure 82: FIRST Lego League Event at CNF


for topics including nanophotonics, fluidics, molecular dynamics, and electronic transport in nanostructures. The CNF computational branch continues to provide the only public access point for the UT Quant code which is used to calculate C-V characteristics for MOS structures. In 2012, the code was requested by researchers from institutions in Australia, Greece, France, and the United Kingdom.

• Phonopy – A set of python scripts that automates real space phonon calculation using density functional codes like VASP or Quantum Espresso. This code can also use the quasi-harmonic approximation to determine thermal properties like thermal expansion, specific heat, and internal energy.

• PHON - This program developed by Dario Alfe provides similar capabilities to phonopy for phonon calculations

• Wannier90 – This code calculates maximally localized Wannier functions in materials based on results from density functional calculations. These functions can provide insight into bonding in materials, serve as a basis for electronic transport calculations, or provide information on electronic polarization or orbital magnetization among other things.

• Software updated to Newer Versions: VASP, DL-Poly, Quantum Espresso, Siesta, ELK, QuantumWise ATK/VNL, LAMMPS, LM Suite

• Post-doctoral Fellow hired: In September 2012, Saikat Mukhopadhyay joined the Cornell Nanoscale Facility as a post-doctoral fellow to conduct first principles thermal transport research supported under Derek Stewart’s current NSF CBET Award (#1066406).

• Virtual Vault for Pseudopotentials: The CNF hosts the Virtual Vault for Pseudopotentials for the NNIN/C. The NNIN database provides the global scientific community with access to pseudopotentials used in a wide range of electronic structure codes (See http://www.nnin.org/nnin_comp_psp_vault.html .) The clearinghouse consists of a PHP-SQL database of pseudopotentials which now contains over 1100 pseudopotential files from a variety of density functional tools, including Quantum Espresso, Siesta (added in 2012), Abinit, and Qbox. This database provides the first centralized resource for pseudopotentials that spans multiple electronic codes and numerous websites in the electronic structure community now provides links to the Vault as a valuable resource. Key milestones in 2012 include the addition of 300 new pseudopotential files, including PAW (projected augmented wave) datasets, relativistic pseudopotentials for non-collinear spin calculations, and a collection of pseudopotentials for the Siesta density functional code.

Figure 83: Global Distribution of Visitors to the NNIN Virtual Vault for Pseudopotentials Each red dot can represent multiple visits for a particular location, for example Palo Alto has 73 visits.

https://exchange.cornell.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=I-mI5Fxls0uodYx_VU_VuZ-aiJbAxs8IGzS_xWKalKvJNT0anZvdzXi0s5PgZ8-YSw01KAuoKpI.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.nnin.org%2fnnin_comp_psp_vault.html


In April 2012, Google Analytics was added to the Virtual Vault database to track usage and impact. From April 2012 – January 2013, there were nearly 2100 visits to the Virtual Vault with the average visitor spending more than three minutes perusing the site. Robust webpages should show both a high rate of returning users who value the content as well as an expanding user base. The Virtual Vault shows a healthy mix with 57% of the visits coming from new visitors and 43% from returning users accessing additional pseudopotential resources. Visitors have come from 35 states in the U.S. and from 67 different countries. Top ten countries in order of access are United States, China, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, India, Russia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

7.3.8.2 Accomplishments and Output • Publications 2012: Work on the CNF cluster resulted in 23 research articles in 2012, bringing

the total number of publications to 82 since the cluster came online in February 2005. The full collection of papers has currently been cited 1317 times and has an h-index of 19. The 2012 papers include articles published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Advanced Materials, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Physical Review B, NanoLetters, J Chem Phys and Energy and Environmental Sciences. Recent research topics include quantum confinement effects in TiO2 nanowires, thermoelectric Mg2SixSn1-x alloy nanowires, graphene oxide, organic electrodes for energy storage devices, and the development of material search algorithms.

• CNF Simulation User Statistics for 2012: The NNIN/C counting metric takes into account both cluster users and consultation with users on projects (code distribution, simulation expertise, collaboration, etc). In 2012, the CNF had a total of 58 users with 29 Cornell users and 29 external users. For 2012, the CNF site had 22 new simulation users. This count does not include researchers who accessed the Virtual Vault (see below for statistics for this site). The outside users for 2012 included researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Tuskegee University, UC Berkeley, SUNY Albany, University of California Riverside, University of Texas at Austin, Houston University, and Subaru Technical Research Center in Japan.

• CNF Code Development:

o Phonon Branch Sort: In collaboration with Keith Refson, (STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory), UK, Derek Stewart developed a python conversion tool that allows Quantum Espresso users to sort phonon branch data properly for analysis. This ability is critical for extracting phonon group velocities relevant for thermal conductivity estimates in both materials and nanostructures. A formal distribution site for this script will be developed in early Spring 2013.

o Beta Version of Anharmonic Code: Derek Stewart has received two NSF grants to develop a first principles basis for predicting thermal conductivity in materials. As part of the current grant, Stewart is developing a code to calculate the third order force constants using density functional perturbation theory that will be made publicly available. that will publicly available. In 2012, the code was optimized to run faster and also interface with FFTW 3 libraries. An initial trial version has been released to a beta tester at ORNL and full distribution is expected by the end of 2013.

7.3.8.3 Education and Outreach

• Phonon School at the 15th International Workshop on Computational Electronics: May 21-22, 2012, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. Dr. Derek Stewart gave an invited lecture on first principles thermal transport for the Phonon School at the conference. In addition,


Derek Stewart also organized a hands-on workshop for ~20 participants on first principle phonon calculations using Quantum Espresso. One of the workshop participants has gone on to become a CNF user.

• Pan-American Advanced Studies: Dr. Derek Stewart received a $100K National Science Foundation OISE grant (#1123536) to host a Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute on Computational Materials Science for Energy Generation and Conversion in Santiago, Chile from January 8-22nd. Additional funding was also obtained from the Office of Global Naval Research, NNIN, the International Center for Materials Research, and several Cornell centers. This two week school brought together over 40 graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from the United States, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. The workshop provided lectures and hands-on sessions on first principles approaches, molecular dynamics, optical techniques, and finite element approaches. Advanced topics included piezoelectric energy harvesters, lithium battery design, and engineering thermal properties of materials for thermoelectrics. Computational resources on the Texas supercomputer, Ranger, were made possible through a NSF XSede computing time grant. Lectures and tutorials developed through this course are now available on the CNF and NNIN websites.

7.3.9 Social and Ethical Issues in Nanotechnology Social and Ethical Issues (SEI) activities form an integral part of NNIN training at its 14 sites where we aim to develop social and ethical consciousness both within user community and the broader nanotechnology community.

• SEI Orientation at CNF: CNF continues to conduct a weekly 45-minute face-to-face SEI Orientation for all new lab users. The SEI orientation consists of an interactive power point adapted from previous SEI trainers including Dr. Laura Rickard and Dr. Chris Clarke, former students of Dr. McComas, and Dr. Debasmita Patra, a former Postdoctoral Research Associate at CNF and the Department of Communication. The orientation opens with an introduction from each new lab user where they must answer, “In one to two sentences, please describe your nanotechnology work as if you were describing it to your non-engineering grandmother.” The challenge of summarizing one’s research and making it relatable to a non-nanotechnology audience helps the users relate to the challenge of introducing all of nanotechnology to the public. The orientation covers various topics, including: nanotechnology products already in the public interface; various ethical concepts and issues that arise in and out of the laboratory; a historical look at past technologies, their benefits and risks, and similarities and differences with nanotechnology; and, survey data on the public’s opinion about nanotechnology. The entire orientation weaves in questions regarding responsibility and who takes action on societal and ethical issues. The training ends with showing users the “Responsible Research in Action” posters developed by Dr. McComas and previous CNF REU intern, Chloe Lake, in 2010, in hopes that when the users see them they will take a moment to think about these issues. An overview of CNF’s SEI orientation was presented at CNF’s 35th Anniversary celebration in July 2012.

• SEI Multimedia Training: The CNF SEI team will also be rolling out a video version of their power point in 2013. On the occasions where the SEI trainers cannot make an orientation, CNF will always have coverage through our newly developed SEI video orientation.

• SEI REU: CNF hosted one of the two NNIN SEI REU interns, Ms. Merrill Brady, a politics and pre-medicine studies major at Bates College. As an SEI REU intern, Merrill assisted Dr. Katherine McComas (NNIN SEI Coordinator) and graduate student mentor Gina Eosco with a


study on the best practices of integrating societal and ethical issues into NNIN REU programs. To do this, she conducted interviews with NNIN education coordinators, as well as with past NNIN REU participants, followed by a survey of the 2012 REU participants. In addition, Merrill not only participated in CNF “new user lunches,” but she also led societal and ethical discussions based on recent news articles on ethical issues. She also assisted in the development of the SEI presentation at the NNIN REU Convocation, and she presented a poster at CNF’s 35th Anniversary celebration in July 2012.

7.2.10 Staffing CNF has a staff of 29 technical and administrative professionals, all dedicated to CNF/NNIN user functions. All staff members are supported entirely by CNF core funding and user facility funds. We were fortunate to hire Christopher Alpha (photo on right), a process integration engineer with 15 years of industrial product development experience, to add to the cadre of excellent staff at CNF. In addition, Dr. Derek Stewart was recipient of an NSF award that included funding for Post Doctoral Fellow, Saikat Mukhopadhyay .

Figure 84: Chris Alpha

Figure85:: Saikat Mukhopadhyay


7.2.11 Selected Cornell Site Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Figure 86:: Selected CNF Site Statistics

Local Site Academic

57%

Other University

26%

Small Company

14%

Large Company

3%

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Cornell Site Lab Hours March 2012 - Feb 2013

46,600 Hours

Local Site Academic

60%

Other University26%

Small Company11%

Large Company2%

State and Fed Gov0%

Foreign1%

Cornell Site User Distribution 12 Months(March 2012-Feb 2013)

611 unique users in 12 months

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Cornell Site New Users March 2012-Feb 2013

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Cornell Site Historical Users12 months


7.3 Georgia Tech Site Report 7.3.1 Research Highlights Research output during the past year resulted from the efforts of more than 150 Georgia Tech research groups as well as nearly 150 external user projects from almost 100 academic, industry, and government institutions.

“On-the-body” Microelectrode Arrays, Chandana Karnati, Ricardo Aguilar, Robert Grier, and Swaminathan Rajaraman (Axion Biosystems, Inc.)

These “on the body” microelectrode arrays (MEAs) are targeted specifically at detection and tracking of neuropathies like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, ALS, Guillian Barre etc. Traditional electrodes for such a diagnostic application are large “skin-surface” electrodes that ineffectually overcome the skin impedance problem posed by the high impedance stratum corneum (SC) layer. Axion has developed proprietary technologies for 3-D microneedle-type electrodes that can penetrate the SC-layer in a minimally invasive fashion providing a low impedance pathway for electrical signals. Additionally they have developed packaging technologies through which these 3-D microneedle electrodes are arrayed on a flexible Kapton patch.

Ion Trap Fabrication for Quantum Computing, Harley Hayden (Quantum Information Systems Group, GTRI Advanced Concepts Lab)

The Quantum Information Systems Group (QIS), a part of the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s (GTRI) Advanced Concepts Lab, develops systems used to advance fundamental research in quantum information science and novel devices based on quantum technologies. This work includes designing, fabricating, and testing microfabricated ion traps for use in quantum computing. To date, eight ion trap designs have been

fabricated in the Georgia Tech cleanroom facilities and successfully tested at GTRI, advancing the state of the art of ion traps. These include an X-junction ion trap capable of transporting and reordering ions, and the first microfabricated ion trap with integrated microwave electrodes that enable global qubit rotations.

Bottom-up Creation of Graphene Wire Arrays, Jeremy Hicks, Edward H. Conrad, and the Epitaxial Graphene Group (Georgia Tech)

The purpose of this project was to demonstrate an alternative bottom-up method to creating graphene wires capable of creating smaller features with better electronic conduction than is currently possible with top-down shaping of the graphene through a lithographically-defined etch mask. Electron beam lithography is used to define a series of rectangular apertures in silicon carbide (SiC) that are then

Figue 87:SEM of microneedle-type 3-D microelectrode array.

Figure 88::A cross junction ion trap used for transport and controlled reordering of ions.

Figure 89::3D rendering of trenches etched into SiC as seen by atomic force microscopy (AFM)


etched into trenches using a plasma. In the lab, these features are heated to about 1500C, where the silicon preferentially evaporates from the sides of the trenches, with the remaining carbon-rich layer spontaneously forming graphene. We have so far used this technique to demonstrate 10nm-wide graphene strips spaced 100nm apart over a 1.5mm x 1.5mm area.

Innovative Microwave and Terahertz Nanodetectors and Microgenerators Project, Devin Brown and Jean-Claude Portal (Georgia Tech and CNRS/LNCMI-INSA, Grenoble France)

The purpose of this project is to create an innovative antenna device working from the microwave up to the terahertz frequency range. This antenna is based on the ratchet effect phenomenon and can ensure two main capabilities:

(1) Detect a signal carried by microwave. Applications in the telecommunication field, such as carrying an audio signal at high

frequencies, are possible.

(2) Generate a voltage (or a current) by irradiating the ratchet cell using microwave energy. This will provide for applications in fast and miniaturized power generators.

On-chip Coherently Combined Angled Grating Broad-area Laser, Yunsong Zhao and Lin Zhu (Clemson University)

The on-chip coherently combined angled grating broad-area laser is aimed to provide high power and high brightness light output. The laser structure is built on angled grating broad-area lasers which are coherently combined monolithically by a 2D coupling region. The observed interference patterns of two output ports confirm the coherent combination in our laser design. The whole laser chip is fabricated at the GT IEN. The gratings are defined by an advanced JEOL 9300 EBL system and then transferred to an InP-based MQW wafer by dry etching.

Multiplexed Toxin Detection Using Glycans, Farshid Ghasemi, Ali Adibi and Richard D. Cummings (Georgia Tech and Emory University)

On-chip multiplexed photonic sensors benefit from sensitive monitoring, high multiplexing capability, miniature size, and low-cost mass manufacture. A silicon wafer serves as the support for a silicon nitride thin film (240nm) sitting on a silicon dioxide substrate.

The sensor fabrication and immobilization of surface receptors are performed at IEN. The fluidics delivery system will be subsequently bonded on top. Glycans serve as the surface receptor to enable multiplexed toxin detection.

Figure 90:SEM image of the “ratchet cell.” Semicircle antidots in an hexagonal symmetry are etched in a semiconductor heterostructure. The antidot radius and period are respectively r = 120 nm and a = 600 nm.

Figure 91:SEM images at different fabrication phases. Last figure shows a completed laser device after die bonding and wire bonding.

Figure 92::Optical micrograph of the sensor array. SEM of the silicon nitride microring sensor.


Epitaxial Graphene Nanoribbon Transistors, Sarah E. Bryan, Yinxiao Yang, Kevin Brenner, Raghu Murali, and James D. Meindl (Georgia Tech)

Graphene, an atomically thin sheet of carbon atoms, holds great promise as a future replacement material for silicon-based devices. The goal of this research is to investigate how epitaxial graphene, produced on silicon carbide substrates, behaves at the nanoscale, as such small feature sizes are necessary for future device scaling. We have investigated the mobility degradation in graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) as a function of line width, and found that improvements in both lithographically patterned line edge roughness and the substrate morphology are necessary to maintain high levels of conduction. In addition, we have demonstrated the first electrical measurements of p-type epitaxial GNRs, obtained by the simple thermal annealing of the electron-beam resist HSQ.

7.3.2 Growth of the Georgia Tech Facilities, Equipment and Capabilities

In May of 2011, the Nanotechnology Research Center (NRC), lead by Prof. James Meindl, joined a new Interdisciplinary Research Center (IRI), the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN). Several IRIs have been formed as part of Georgia Tech’s research strategy to pursue transformative research, strengthen collaborative partnerships with industry, government, and non-profits, and maximize economic and social impact of research through the acceleration of the maturation and transition of research results into real-world use. The IEN, lead by Executive Director Prof. Mark Allen, has a mission, objectives, and technology domain in direct alignment with those of the NRC and the NNIN. The IEN and NRC have worked during the past year to realize improvements in organizational and staffing structures in support of the shared goals and objectives.

The organizational strategies deployed include the creation of a dedicated Advanced Technology Team, comprised of research scientists and engineers whose mission is to perform user outreach, provide advanced technical and program consultation, and support external user needs. In addition, the Laboratory Operations Support group was realigned into technology areas lead by key personnel. Each area has an appropriate set of technicians and engineers who provide direct support to internal and external users who come to Georgia Tech to use our labs for micro- and nanoscale fabrication and characterization. These technical areas are: Photolithography, Plasma Processing, Materials Growth, Characterization and Measurement (including Bio Sciences), and Packaging. Two additional groups support laboratory infrastructure, one for controls and automated systems and another for physical environment. This structure has proven to better serve the established internal and external academic and industry user base, while also being prepared for future growth scalability.

Tool installation in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building’s (MNB) inorganic cleanroom is nearly complete with less than five percent remaining. The Georgia Tech toolset comprises 215 items, with about half of these in the Marcus building. There still remains significant space for future expansion and tool acquisitions. The Laboratory for Translational Microneedle Technology has been provided with a GLP lab in the Marcus organic cleanroom BSL-2 space for pre-clinical trials of vaccine delivery. In addition, facility build-out is under way for two of the three non-cleanroom laboratory floors of the MNB: one floor will be established for research activities of micro/nanotechnology-enabled physical devices/systems and the other for for micro/nanotechnology-enabled bio-devices/systems. Once completed, this space will expand and consolidate MEMS and bio-related activities, provide laboratory space for faculty who are heavy users of the MNB cleanroom facility, as well as space for visiting NNIN scholars and users. In addition, a

5 µm5 µm

Figure 93: AFM image of monolayer epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide and SEM image of 10 parallel 20-nm GNRs


new microscopy and imaging facility in the specially-designed basement, which is heavily shielded and seismically isolated, will consolidate the existing electron microscopy tools in one location while allowing the installation of TEM and unique EM and ion fabrication tools in conjunction with industrial partnerships. This facility will be part of the overall NNIN user-accessible toolset in the MNB.

During the past year, Georgia Tech installed and upgraded a number of new process and fabrication tools. A previously-owned, high-quality Unaxis reactive ion etcher (RIE) system has been acquired from another semiconductor research facility. The system was installed in July 2012 in the MNB inorganic cleanroom to accommodate growing demand for a stand-alone chlorine chemistry based shallow etching capability (e.g. BCl3 and Cl2) for semiconductor and metal etching. More specifically, this system provides significant improvements in etch rate and uniformity over existing capabilities on a dedicated platform that prevents cross-contamination. The vendor was selected because of extensive experience with their hardware, ease of configuration of gas chemistry and software, and compatibility with pre-existing process libraries. This system will enhance Georgia Tech’s existing, extensive plasma etching capabilities, which include RIE and ICP systems from several vendors, namely STS, PlasmaTherm/Unaxis, and Oxford Instruments.

Metallization capabilities were improved by upgrading two existing CVC electron beam evaporators with modern touch-screen PLC-based control systems entirely utilizing internal staff and resources as well as donated industry-standard hardware provided by Allen-Bradley/Rockwell. The upgrades, completed during the summer of 2012, were necessitated by the difficulty of continuing to support legacy manual control systems with obsolete parts and extremely outdated software. The upgrades provide remote monitoring and operational capabilities, which include scheduling automated cryo-pump regeneration, and real-time logging and trending for all machine parameters.

Lithography capabilities have been enhanced by the addition of a Suss Altaspray Spray Coater to conformally coat challenging, high aspect ratio structures including corners. In addition, a Microtech LW405A laser writer has been acquired to increase internal mask production capability and capacity.

The material growth capabilities will expand significantly in 2013, with orders already placed for a CVD First Nano MOCVD/CVD Graphene system that will allow the growth and fabrication of carbon-based (carbon nanotube and graphene) devices. In addition, the Tystar tube furnace in the MNB inorganic cleanroom will be upgraded to deposit TEOS to ensure conformal dielectric deposition even on challenging, high aspect ratio features for critical devices in MEMS systems, including high voltage drivers.

Characterization and material analysis resources have been enhanced by both upgrades and recent acquisitions. For example, the IonTOF 5 Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (ToF-SIMS) has been upgraded to the latest software version on a new control computer and new offline analysis software. The existing FEI Quanta 200 FIB/SEM has been returned to operational status to provide both very-high variable pressure imaging capabilities in an aqueous environment and as a backup to the primary FEI Nova Nanolab 200 FIB/SEM. The Olympus LEXT OLS-4000 materials confocal microscope has been upgraded to the newest software version to provide enhanced functionality and GUI updates. Finally, the Kratos Ultra XPS was upgraded to enable transfer and analysis of air-sensitive samples in an inert atmosphere along with various other improvements.

7.3.3 Diversity Activities Activities to increase the participation of minorities, women, and faculty at minority-serving institutions continued during the past year. The Education and Outreach office hired a female/minority post-doc, who is assisting with these events. One of these programs, Nanodays, was conducted in Dekalb county, outside of Atlanta, where 70-80% of the participants were from minority groups.


External users were actively sought from regional academic institutions, such as the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUC Consortium), which is composed of four historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in southwest Atlanta. These institutions comprise the greatest number of African-Americans in higher education in the United States. Georgia Tech external users have come from all of the institutions included in this consortium, which are Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse College and the Morehouse School of Medicine.

Finally, Georgia Tech has continued to host participants in the Laboratory Experience for Faculty (LEF) program, which encourages nanoscale research by women and minorities. In 2012 Prof. Shyam Aravamudhan (North Carolina A&T University) spent the summer semester working on a project entitled “Harsh Environment Packages for N/MEMS Ocean Sensors.”

7.3.4 Special Focus/Leadership: Education: The NNIN’s Education and Outreach Office is housed at Georgia Tech. The staff consist of the NNIN education coordinator who oversees network, national and local efforts, a full-time assistant education coordinator whose primary focus is GT initiatives, a full-time education assistant, and half time post-doctoral fellow.

Georgia Tech’s education program is a very active outreach program with more than 60 events directly reaching nearly 6,300 individuals. Our focus encompasses a variety of K-12 student programs, including on and off-site school programs; teacher professional development workshops; and presentations at local and regional science teacher meetings. New this past year is a working relationship with the Georgia Department of Education that has invited NNIN-GT to serve on its STEM outreach advisory group and participate in its STEM festivals across Georgia.

Georgia Tech is the lead on an NSF-awarded RET program which received its third award in Spring 2012. This new NNIN RET program includes Arizona State University, University of Minneosta and UCSB. During summer 2012, four participants (community college faculty and secondary science teachers) undertook research during their seven-week experience at Georgia Tech and have designed classroom instructional units for use in secondary and post-secondary classes. These materials will be presented at the NNIN RET Nanotechnooogy in the Classroom workshop in March 2013 and will be posted on the NRC and NNIN websites.

Each spring the Nanoscale Informal Science Educaton Network (NISENet) sponsors NanoDays, a two-week period when museusm, science centers, and universities are encouraged to host a public event on nanotechnology. GT does its event in collaboration with the Fernbank Science Center of DeKalb County Schools. We have co-sponsored this event for the past three years and this also led us to support Fernbank’s Chemistry Day on nanotechnology. In turn, we have trained Fernbank staff to use NNIN education materials in DeKalb County’s middle schools.

Georgia Tech also supported eight REU interns during summer 2012. One of these students will participate in the NNIN International REU in summer 2013. We also hosted one faculty participating in NNIN’s Lab Experience for Faculty (LEF). The GT-NNIN office organized NNIN’s participation in the second USA Science and Engineering Festival held in Washington, DC (April 27-29). This is a premier science festival with over 500,000 attendees. GT coordinated 18 NNIN staff to support this major event as well as providing the majority of the demonstrations performed at the NNIN booth. In addition, GT-NNIN contributed to the American Chemical Society’s National Chemistry Week 2012, whose theme was Nanotechnology, by organizing demonstrations conducted by local university students at many middle and high schools in the metropolitan area.

In October, 2008 GT joined MCREL and Stanford’s NNIN site on a new NSF-funded (DRK-12) project titled NanoTeach. This 5-year, professional development program is designed to develop a combination


of face-to-face and online professional development experiences for high school science teachers. During 2012, Georgia Tech evaluated pre and post-survey answers and provided content support for the instructional model. We actively recruited teachers in Georgia to participate in the second phase of the program and delivered a one day workshop to Georgia participants.

We also offer professional workshops and have developed a program titled NanoFANS Forum (Focusing on Advanced NanoBio Systems). The goal of this forum is to connect the medical/life sciences/biology and nanotechnology communities. NanoFans seeks to reach out to researchers in the biomedical/life sciences areas to inform them about what nanotechnology can offer them in the advancement of their research. During 2012 the series offered two events: “NanoToxicology” (May 15, 2012) and “Nanotechnology in Food Safety” (November 20, 2012). Approximately 200 attendees from both Georgia Tech and external institutions participated in the events.

Nano@Tech is a joint IEN-NNIN education/outreach and research program begun in 2006. The featured speakers for the twice-a-month seminars come from all of the disciplines involved in nanotechnology research (including the social sciences), and the seminars represent an excellent opportunity for cross-pollination and collaboration forming. Attendees include faculty, graduate and undergraduate students from Georgia Tech and other local campuses, and professionals from the corresponding scientific community. Nano@Tech members (nearly 500 on the mailing list) have also supported the NNIN Education and Outreach Office at Georgia Tech by providing volunteers for K-12 outreach activities. During 2012, 17 seminars were presented by faculty and students representing 8 different Georgia Tech schools in engineering and science, as well as 4 external academic and industry organizations. Most of these seminars have been captured on video and archived on the SMARTech website (http://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/14205) where they have been viewed or downloaded hundreds of times.

7.3.5 Special Focus/Leadership: Bio and Life Sciences: Outreach: Georgia Tech biomedical engineering domain experts attended, exhibited, and/or presented at life science focused events in 2012, including the Southeast Medical Devices Association (SEMDA) Conference, Georgia Life Sciences Summit, Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences Bio Industry Symposium, and the ACTSI Academic & Industry Intersection Meeting.

Users: Georgia Tech internal and external users perform research in areas as diverse as medical devices and diagnostics, drug delivery and therapeutics, biomaterials and surface modification, biosensors, and biometrology. In collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), a proposal was recently submitted to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation seeking funding for the development of field-deployable diagnostic devices for the detection of tropical diseases in developing countries. In addition, Georgia Tech supports biomedical nanofabrication and characterization research of five NIH-supported centers in drug delivery, cardiovascular nanomedicine, nucleoprotein machines, pediatric nanomedicine, and neuroengineering. New industry users in life sciences and medicine for 2012 included Cormatrix Cardiovascular, Shapestart, and Medshape Solutions.

Facilities: The Marcus Nanotechnology Building has one-third of its cleanroom space (5,000 sq. ft.) designated as an organic (bio) cleanroom. The 8 research bays comprise 6 BSL-1 and 2 BSL-2 areas designed for research at the interface between life sciences and nanotechnology immediately adjacent to traditional inorganic cleanroom space, and these areas are physically connected to allow for research samples to be transferred between them. Even though less than 10% of IEN tools are contained in the organic cleanroom, more than half of all users take advantage of this facility. In addition, nearly 100 users are users exclusively of this facility implying that this unique laboratory and its associated tools have filled a critical need for a previously untapped user base.

---End of Georgia Tech text report---

http://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/14205


7.3.6 Georgia Tech Selected Site Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Figure 94: Georgia Tech Selected Site Statistics

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GaTech Users - March 2012 - Feb 2013

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7.4 Harvard University Site Report 7.4.1 Facility Overview Year 9 (2012-2013) was another year of continuing growth in users and capabilities for the Harvard University site. Highlights include a record number of users overall, record number of industrial users, and our all-time highest percentage of external users. Popular research themes included photonics, microfluidic diagnostics, engineered (often superhydrophobic) surfaces, energy storage and conversion, and graphene and diamond physics and devices. During this review period several new instruments were added to our laboratories, and four new technical specialists joined the staff. Numerous events were held at the Harvard site, including an in-depth NNIN-internal technical forum on the topic of atomic layer deposition (ALD) attended by technical staff from 10 of the network sites.

7.4.2 Research Highlights The Harvard site continues to support a very broad range of research activities, spanning nano-materials, low-dimensional physics, microfluidic medical diagnostics, renewable energy, graphene, diamond, optics, and many other research themes.

Biomedical projects were numerous during the last year, many emanating from the nearby cluster of Boston hospitals. Representative projects conducted this year include “Construction of a Bio-MicroElectroMechanical (BioMEM) Device,” from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, “Development of a Microbead-nanoparticle Sandwich Assay for Point-of-Care Diagnostics,” from the Weissledter group at Massachusetts General Hospital, and “Silk Fibroin Immunosensors” from the Omenetto group at Tufts University. A commercial project on blood sensing is being developed by the local M.D.-founded DNA Medicine Institute. And Don Ingber of Harvard and the Children’s Hospital is leading a project to understand the environmental factors of the microenvionment on breast cancer tumors.

Many of these biomedical projects are microfluidic – a strong competency of the CNS. A representative application is a single-cell detector project from the Hakho Lee group at the Massachusetts General Hospital. They developed a microfluidic chip-based micro-Hall detector (μHD) which can directly measure single, immunomagnetically tagged cells in whole blood. The μHD can detect single cells even in the presence of vast numbers of blood cells and unbound reactants, and does not require any washing or purification steps. The clinical utility of the μHD chip was demonstrated by detecting circulating tumor cells in whole blood of ovarian cancer patients. Furthermore, the use of a panel of magnetic nanoparticles, distinguished with unique magnetization properties and bio-orthogonal chemistry, allowed simultaneous detection of the multiple biomarkers.

CNS also continues to support many energy-related projects related to both conversion and storage. For example, the Vandervelde group at nearby Tufts University has an interesting new initiative on energy scavenging

Figure 95: MGH MicroHall detector for single cell detection.

Figure 96: Tufts thermophotovoltaic cell after two etch steps and silicon nitride deposition.


through new thermophotovoltaics (TPV) technology. The purpose of the low temperature TPV project is to extend the operational range of this thermal harvesting technology so it can convert lower temperature heat directly into electricity. Although there are basic fabrication capabilities at Tufts, the group requires CNS to etch through the III-V materials, to deposit CVD passivation layers, and to deposit the required contact metals.

The Harvard site is also supporting a large number of photonics projects including diamond emitters and detectors, and flat plasmonic lenses by the Capasso group which received significant recent media attention. A notable project on RF photonic integrated circuits comes from the Yifei Li group at the Dartmouth campus of the University of Massachusetts system (one of the smaller campuses of UMASS). The goal of their project is to realize a phase modulated coherent optical link on a Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) chip. Their PIC chip monolithically integrates linear/ quadratic quantum well phase modulators, a compact 3dB optical coupler and a balanced Uni-Traveling Carrier (UTC) waveguide photodetector pair on an InP base wafer. The PIC chips, which are being fabricated using CNS facilities, aim to achieve high Spurious Free Dynamic Range (SFDR), sufficient power efficiency, and cost efficiency, so that they surpass the performance of state-of-the-art electronic amplifiers or mixers, and ultimately enables replacement.

7.4.3 Facility and Operations Highlights In order to improve after-hours support of the CNS laboratory, a telepresence robot has been acquired and is now active in the CNS laboratories and offices. Produced by the CA-based company Anybots Inc., the robot can be controlled by any staff member through a simple webpage. CNS staff observe the laboratory remotely through the robot’s camera and microphone, and project their webcam image to the lab via the robot’s display and speaker. Staff can drive the robot around the lab using the four arrow keys. The robot can point to items using a laser pointer. This system augments existing laboratory cameras with the ability to change location and move close to situations of interest. Remote problem solving is also easier using the robot, as a staff member can both see what is happening in the lab, and point to things. Visitors and tour groups coming to CNS find the telepresence robot to be very interesting, and it was enthusiastically welcomed during a recent visit to a local grade school.

The reliability of the CNS laboratories was improved in December 2012 through the installation of a 50 kVA 3-phase building UPS system for critical instruments and central building support systems. The new UPS allows instruments to remain operational during the brief switch-over to the large 1 MW building generator. The system also supports central support such as the lab air compressors, processed chilled water pumps, lab process chilled water pumps, lab ventilation, and the DI water make-up pump which are now all on this new emergency power circuit.

Regarding energy efficiency, the CNS cleanroom saves energy through the use of a novel real-time control loop using live particle counts as a control input. This system was presented in July during a

GSSG

Tapered fibers

Figure 97: UMass Dartmouth photonic chip sitting on AlN carrier.

Figure 98:: CNS telepresence robot in discussion outside cleanroom.


session on cleanroom systems at the UGIM2012 (a major meeting of cleanroom operations personnel) at U.C. Berkeley.

CNS infrastructure was also improved with software updates to both our laboratory access network and to our administrative business systems. In the laboratory, our “CNS Laboratory Equipment Access Network” (CLEAN) access management system was expanded to include several additional instruments such as our atom probe. Changes were made to the system for training registrations, and for the tracking of equipment downtime. New system monitoring routines were created, including one which that provides notices – on an opt-in basis – when reservations for heavily scheduled instruments are canceled. The recent improvements to the CLEAN system were also presented at the UGIM2012 meeting at U.C. Berkeley in July and at the ESTECH2013 (cleanroom standards) meeting in April 2013.

7.4.4 Equipment Highlights During this review period several new instruments were added to the CNS portfolio, including the following:

Deep Silicon Reactive Ion Etch. CNS’ capabilities for fabrication MEMS and 3-D integrated structures were augmented by the arrival of a new DRIE system in early 2013. The new SPTS Pegasus Rapier system is able to achieve: high etch rate: 5 -10 um/min; high aspect ratio: 50:1; scalloping (sidewall roughness) control: <10nm; notch control for SOI substrates; etch profile tilt control from the dual plasma source; and high resolution end point detection.

Direct-Write Lithography System: CNS’ new Heidelberg Instruments uPG501 is an optical direct-write lithography system. Using 390 nm light and a micro-mirror array, the system can reproduce GDSII format CAD patterns directly on both positive tone and SU-8 photoresist. The system has a semi-automated alignment capability. Maximum resolution is 1 micrometer, though 2-3 micrometers is more typical. The system can accommodate substrates between 5 and 100 mm diameter, and between 100 microns and 7 mm thick, and can write on opaque, transparent, and reflective substrates.

Atom-Probe Tomography System: A new plasma-cleaning system was acquired for Harvard’s 3D Local Electrode Atom-probe (LEAP) This plasma cleaning system is directly connected to the specimen load-lock of the atom probe and allows for transferring local electrodes and specimens seamlessly into the LEAP, without exposing them again to the environment, after they were plasma cleaned. Recently the Harvard LEAP has been used to examine Ni-based and Co-based high-temperature superalloy and model superalloys; compositional gradients across interfaces, elemental substitution in GaSb/InAs based materials for infrared detectors, multilayer thin films for the electronics industry, and ceramic multilayer samples.

Tencor Quantox Surface Characterization:

Figure 99:: SEM cross section of a grating sample etched with new DRIE. Trenches are 2 um in pitch and 47 um in depth.

Figure 100: New direct write lithography system in CNS cleanroom.

Figure 101: Quantox surface characterization system donated by local Analog Devices plant.


Massachusetts-based Analog Devices donated a like-new surface characterization system to CNS. This KLA-Tencor Quantox is a non-contact electrical measurement tool for quantifying dielectric material characteristics and silicon substrate properties. The measurement principles are similar in nature to those upon which metal-oxide-semiconductor C-V testing is based. However, the contact is created using a layer of ionized air molecules created by a corona discharge source. This enables dielectric properties to be determined without requiring any post-processing of the wafer after film deposition. Some of the properties it can determine are: oxide thickness (Tox down to 1 nm), resistivity, total charge (Qtot), flat band voltage (Vfb), interface trap density (Dit), mobile charge (Qm), the tunneling field as well as several other semiconductor parameters. Most nanoscale electronic devices require a dielectric layer to be deposited in some form or another, and being able to quickly confirm or determine the charge states present as well as the quality of the insulator and the dielectric constant is vital.

i-line Stepper: CNS’ lithography capabilities will be expanded in early 2013 with the arrival of a new i-line stepper. This system will complement the numerous direct write and contact optical exposure systems and the four e-beam lithography systems, and provide high throughput for samples up to 6”.

Countess Cell Counter: The capabilities of our Biomaterials facility were improved through the addition of a Countess Automated Cell Counter. The system characterizes cell cultures in only 30 seconds without the need for a hemocytometer.

Thermo Scientific XPS System: CNS’ analytical capabilities were significantly enhanced by the replacement of our aging XPS system with a modern, highly-featured system. The Thermo Scientific K-Alpha system features a 180° double focusing hemispherical analyzer, 128-channel detector, and an X-ray source with variable spot size from 30-400 µm. The system has a 4-axis sample stage to accommodate 60 x 60 mm samples up to 20 mm thick. Analytical options now include a tilt module for ARXPS data collection. This highly automated system is well-suited for the CNS multi-user environment and serves both experienced XPS analysts and newcomers to the technique. Since its commissioning, the system has been consistently used >75 hours per week.

3-D Tomography Reconstruction Workstation: Interest in VG Studio MAX for volume characterization increased significantly following a special training session on the software organized by CNS in 2011. To meet this demand, a new stand-alone workstation for the processing of tomography data was added to the CNS laboratories. This high-end graphics workstation supports the 3D reconstruction and rendering of X-ray microCT data. It supports both volume reconstruction using CT Pro software, and volume visualization/rendering using VG Studio MAX software.

7.4.5 Staff Highlights During this review period CNS staffing grew by three additional technical staff members to support the increasing user population in addition to one replacement staff member to operate our biomaterials facility.

Senior Nanofab Engineer Guixiong Zhong brings significant industrial experience to CNS having previously held an engineering position in Agiltron where he conducted MEMS device design, fabrication, process integration, packaging, and characterization for many years. He has double master degrees in physics and electrical engineering from the University of Maine. His immediate responsibilities include photolithography, device packaging, and PVD. His strong MEMS experience makes him a valuable application support resource for nanofab users.

Biomaterials Technician Monica Zugravu joined our team this period as the replacement nanomaterials and biomaterials technician. Monica holds an undergraduate degree in biophysics from SUNY University at Buffalo and a M.S. in biomedical engineering from University of Memphis. Her background includes cell culture work, with thesis work in developing a novel bone graft. Monica is the primary contact for our


Biological Sample Prep/Cell Culturing Facility and also the primary or secondary contact on many tools such as VersaLaser, DelsaNano, VirTis freeze-dryer, MicroCT, and Multisizer.

Senior Materials Scientist Andrew Magyar Ph.D. received his doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT. He joined CNS in early 2013 to support the Center’s new Cameca Atom Probe elemental characterization capability. At MIT his graduate work focused on the development of bio-templated materials for photocatalytic water splitting. Magyar conducted his postdoctoral studies in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences where he developed new ways to create photonic structures from wide band gap materials such as diamond and SiC and studied the adaptive camouflage of cephalopods.

Senior Nanofab Engineer Philippe De Rouffignac Ph.D. spent the previous five years as a Principal Scientists and Director of Thin Film Process Development at Arradiance Inc., where he developed novel atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes and commercial deposition equipment. Prior to Arradiance, he worked for 2 years as a Senior Process Engineer at Novellus Systems. Philippe earned his bachelor's degrees in chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, and his PhD in chemistry from Harvard University. In his doctorate work he performed process development and precursor synthesis and evaluation in ALD under the direction of Professor Roy Gordon. He has been awarded several patents and is an author of 10+ papers.

Philippe De Rouffignac

Ph.D. Chemistry Guixiong Zhong

M.S. Physics+EE Monica Zugravu

M.S. Biomedical Eng Andrew Magyar

Ph.D. Materials Sci

To remain relevant and effective in delivering laboratory services, the technical staff members of the NNIN sites must be continuously trained in current experimental methods. The NNIN has a tradition of conducting cross-site training in Technical Forums of various topics attended by staff from all of the sites. This fall the Harvard site hosted such a forum on Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) which was jointly organized by the Harvard, Stanford, and Cornell sites and attended by staff from 10 of the sites. This is the first such workshop that has addressed ALD and was organized to “cross-pollinate” knowledge and best practices across the sites. The first day consisted of a presentations by NNIN staff who have interest in or responsibility for ALD systems at various sites. A variety of topics were covered with much time devoted to free discussion. The second day consisted of invited talks by noted ALD experts and presentations by vendors. After these presentations, a “User Workshop” for the general public was held which reviewed highlights from the first day, and provided a question and answer period.

Figure 102:Harvard CNS Staff Additions

Figure 103 ALD expert Roy Gordon addresses researchers during public session at ALD Technical Forum.


Feedback has been very positive from all attendees, especially NNIN staff, and there is unanimous agreement that these ALD workshops should happen with regularity.

7.4.6 Nanocomputation (NNIN/C) Site Activities Harvard continued as the headquarters for the NNIN computation technical area (NNIN/C) led by Dr. Michael Stopa who directs both the local and the network-wide computation efforts. NNIN/C provides high performance computing for advanced nanotechnology applications as well as support for experimental and theoretical studies. A full report of NNIN/C is given elsewhere, but highlights for computation at the Harvard site follow.

During year 9 the computation program at Harvard University remained vibrant with a total of 141 users of which 76 users were from outside the university. These researchers currently have access to the Harvard Odyssey cluster described in previous annual reports. That hardware capability was upgraded during this period through the commissioning of a new cluster of AMD opteron-based blades that are connected by infiniband rapid communication and will comprise a total of over 600 cores. This capability, provides a much-needed improvement in computational throughput – particularly the wait to progress through the job queue - for the growing NNIN/C user base.

An example of how the NNIN/C hardware and codes are used comes from Dr. Kathy Aidala, of nearby Mt. Holyoke College who simulated the magnetic states of memory rings fabrictated by Prof. Mark Tuominen from UMass. Nanoscale magnets exhibit unique magnetic states that can be used as novel data storage devices. Magnetic nanorings offer a unique state that has no poles, but instead could store the “1” and “0” as clockwise or counterclockwise magnetic fields in what is called the “vortex” state. The project directly explores the switching of the vortex state by passing a current through the tip of an atomic force microscope. This current will produce an azimuthal magnetic field that controls the vortex chirality. Simulations predict that azimuthally applied fields result in interesting states beyond the vortex, generating stable 360 degree domain walls.

The NNIN/C capabilities were advertised at a Boston “Nano-Symposium” in June 2012 where Dr. Stopa gave an invited presentation titled: “NNIN/C: Accelerating nanoscience research with innovative modeling.” This workshop focused largely on nanoparticles and potential toxicity. Recently the Food and Drug Administration has given the go-ahead to allow certain computational tests of product safety, so the joining of nanotoxicology efforts and NNIN/C could be very auspicious.

7.4.7 Education and Outreach Beyond training and technically supporting our very large population of NNIN users and other technical professionals, CNS staff members continued to support both broad educational activities and public outreach during the past year. In 2012-2013, CNS hosted or participated in activities that reached over 2400 K-12 students, teachers, families, members of the general public, and technical professionals. In many cases, we have partnered with school districts and organizations with large populations of students who are traditionally underrepresented in science and engineering. Below are highlights from the 2012-2013 education and diversity program.

Figure104: Magnetic force measurement of nanorings.

http://chm.pse.umass.edu/people/marktuominen


K-12 and Public Programs

Cambridge 8th Grade Science & Engineering Showcase. In May 2012, CNS and the Harvard School of Engineering & Applied Sciences hosted the third annual Cambridge 8th Grade Science & Engineering Showcase at Harvard. Over 400 8th grade students from Cambridge Public Schools presented their science and engineering fair projects at Harvard, and participated in presentations and tours of Harvard research facilities. CNS staff hosted tours of the CNS facilities, led demonstrations, and also served as “questioners” during student poster presentations. In addition, one of the classes, taught by former NNIN RET William McDonald, presented projects on “Demonstration of Self-Assembly by GeoMags” and “Engineering Structures with GeoMags,” based on an NNIN K-12 classroom module developed by Mr. McDonald.

Targeted High School Partnerships: CNS has partnered with the John D. O’Bryant School for Mathematics and Science in the Boston Public Schools to support students in the school’s Engineering Pathways Program, and to provide science fair support for interested students. The O’Bryant is one of three exam schools in the Boston Public Schools, and serves a diverse population (66% of students are from groups underrepresented in science and engineering). To kick off the partnership, 30 students and teachers visited CNS prior to the start of the school year for tours and demonstrations by CNS staff.

Boston STEP-Up Program: CNS is currently collaborating with Boston Public Schools to host the science portion of a series of visits by elementary schools in the Boston Public School District. Targeting 4th-6th grade students in underperforming schools, the STEP-Up program is an early intervention program designed to increase college and career awareness in at-risk populations. CNS hosted 5 schools in 2012, through the STEP-Up program, with an impact on over 150 students. CNS staff led tours and hands-on demonstrations, and talked informally about careers in science and nanotechnology. As a follow-up activity, students and parents from 2 schools were invited to return to Harvard for a Saturday event that focused on career and college awareness, with science demonstrations led by REU students.

Figure 106: Left: CNS scientist Arthur McClelland leads a demonstration on light and nanotechnology for 5th graders during a STEP Up visit by Hennigan Elementary School. Right: NNIN REU student William Gilson lead a demonstration on thin films for Hennigan student

Figure 105: Cambridge 8th grade students learn about nanotechnology through interactive demonstrations. Pictured is a module on modifying surfaces from hydrophobic to hydrophilic developed by NNIN RET Tray Sleeper.


Tech Savvy: In Summer 2012, CNS and SEAS hosted 30 middle school girls from the greater Boston area as one of the sites in a week-long summer camp, Tech Savvy. Throughout the week, girls spend one day at each of the partner universities. At Harvard, CNS staff led an interactive tour of CNS facilities followed by demonstrations led by NNIN and other REU students.

Holiday Lecture for Families: CNS collaborates with SEAS, the NSEC and MRSEC to host an annual science-themed holiday lecture for families each December. The theme of the December 2012 lecture was “Let There Be Light: A Celebration of Color.” The highly interactive lecture was targeted to ages 7 and up, with the goal of inspiring family discussions of science to continue after the lecture. Children received t-shirts that illustrate a scientific concept, and helped demonstrate that concept during the lecture. After the lecture, students and staff associated with CNS led demonstrations outside the lecture hall on nanostructures and light, diffraction, and thin films. Over 750 people attended this year’s lecture.

Nanodays: As in past years, this May CNS staff participated in Nanodays events at the Museum of Science in Boston, leading demonstrations and activities. This event is attended by thousands of museum patrons (not counted in our above-mentioned 2400 estimate). NISE-Net Nanodays kits employed at Nanodays were also used in other outreach activities throughout the year.

Undergraduate training and outreach

As in years past, this June CNS staff conducted orientations and presentations for the 70 visiting undergraduate interns who were on campus. These students were largely beyond the five supported directly by the NNIN program and included those supported by our NSF NSEC and MRSEC. The majority of these students conducted research activities in the CNS laboratories as part of their REU projects.

Education specialist Jorge Pozo and Director of Educational Programs Kathryn Hollar have publicized the NNIN REU program at several diversity conferences, including the annual conferences of the National Society of Black Physicists and National Society of Hispanic Physicists; the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science; the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students; the Mexican American Engineering Society; and the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers.

Workshops for technical professionals

Beyond the technical events that are offered specifically for the CNS user community and employees, CNS conducts an on-going series of technical events open to the public and advertised generally in the Boston area. During the past 12 months CNS organized approximately 50 public events which attracted >1400 attendees. CNS hosted workshops each attended by >40 people in the areas of: "Nano-Engineering with DNA," "Dip Pen Nanolithography," Nanoparticle Characterization Workshop, “Introduction to Confocal and TIRF Microscopy," “Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy Seminar,” “Microfluidics Overview Seminar,” “SU-8/PDMS Micromolding Forum, “ “XPS Symposium,” and a CNS Seminar on “Plasmonic Metasurfaces for Light Focusing.”

As in previous years, again during the summer of 2012 CNS staff conducted a free and public series of instructional classes in cleanroom technology. This “Nanofabrication Summer School” included 12 instructional sessions on cleanroom facilities, photolithography, mask design, e-beam lithography, RIE,

Figure 107: Children illustrate that white light is made of a spectrum of colors during the 2012 Holiday Lecture.


CVD, PVD, ALD, metrology, scanning probe microscopy, and packaging process. This summer that program was complimented by a eleven-week series on Nanomaterials Characterization with topics including nanoparticles, AFM, XPS, FIB, and X-ray tomography.

Several formal courses for non-Harvard students were conducted in CNS laboratories and were instructed by CNS staff members. Offered through the Harvard Extension School, these courses are typically held in the evenings as continuing education for the local community and do not require an application. During summer 2012, CNS Materials Facilities manager Dr. Fettah Kosar again taught his 7-week-long summer course titled, “Introduction to Fabrication of Microfluidic and Lab-on-a-Chip Devices,” which was fully enrolled at 15 students. The course covered the field of miniaturization of pharmaceutical, biological, chemical, and biomedical assays. It served as an introduction to the facilities, tools and techniques used for the fabrication of microfluidic and lab-on-a-chip devices and reviewed some of the latest advances in this field. During the 2012 fall semester, CNS managers Dr. Jiangdong Deng and Dr. David Bell taught the course, “Nanofabrication and Nanoanalysis,” also through the Harvard’s Extension School. This laboratory course explores the concepts of nanotechnology through nanofabrication and nano-analysis. Through fabricating real devices in the cleanroom students learned the complete nanofabrication processes from CAD design to fabricated structure. Several analysis techniques were applied to the devices and structures which were fabricated in class.

For the third year, Dr. Fettah Kosar went to the University of Notre Dame in order to teach an invited 3-day course in microfluidics and soft-lithography techniques. This course had classroom and laboratory components, and was hosted by Prof. Bilgicer.

In January 2013, CNS staff member Dr. David Bell ran a two day workshop on “Nanotechnology and Medicine” with several invited talks during the mornings and hands-on laboratory sessions in the afternoon.

7.4.8 Society and Ethics John Sweeney, who serves as the CNS Health and Safety Officer, is also the center’s lead SEI trainer. His SEI session comprises a 30 minute interactive discussion and is conducted after the basic safety orientation for all new users. This year John updated the SEI training with a new handout that users read on their own for 10 minutes to get a basic understanding of SEI as it relates to nano-science and nanotechnology. After the reading, students then work through 5 SEI scenarios (addressing professional ethics and societal ethics) on their own. For the remaining 15 minutes the group discusses 2 out of the 5 scenarios. These last 15 minutes is where people begin to debate the issues. The session always ends with an analogy from an atomic force microscope (AFM): “just as an AFM probe can stimulate molecular structures, SEI thought provoking questions and lively discussions can stimulate the human conscience.”

--End of Harvard Text Report---


7.4.9 Harvard University Selected Site Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Figure 108: Selected Harvard Site Statistics

Local Site Academic

55%

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7.5 Howard University Site 7.5.1 Overview The National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) has changed the model for user based research facilities in the US and at Howard University. The Howard Nanoscale Science and Engineering Facility (HNF) has been the vehicle and has lead to the Howard University Program for the Expansion of Research and Education in Nanotechnology (HUPEREN) and the new Interdisciplinary Research Building (IRB).The new IRB will start construction by March 15, 2013 and must be completed by August 31, 2014. The company and architectual firms have been selected and a public hearing was held on March 6-8, 2013. The general themes of the build include a flexibility for both initial occupants and for change in the lab arrangements. The floors themes are divide up into: Nanotechnology/Bio Nano (includes a NanoFabrication cleanroom and Bio-Nano cleanroom and major characteriztion facilities), Natural products research (drug syntheisis, delivery & testing), Microibal Ecology (diversity and immunology), Atomosheric Sciences (sensor development, climate robots, etc.) and Developmetal Biology (STEM cell differentiation). The Nanotechnology/BioNano area lab space is over 10,000 sq/ft with over 4000 sq/ft of space for characterization. The total gross square feet is over 80,000 with 3000 square feet for community activity and retail space. The total projected budget is over $80 M with a location on Georgia Avenue and 6th Street. Shown below is a overall view of the building and the plan for the Nanotechnology/BioNano floor.

Figure110:: Nanotech/BioNano Floor Plan Figure 109:Architect’s rendering of IRB


7.5.2 Progress in Attracting New Users The HNF staff is quite aware of their mission to bring in outside users. This year we have serviced over a 240 users. This represents a 10% increase in the number of users and is 10 users short of our projected number of 250. We believe that with the additional equipment and resources from HUPEREN, HNF will also add to the number of users. Four additional programs in the area of nanotechnology/materials have been funded including the Center for Environment Implications of Nanotechnology with Duke University, Carnegie Mellon University, Howard University, and Virginia Tech University. Howard has been rewarded an NSF-Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT) in the area of Environmental Nanotechnology. Howard University, Prince George’s Community College (PGCC), Gallaudet University and the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) join to propose a Partnership for Reduced Dimensional Materials (PRDM). Army Research Lab has awarded a new major grant on Impact Testing of advanced materials like graphene etc. We are also in the final stages of a major Science and Technology Center with Harvard and MIT in the area of quantum materials. We have some strong indicators that this program will be funded.

HNF is working actively to advertise and market to outside users from various populations and regions. We have been working with the Washington DC Small Business Development Center at Howard University and New Howard Innovation Lab. The Howard Innovation Lab is part of a citiy wide effort to bring adavnce state-of-the-art technology and companies to Washington DC. Forbes named the Washington metro area as the number one new hot tech spot.This designation was due in part to the 21.1% growth in science, technology, engineering and math fields from 2001 – 2012.

NNIN at Howard offers a strategic location in the southeast. Howard is easily accessible to several HBCU’s, government Laboratories and agencies. Shown below is a group of new users that have added to the total user base.

• Carnegie Institution of Washington- Geophysical Laboratory • Naval Research Laboratory • MITRE Corporation • NY Stony Brook-University • Rice University • Virginia University • Yale University • Harvard University • Center for Aesthetic Modernism • MIT

7.5.3 Staff The staff support by HNF during 2011 include the following:

Name Title % NNIN support

James Griffin Lab Manager 30% Tony Gomez Support Technician 100%

Figure 111: Howard User Base


Crawford Taylor Research Associate 100% Nefertiti Patrick-Boadley, PhD Admin/Research Associate 100% Tina Brower, Ph.D. Asst. director research and

education CEACS/Lecturer/Senior Research Associate

0 %

Maoqi HE, Ph.D. Senior Research Associate 0 % William Rose, PhD Senior Research Associate 100% Chichang, Zhang, Ph.D. Post-Doc 0 % Andy Hai Tang Associate Lab Manager 0 % Jude Abanulo, Ph.D. Post-Doc/Lecturer 0 %

7.5.4 Education HNF has an impressive portfolio of educational activities across K-Grey, both formal and informal. The NanoExpress presents the complex and fascinating world of nanotechnology to the general public from K-Grey. The campaign was designed to provide information on the current state of research and development potential in nanotechnology. It also aims to promote the dialogue between the world of science and the general public. The NanoExpress is a trailer with a lithography area, 208 square feet of lab space and undergraduate and graduate lab assistants who help supervise hands-on experiments. The NanoExpress touched over 8,480 visitors and experimenters this year. Experimental areas include: Introduction to Passive Nanoparticles, Introduction to Self Assembly, Introduction to Micro and Nanofabrication, “Chips are for Kids”, Instruments for NanoScience and Technology and Shape Memory Alloys.The university purchased a new truck for the NanoExpress and WHUR the provided a new look.

The NanoExpress was on the road for more that 55 days this year. The lectures and laboratory format has been very well received at elementary, junior and high schools, two year college and universities, adult groups, national conferences, museums, etc. The highlight of the 2012 Nanoexpress program was the US Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, DC. There were over 4000 visitors to the NanoExpress in the three day period and we had over 40 student assistants working wioth us. Below is a list of some of the places the NanoExpress attended in 2012

EVENT Location # of Participant

Black Engineer of the Year Washington, DC 500 Washington-Latin Washington, DC 125 Langley Education Campus Washington, DC 72 Northwest High School College Park, MD 65 National Society of BLK Eng.-National Pittsburgh, PA 1547 ASM/HNF -Teachers Camp Washington, DC 36 Roger Mountain Science Center Greenville, SD 125 Chamblee Middle School Atlanta, GA 327 Chamblee High School Atlanta, GA 375 NNIN Annual Meeting GA Tech Atlanta, GA 8 Nano Days Baltimore, MD 450 Physics is FUN Baltimore, MD 150 Archbishop Carroll High School Washington, DC 150 US Sci. Eng. Festival Washington, DC 4025 Cleveland Elementary School Washington, DC 121 Hardy Middle School Washington, DC 76


Howard University Washington, DC 45 Howard University Homecoming Washington, DC 85 STEM Northeast Region Pipeline DE Washington, DC 165 TOTAL 8480

It is so what difficult to measure the impact of the NanoExpress on young students grades 4-6. To help with this assessment, we use a letter or drawing that is address to HNF about the visit. The students are instructed to comment on the seminar, demonstrations and/or the actual lab experiments that are

performed live. The letters and/or drawings are assigned as homework by the teachers. We have included the responses of several students.

NanoTalk- (HUR Radio Channel 141 Sirius –XM) “Under the leadership of visionary General Manager Jim Watkins and the talented WHUR team, the Howard University Radio Network has become a trailblazer in radio,” said Howard University President Sidney A. Ribeau. “We are excited about the new frontiers and the opportunities that this venture holds for Howard University, our students, the community and the world.” H.U.R. Voices embodies the mission of Howard University—to serve “America and the Global Community”—by offering exciting, educational and entertaining original programming that examines issues that affect people of color, including a unique mixture of talk radio, local and national news, and great music. On December 1, 2011, Gary L Harris launched his new radio show called, “Nanotalk”. Nanotalk is the technical newstalk show that examines topics related to science, engineering and technology.

NanoTalk can be heard:

Figure 112: Nanoexpress letters


ON-AIR: Wednesday 9am-10am RE-AIR: Saturday 4pm-5pm / Monday 12pm-1pm

Host Gary Harris provides technical information that is timely and relevant to the everyday listener. Nano Talk introduces the HURVOICES listener to the world of technology that is not discussed on a daily basis. Dr. Harris Hosted the following shows related to Nanotechnology:

Guest Show

Dr. Carl Batt Editor, “Nanooze”

Dr. Gary Harris “What is Nanotechnology”

Dr. Gary Harris “Top Ten Future Materials”

Dr. Katherine McComas “Ethics of Nanotechnology”

Dr. John Trimble “Appropriate Technology”

Dr. Sandra McGuire “Teaching Student Chemistry”

7.5.5 New Equipment The NNIN mission is to “enable rapid advancements in science, engineering and technology at the nanoscale by efficient access to nanotechnology infrastructure”. This year we have added two new major growth systems for atomic layer materials such as graphene, boron nitride, etc. The first is a Bluewave Hot-Filament Chemical Vapor Deposition System (HFCVD). The HFCVD System is a premier solution to leading edge research and development in thin film applications. One of it's more popular processes being the high quality, polycrystalline

diamond film and graphene synthesis. The system is user friendly so llwith a minimun amount training a user could being growing quality thin film synthesis. An expert wanting to expand CVD integration with other deposition techniques for advanced research can also take advantage of such a system. FIgure 113 shows the entire system and the system is fullly operational.

The second major CVD system is a RF Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition System (RF-CVD). Both of these systems are ultra-high vaccum and have well controlled gases flow manifolds. The RF-CVD System uses a VECCO RF-600 Plasma Source can is deisgn to cracker methane and N2. This system is also 100 percent oil-free and was built

Figure 113: HF CVD system

Figure 114:: RF CVD system


at Howard. Shown in the figure is the RF-CVD reactor. We saved over 100,000 dollars by building this system at Howard.

7.5.6 Nanotechnology Seminar Series The Howard Nanoscale Science and Engineering Facility sponsors a monthly Nanotechnology Seminar Series. The seminar schedule are submitted to the ScienceNet local internet newsletter sent to the Washington area science and engineering community. The series is sometimes co-sponsored with other organizations on campus. The following is a list of seminars in 2012:

• “Hot Filanment Growth of Diamond on Silicon Carbide Subtrates”, Gary L. Harris, Howard nanscale Science and Engineering Facility

• "Cancer Nanotechnology - Opportunities and Challenges -View from the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer", Piotr Grodzinski, Ph.D.,Director, NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, National Cancer Institute

• "The Formation and Structure of Graphene" , Professor Mike Spencer, Cornell University

• "Magnetic Spin Hall and Klein Tunneling Effects during Thermal Harvesting, Oxidation and Electric Field Induction in Graphene", Reginald B. Little, PhD, CREST Center and Department of Chemical Engineering, Howard University

• “AFM Examination of STEM Cells”, Kim Michelle Lewis, PhD., Associate Professor of Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

• “Self-assembly of Molecular Multiwires“, Tina Brower-Thomas, Howard CREST Center

• “Mobility and Thermopower of Surface and Bulk like Charges in Bi and Sb Nanowires”, Joshua Halpern and Tito Huber, Howard University

• “Spray Pyrolysis growth of ZnO and doped ZnO thin films”, Gina Greenidge and Joshua B. Halpern, Howard University

• “Growth and Characterization of Silicon Carbide (SiC) Nanowires by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) for Electronic Device Applications”, Karina Moore, Howard University

7.5.7 Renovations of HNF The entire LK Downing Hall has under gone a face lift which includes painting, new bathrooms, new high tech lobby, new alarm system, etc. the total cost of these renovations in approximately three million dollars. New carpet, lab chairs, two new hoods, and furniture were added to HNF. Shown below is the outside of the building. The construction was completed in June of 2012.

Figure 115: LK Downing Hall


7.5.8 Research Highlights The main research thrusts for HNF are: Electronics and Materials - wide band gap devices and applications to nanotechnology. Characterization Science - the universally required tool for advancing research and technology across the physical, biological, materials and medical sciences and engineering disciplines. Nanofiltration membranes and technology - membrane processes such as reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF), ultrafiltration (UF) and microfiltration (MF), which have applications in the fields of biotechnology, food science, chemical engineering, medical applications like artificial kidneys and more recently, environmental and geosciences engineering

• Protein Nanospheres: Synergistic Nanoplatform-Based Probes for Multimodality Imaging, McDonald MA, Wang PC, Siegel EL. No single clinical imaging modality has the ability to provide both high resolution and high sensitivity at the anatomical, functional and molecular level. Synergistically integrated detection techniques overcome these barriers by combining the advantages of different imaging modalities while reducing their disadvantages. We report the development of protein nanospheres optimized for enhancing MRI, CT and US contrast while also providing high sensitivity optical detection. Transfering protein nanospheres (TfpNS), silicon coated, doped rare earth oxide and rhodamine B isothiocyanate nanoparticles, Si,Gd2O3:Eu,RBITC, (NP) and transfering protein nanospheres encapsulating Si,Gd2O3:Eu,RBITC nanoparticles (TfpNS-NP) were prepared in tissue-mimicking phantoms and imaged utilizing multiple cross-sectional imaging modalities. Preliminary results indicate a 1:1 NP to TfpNS ratio in TfpNS-NP and improved sensitivity of detection for MRI, CT, US and fluorescence imaging relative to its component parts and/or many commercially available contrast agents.

• Adsorption-Desorption of BSA Conjugated Silver Nanoparticles (Ag/BSA) on Collagen Immobilized Substrate, C. Bhan, R. Mandlewala, A. Gebregeorgis and D. Raghavan, There has been a growing interest in the use of protein conjugated nanoparticles for applications in biomedical, sensing, and advanced imaging. The objective of this study was to understand the interaction of protein conjugated silver nanoparticles (Ag/BSA NPs) with biological substrate (collagen layer). The adsorption behavior of synthesized Ag/BSA NPs on collagen immobilized silanized surface was followed by UV-vis spectroscopy by initially studying the formation of collagen layer and subsequent adsorption of Ag/BSA NPs to the immobilized layer. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) data provided the real time profile of adsorption of Ag/BSA NPs from solution onto collagen immobilized and control substrates as well as desorption of nanoparticles from the substrates. The retention of NPs to substrate is sensitive to chemistry of the underlying substrate and on the external environment. UV-vis and atomic absorption spectrometric analysis of Ag/BSA NPs desorption performed under different pH conditions showed more NPs retained at physiological pH than the acidic and basic conditions. Nanoparticles retention on collagen immobilized substrate at physiological pH could influence properties of biological interest such as circulation lifetime and biodistribution of nanoparticles in the body.

• Characterization of Ag/BSA Nanoparticles Structure : Morphological, Compositional, and Interaction Studies, A. Gebregeorgis, C. Bhan, O. Wilson, and D. Raghavan The primary objective of this study was to elucidate the structure of protein conjugated silver nanoparticles prepared by chemical reduction of AgNO3 and bovine serum albumin (BSA) mixture. The role of BSA in the formation of Ag/BSA nanoparticles was established by UV–Vis Spectroscopy. The association of silver with BSA in Ag/BSA nanoparticles was studied by the decrease in the intensity of absorbance peak at 278 nm in UV–Vis spectra and shift in cathodic peak potential in cyclic voltammogram. The molar ratio of silver to BSA in the Ag/BSA nanoparticles is 27:1, as ascertained by thermogravimetric analysis and atomic absorption spectrometry. Based on atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements, the average particle size of nanoparticles was found to be range of 11–15 nm. TEM image showed that the nanoparticle has two distinct phases and selected area electron diffraction pattern of nanoparticles indicated that the silver phase in Ag/BSA is fcc. X-ray photo electron spectroscopy measurements of freshly prepared and argon sputtered nanoparticles


provided evidence that the outer and inner region of nanoparticles are mainly composed of BSA and silver respectively. The structural and compositional findings of nanoparticles could have a strong bearing on the bioavailability and antimicrobial activity of nanoparticles.

• New Physics of Gases Adsorbed on or Near Fullerenes, Silvina Gatica and Milton Cole, Gas absorption on the surface of ghaphite has exhibtied th deverse physical properties of two-dimensioanl matter. This work describe recent developments involving phase transisitions for the generalized version of this problem. Included are Buckyballs and nanotubes in which gas intercalates between graphene and a solid body, like silica.

• Thermoelectric prospects of nanomaterials with spin-orbit surface bands, T.E.Huber, K. Owusu, S. Johnson, A. Nikolaeva, L. Konopko, M.J. Graf and R.C. Johnson.Nanostructured composites and nanowire arrays of traditional thermoelectrics, like Bi, Bi1-xSbx, and Bi2Te3, have metallic Rashba surface spin-orbit bands featuring high mobilities rivaling that of the bulk for which topological insulator behavior has been proposed. Nearly pure surface electronic transport has been observed at low temperatures in Bi nanowires, with diameter around the critical diameter, 50 nm, for the semimetal-to-semiconductor transition. The surface contributes strongly to the thermopower, actually dominating for temperatures T < 100 K in these nanowires. The surface thermopower was found to be –1 T μV/K2, a value that is consistent with theory. We show that surface electronic transport together with boundary phonon scattering leads to enhanced thermoelectric performance at low temperatures of Bi nanowire arrays. We compare with bulk n-BiSb alloys, optimized CsBi4Te6, and optimized Bi2Te3. Surface dominated electronic transport can be expected in nanomaterials of the other traditional thermoelectrics.

• “Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) of ZnO from beta-ketoiminates”, J. Holmes, K. Johnson, B. Zhang, H.E. Katz, and J.S. Matthews, ZnO is a high-mobility electron conductor being considered for high-throughput electronics in flexible and transparent formats. We demonstrated the Zn β-ketoiminate system, based on acetylacetimine with N-propyl, isopropyl, and butyl groups, as a vehicle for preparing ZnO thin films for electronic applications. Surface carbon was a primary impurity, and the precursors studied afforded films with the lowest surface carbon contamination at deposition temperatures near 400°C. Thermal annealing of the films reduced the surface carbon content and afforded semiconducting materials. Annealing also gave larger-grained, better connected films. Thinner films were associated with semiconducting as opposed to ohmic behavior; such films will be adaptable for transparent logic circuits

• “Single-crystal Wires Based on Doped Bi for Anisotropic Thermoelectric Microgenerators”, Albina Alexandr Nikolaeva, Leonid A. Konopko, Tito E.Huber, Ana K. Tsurkan In this work, we have studied the possibility to use a microwire of BiSn to design an anisotropic thermoelectric generator. The glass-coated microwire of pure and Sn-doped bismuth was obtained by the Ulitovsky method; it was a cylindrical single-crystal with orientation (1011) along the wire axis; the C3 axis was deflected at an angle of 70° to the microwire axis. It is found that doping of bismuth wires with tin increases the thermopower anisotropy in comparison with Bi by a factor of 2 – 3 in the temperature range of 200 – 300 K. According to the preliminary results, for a Bi microwire with a diameter of 10 μm with a glass coating of 35 μm, the transverse thermopower is ∼ 150 μV/(K*cm); for BiSn, 300 μV/(K*cm).The design of an anisotropic thermogenerator based on BiSn microwire is proposed. The miniature thermogenerator will be efficient for power supply of devices with low useful current. In addition to the considerable thermopower anisotropy of BiSn wires in a glass coating, they exhibit stable thermoelectric properties, high mechanical strength and flexibility, which allows designing thermoelectric devices of various configurations on their basis.

• “Heteroepitaxial Growth of High Quality Diamond Films on Silicon Carbide, R. M. Westervelt, H. Trodahl, GL.Harris, J.Griffin, C.Taylor, Diamond films have a number of understanding mechanical, electrical and photonic properties. If these properties are to be realized a stable and controlled method of providing epitaxial films of diamond is required. In this paper, we report on the growth of diamond films grown on various polytypes of silicon carbide.


The growth is carrier out in a microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition system. The effects of growth parameters on the grown film morphologies have been investigated. The substrate types include 6H, 4H and 3C, with doping ranging from semi-insulating to p and n type. The films have been fully characterized. Hall measurements, optical and electrical devices have been performed. The Raman spectrum and near band edge CL measurements have also been performed. The growth was carried out with methane and hydrogen as the carrier gas under pressures varying from 30-80 torr.

• “Semimetal-Semiconductor Transitions in Semimetal Bismuth-antimony Nanowires

Induced by Size Quantization, Strain, and Magnetic Field”, Albina A. Nikolaeva, Leonid A. Konopko, Tito E. Huber, Pavel P. Bodiul, Ivan A. Popov and Evghenii F. Moloshnik, In this work, we study glass-coated single-crystal Bi98Sb02 wires obtained by liquid phase casting.Semimetal Bi98Sb02 nanowires exhibited a "semiconductor" behavior of the temperature dependence R(T) for wire diameters <400 nm, which is significantly higher than the critical diameter (70 nm) for similar dependences R(T) of pure bismuth nanowires. The thermopower sign reversal in the temperature dependence α(T) was found to depend on the wire diameter d. The effect is interpreted in terms of manifestation of the quantum size effect, based on the appearance a new scattering channel stimulated by fluctuations in the diameter d.The effect of negative magnetoresistance in a perpendicular magnetic field was observed for the first time both at H | | C3 and H | | C2 in magnetic fields of 1 T.It is shown that a semimetal-semiconductor transition can be controlled using an elastic strain and a strong magnetic field, which lead to a significant shift of the band boundaries of the energy extrema in the bands.

• “Growth of CuInGaSe2 Thin Film Solar Cells”, G.L.Harris, Copper indium diselenide (CuInSe2)

and copper indium gallium diselenide (CuInGaSe2) thin film solar cells deposited by spray pyrolysis is a low cost way to provide solar energy. Although they are relatively cheap to fabricate, they suffer from low efficiencies because of their small grain sizes. In this work we investigated the conditions of growth rate and temperature in order to obtain stoichiometric layers of these materials. We also investigated the conditions necessary to grow cadmium sulfide (CdS) by chemical bath to be use as the n-type contact for the solar cell. CuInSe2 films were grown on a soda lime glass substrate coated with 150nm of molybdenum at 250-300ºC for 30-60 minutes. Electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) data for CuInSe2 indicated the presence of all three elements. CdS films were grown in a bath of cadmium chloride and sulfur chloride at 70ºC. EDS on CdS indicates the presence of both elements in equal abundance.

• “Magnetic Quantum Oscillations from Surface States of Bi Nanowires”, Leonid A.

Konopko, Tito E. Huber and Albina A. Nikolaeva In this work, we report the results of studies of the transverse magnetoresistance (MR) of single-crystal Bi nanowires with diameter d<80 nm. The single-crystal nanowire samples were prepared by the Taylor-Ulitovsky technique. Due to the semimetal-to-semiconductor transformation and high density of surface states with strong spin-orbit interactions, the charge carriers are confined to the conducting tube made of surface states. The non monotonic changes of transverse MR that are equidistant in a direct magnetic field were observed at low temperatures in a wide range of magnetic fields up to 14 T. The period of oscillations depends on the wire diameter d as for the case of longitudinal MR. An interpretation of transverse MR oscillations is presented.


7.5.9 Howard University Selected Site Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Figure 116: Selected Howard University Statistics

Local Site Academic

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7.6 Penn State University Site Report 7.6.1 Site Description and Technical Capabilities The Penn State NNIN site provides users with access to facilities that enable fabrication of a wide range of electrical, optical, and microelectromechanical devices to support fundamental and applied research in diverse fields spanning electronics to medicine. The primary focus of the Penn State Nanofabrication Laboratory within the NNIN is to provide specialized instruments and technical support in the areas of chemical and molecular-scale nanotechnology and complex ferroelectric oxide device micro- and nanofabrication. To support chemical and molecular-scale nanotechnology, we provide self assembled monolayer-based chemical patterning methods and deterministic nanomaterials assembly techniques from Penn State Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. The strong coupling between traditional top-down nanofabrication and bottom-up molecular self assembly provides a unique capability within the NNIN that can be used in applications where it may be necessary to flexibly derivatize surfaces with specific chemical and biological functionality. In addition, our site continues to build on Penn State’s strength in complex ferroelectric oxide material thin film deposition and device processing. We have established a comprehensive and integrated set of instruments to support the more stringent fabrication requirements associated with these material systems, which include Pb-based oxides. We work closely with Penn State faculty in the Smart Materials Integration Laboratory to develop and document robust baseline processes for complex oxide microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices. The Penn State site has also invested in developing several deposition and processing capabilties that are new to the network, including infrared chalcogenide glasses, nanolithography on curved surfaces, and large area graphene. The specialized technical capabilities offered by the Penn State site were advertised at workshops, technical meetings, and on the NNIN web site.

7.6.2 External and Internal Research Highlights Low-Cost Pyroelectric Detector Arrays: C. H. Wu, S.S.N. Bharadwaja, H. Beratan, Bridge Semiconductor, Pittsburgh, PA

The Penn State NNIN site is being used to deposit, pattern, and etch doped Pb(Zr0.30Ti0.70)O3 (PZT) pyroelectric films for uncooled thermal imaging systems. The high-quality doped PZT films provided by the Penn State Site provide improved pyroelectric sensitivity. This has enabled scaling of PZT-based pyroelectric detectors to 25 µm x 25 µm pixels for higher resolution thermal imaging arrays (Fig. 117). With these advances, image quality is expected to surpass that of other uncooled thermal imagers, including resistive bolometers. Bridge Semiconductor is currently transfering this process to their new production fabrication facility in Pittsburgh, PA.

Flexible Transdermal Sensor: J. Marcanio, Flexible Medical Systems LLC, Rockville, MD

FlexMed has developed a robust fabrication process for a new flexible transdermal sensor technology at the Penn State NNIN Site. The prototype device extracts interstitial fluid for

Figure 117: Left: Pyroelectric response of a scaled PZT detector pixel. Right: FESEM image of fabricated detector array.

30 µm

Figure 118: Left: Photograph of transdermal sensor array on a flexible polyimide substrate. Right: FESEM image of a Ag/AgCl reference electrode for electrochemical measurements within the microfluidic structure.


analysis without penetrating the skin (Fig. 118), which eliminates the pain, needles, and blood associated with typical assays. Continuity of the phospholipid bilayer is disrupted by a thin film metal transducer on the micro-device, resulting in permeabilization of the skin membrane. A carefully designed and fabricated microfluidic system transports the fluid to a micro-electrochemical cell for in situ analyte measurement.

Zero-Index Optical Metamaterials: S. Yun, Z.-H. Jiang, Q. Xu, Z. Liu, D. H. Werner and T. S. Mayer, Department of Electrical Engineering, Penn State University, University Park, PA

The novel properties of metamaterials may enable new technologies such as electromagnetic cloaks, flat near- and far-field focusing lenses and trans-formation optics (TO) devices. Nature-inspired design techniques and advanced nanofabrication methods developed at the Penn State NNIN site were used to minimize loss in this free-standing metallodielectric fishnet nanostructure (Fig. 119). The fabricated optical metamaterial structure has both a zero refractive index and high transmission in the near-IR at 1.5 mm. Reference: Yun, et al., ACS Nano, Vol. 6, No. 5, pp. 4475 (2012).

Giant Piezoelectricity for Hyperactive MEMS: C. Ohm, R. Blick, D. Felker, U. Wisconsin, M. Rzchowski, NIST, S. Trolier-McKinstry, Penn State, X. Q. Pan, U. Michigan, S. K Streiffer, Argonne, R. Ramesh, Berkeley, D. Schlom, Cornell

MEMS incorporating active piezoelectric layers offer integrated actuation, sensing, and transduction. The use of such active MEMS has long been constrained by the inability to integrate materials with giant piezoelectric response, such as Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT). High-quality PMN-PT epitaxial thin films were deposited at the Penn State NNIN site on vicinal (001) Si wafers with the use of an epitaxial (001) SrTiO3 template layer (Fig. 120). Microcantilevers fabricated from epitaxial piezoelectric heterostructures were actuated with extremely low drive voltage due to thin-film piezoelectric properties that rival bulk PMN-PT single crystals. These epitaxial heterostructures exhibit very large electro-mechanical coupling for ultrasound medical imaging, microfluidic control, mechanical sensing, and energy harvesting. Reference: S. H. Baek, et al., Science, 334, 6058, pp. 958 (2011).

Piezoelectric Parametric Amplifiers, Thomas Alava, Fabrice Mathieu, and Liviu Nicu, LAAS-CNRS, Toulouse, FR

A novel resonator design that combines direct and parametric excitation enables linear operation for high amplitude excitation. PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 piezoelectric films were used to actuate and sense microbridge resonators fabricated at the Penn State NNIN Site. Combining these two excitation schemes enables high amplitude excitations at resonance while staying in the linear regime. The fabricated

Figure 120 Left: TEM images of PMN-PT film on epitaxial SrTiO3 template layer. Right: Comparison of piezoelectric coefficients and energy harvesting figure of merit for piezoelectric thin films.

Figure 119: Left: Schematic and FESEM images of nanofabricated freestanding fishnet nanostructure. Right: Effective refractive index determined from measured optical properties (solid) compared to simulation (shaded).

Figure 121 :Left: FESEM of fabricated PZT-based microbridge resonator. Right: Illustration of direct and parametric excitation schemes


resonators exhibit Q amplification of as much as a factor of 18 in air.

7.6.3 Facilities, Acquisitions, and Operations Facilities: Penn State took possession of the 275,600 gross sq. ft. Millennium Science Complex (MSC) in October 2011. This building has brought together the core user instrument laboratories and the faculty/center research laboratories that support our NNIN focus areas, which will allow the Penn State site to better serve the network in the future. The move and installation phase for the Nanofabrication Laboratory Cleanroom was completed in July 2012. The Laboratory comprises a 10,000 sq. ft. class 100/1000 cleanroom with an additional 6500 sq. ft. of non-clean support space beneath the cleanroom. The cleanroom was designed with areas of Class E vibration and less than 0.1 millgauass EMI to accommodate the Vistec 5200 electron-beam lithography system. Ultraclean water (ASTM E1.1) and clean CDA (-80 F dewpoint) are provided throughout the laboratory. One bay in the cleanroom is maintained at low humidity and single path air flow to accommodate piezoelectric materials deposition. System exhausts are routed, based on chemistry, to three waste treatment systems. A Honeywell system monitiors process gas flow throughout the facility.

The MSC building also houses the Penn State Materials Characterization Laboratory. This laboratory provides user access to nanocharacterization instruments, including a state-of-the-art Titan TEM, FESEM, XPS, XRD, and other analytical and spectroscopy tools. Individual investigator and center focused labs make up the rest of the MSC. These labs provide further capabilities for materials fabrication, integration, and characterization.

Acquisitions: Several new instruments have been added to the Penn State NNIN site over the last year, and funding has been secured for instruments that will be installed in 2013. The new instruments bring significant improvements in patterning, thin film deposition, metrology and wet chemical cleaning, and etching. The tools and capabilities are described below:

• Thermco 2604 Atmospheric Oxidation and LPCVD System: This three stack unit, which was purchased with NNIN ARRA funds, is providing both wet and dry thermal oxide as well as silicon nitride and polysilicon capabilities. The system is capable of depositing films on up to 50, 150 mm diameter wafers in parallel. It is equiped with an automated loading station to minimize particle generation and improve the cleanliness of the process. This unit is recipe controlled and is fully automated by aTMX control system module with PC-Mux.

• Wave 4W-LANS Custom Multiple Target Ion Beam Deposition System: This programmable, load locked, multi-target, ion beam assisted deposition system was purchased with NNIN ARRA funds, and is equipped with an ultra low energy high intensity ion source, water cooled rotational stage for up to 100mm substrates, ports for in situ ellipsometry, and a residual gas analysis system. New film deposition processes have been developed over the last year, including magenetic materials (Iron, Nickel, Cobalt and Terfenol-D) and oxide materials (SiO2, VOx and TiO2). Ongoing work is exploring

Figure 122: :Photographs of the Millennium Science Complex Building (left), sub-fab support space (middle), and deposition bay in the cleanroom (right).


deposition of multicomponent chalcogenide materials.

• Vistec 5200ES Electron Beam Lithography System: This advanced nanolithography instrument was purchased with support from an NSF MRI award. It is enabling direct patterning of features on substrates having a variety of sizes and thicknesses, with demonstrated sub-10 nm pattern resolution and sub-15 nm stitching and overlay accuracy. It is equipped with a z-lift stage that allows software-controlled dynamic stage height adjustments for patterning on substrates with extreme topography and curvature, which provides a unique capability in the NNIN. The Vistec system was factor accepted in February 2012, installed in March 2012, and accepted in May 2012. Following final acceptance, over 40 research users have been trained to operate the instrument independently. An encrypted secure shell and a VNC application were implemented to allow users to fully control the computer from a remote location. Researchers in the Penn State NSF MRSEC are currently collaborating with Vistec and other vendors to develop the curved surface height mapping needed to pattern nanoscale features on curved substrates.

• SI Prism 3D Mist Deposition System: This 3D atomization mist deposition coating system was purchased and installed to support the curved surface patterning capability. The system can be configured to deposit a variety of resists and other solution-based precursors on curved surfaces or substrates with extreme topography.

• Yield Engineering Systems (YES) Oven: A vapor deposition oven with in situ plasma clean was installed to support a range of chemical surface modification processes.

• GCA 8500 i-line Stepper: Several lithography tools acquired from Motorola Labs were installed in the MSC Cleanroom, including a GCA 8500 i-Line optical stepper. It is equipped with a Tropel 2145 lens that can print down to an isolated 400 nm line with 150 nm automatic alignment accuracy. It has the capability of doing backside alignment on 100 mm wafers. The system also has automatic system calibriation for focus, overlay, and dose.

• Resist Processing Stations: Three SVG and one Brewer Science 4500 track systems were installed for automatic coat/bake and bake/develop of 75 mm to 200 mm substrates. A Fusion UV Systems processing station was installed to support UV and thermal curing of coatings.

• CMS-18 Kurt J. Lesker sputtering system: A fourth sputtering tool was added to the deposition tool set. This is an automated, load locked system able to accommodate up to 150 mm substrates. The system is equipped with one DC source and two RF sources, and the substrate stage has 650°C heating, rotation, and RF bias to 100 watts.

• Humidity Controlled Sol-gel Bay: An isolated bay dedicated to processing sol-gel piezoelectric materials was integrated within the MSC cleanroom. The humidity is controlled to not exceed 28% Rh. PZT materials as well as other piezoelectric materials can be spun on and thermally processed in this space. The space features two spin hoods, three thermal stages, and two rapid thermal processing systems, which can accomodate up to 200 mm substrates.

• Kurt J. Lesker ALD-150LX Atomic Layer Deposition system: DURIP funds are being used to purchase a fully automated, single wafer ALD system configured for use with substrates up to 150 mm in diameter. Key features of this load locked tool include remote plasma capability, fast cycle times, analytical ports for in situ real-time analysis, and a high vacuum sample preparation chamber. The plasma capability will expand the materials base available at Penn State Site to include metals and nitrides. This system will be installed July 2013.

• Kurt J. Lesker ALD-150L system: This recipe driven, computer controlled stand alone thermal ALD system will accommodate substrates up to 150mm in diameter. Traditional high-κ films such as HfO2,


TaO2, and Al2O3 will be deposited in this system. This system will be installed July 2013.

• Kurt J. Lesker PVD 75: State funding is being used to purchase a multi-source thermal evaporation system to deposit Chalcogenide materials. This load locked system with four independently controlled thermal sources is capable of accommodating wafers up to 150mm. The substrate stage has rotation, water cooling, and biasing capabilities. This system will be installed in July 2013.

Operations: Oversight of the Penn State NNIN site is provided by the Materials Research Institute, which was established in 1996 to support interdisciplinary materials and device research and outreach to industry. The unit reports directly to the Vice President for Research and brings shared resources including information technology, outreach, and web design personnel as well as professionals who have experience coordinating workshops and industrial outreach events.

7.6.4 Education, Outreach and SEI Education: The Penn State Nanofabrication Laboratory undertook activities to (1) introduce K-12 students to nanotechnology, nanofabrication, career opportunities, and educational pathways; (2) provide training to teachers about the discipline of experimental sciences and enhance their enthusiasm for having students pursue careers in science; and (3) provide hands-on nanotechnology summer research with state-of-the-art equipment for undergraduate students.

K-12: The Penn State NNIN participated in Penn State Exploration Day 2012, which showcases science activities to students in grades K-12. This event featured interactive activities, multimedia presentations, student developed displays and activities, and planetarium shows. Over 2,000 people attended the event. The NNIN also sponsored booths at Kid’s Day Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts 2012. The NNIN staff and REU students trained Upward Bound High School students to oversee the booths on 6 nano technology and material science themes. Over 1000 kids participated with over 8000 attendees. In addition to these PA-based education activities, 2 Penn State NNIN staff members and 3 Penn State graduate students participated in the NNIN Nanotechnology Showcase at the USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo in Washington DC in May 2012.

Undergraduate: Penn State hosted 5 undergraduate students for the summer NNIN REU program. In addition to training students to operate the equipment necessary to complete their summer projects, the students participated in weekly professional development training, weekly seminars, a Penn State symposium with several REU programs, and the NNIN convocation. The REU program supported 1 woman and 2 underrepresented minority students.

Workforce Development: The Pennsylvania Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology program offered an 18 credit capstone semester to associate and baccalaureate students from across PA. The defining feature of the partnership is the sharing of the nanofabrication facilities, staff, and faculty at Penn State with educational partners across the Commonwealth. As part of the NSF National Center’s Work, the MNT Conference was held with participation of the Nanofabrication Laboratory Staff in the educator workshops, which are targeted at community college instructors across the country where “Teaching Cleanroom” was taught. Five on-site workshops were taught, with 96 educators attending.

Outreach: The Penn State NNIN site continues outreach activities to inform potential users in academia, national laboratories, and industry of our general technical capabilities and specific focus areas. Our user outreach activities for 2012 are summarized below:

• Tradeshow/Conference displays: Materials Day was held at the Penn State campus with over 230 in attendence There were 108 posters, 8 tutorials, and lab tours .

• Facility Tours: The Penn State NNIN provided numerous tours of the Nanofabrication and Materials Characterization Laboratories in the MSC building. These tours were open to the public twice a week


for eight months when the facility opened in 2012. Other Education and community tours were given to Centre County Visitor Center, Alumni, College Advisory Boards, Lion Ambassadors, On campus conferences, Upward Bound, Office of Development, State College Area School District, and Department tours. There were over 140 tours given in 2012. Organized tours were also provided during the IEEE Device Research Conference and Electronic Materials Conference. Over 150 conference attendees participated in these tours.

• Industrial Visits: The Penn State NNIN site was described at nanotechnology-focused industrial and government visits: GE, Volvo, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., Delaware Valley Industrial Research Corp., Northrup Grumman, Raytheon, Intel, Global Foundaries, Philips North America, Corning, and Government Officials. These visits were attended by scientists, engineers, and executives.

SEI: The Penn State NNIN site developed and integrated new SEI material into the User Orientation sessions. The material includes a slide show and a reader entitled “Overview of the Etchical Dimensions of Scientific Research,” authored by Dr. Erich Schienke, Assistant Professor of Science, Technology and Society at Penn State. The material is formatted for iPads and other tablet devices for easy viewing. In collaboration with Dr. Richard Doyle, a Professor of Rhetoric and Science Studies in the English Department, the Penn State NNIN continued its efforts to assemble all SEI interested groups at Penn State into a central organization. The intent of this effort is to promote scholarship in the area of SEI, and to bolster research programs and proposals in nanotechnology related SEI research.

------End of Penn State Text Report-----


7.6.5 Penn State Selected Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Figure 123: Selected Penn State Site Statistics

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7.7 Stanford University Site Report 7.7.1 Facility Overview 2012 saw major investments in the SNF’s infrastructure and tool set. With funding from the NSF’s ARI-R2 program and internal Stanford funds, the SNF underwent a major infrastructure renovation which required the lab to be closed for nearly 8 weeks from mid-December 2011 through February 2012. During the renovation, the toxic-gas monitoring system was replaced throughout the SNF, the process chilled water system was upgraded, humidity control was enhanced in the lithography rooms, and several new gas lines and valve manifold boxes were installed to improve the facility’s support for future tool installations. The replacement of all the HEPA filters in the facility has significantly reduced the power used by the air-handling system after re-balancing the pressure in the facility. The construction of the nano-Structure Integration Laboratory (nSiL) across the hall from SNF, which was funded by the NSF ARI-R2 grant, was completed in March 2012.

Due to an outstanding job at planning the complicated schedules with contractors and the many inspections by Stanford and Santa Clara County agencies, the renovation was completed on time and on budget and the impact on the SNF’s labmembers research projects was minimized.

In addition to the renovation, the past year saw the installation of several new process tools as well as the full utilization of tools brought up in 2011. Four new plasma etchers, acquired through internal Stanford funds, arrived just before the renovation and were installed and permitted by fall 2012. These etchers fill critical needs among the SNF’s internal and external user communities. Several tools are in the process of being installed and permitted which will be described later in the report; several of the tools installed in 2011 are now fully integrated into the processes of the user community and are being heavily used.

The SNF’s usage has bounced back from the renovation and re-start in spring 2012; discounting the the average number of users per month (214) is now at the average level in 2011. The percentage of non-Stanford users (industrial and outside academic researchers) increased slightly from 26% in 2011 to 29% in 2012. SNF’s education and outreach team contributed to the development of curriculum materials for high school teachers, participated in community outreach activities, and hosted the NNIN REU program. In addition, the team participated in the release of a Silicon Run Production, NSF-funded educational film on nanotechnology. The SEI component of NNIN was supported by Prof. McGinn, who has recently submitted an article for publication analyzing the results of the ethics survey administered to all new SNF labmembers. The Stanford NNIN Computing Facility, consisting of a 64 node, 512 CPU Linux computer cluster, was upgraded to include 16 GB of memory on each node and additional hard disk has been installed to accommodate more users. The usage of the cluster increased last year and contributed to 29 research publications (an increase of 263% from 2011) in various areas including the interface between nano-engineering and biology. The computational user composition for 2012 was 37% external and 63% internal users.

7.7.2 Research Highlights Some sample publications of lab members from outside academic or industrial institutions in 2012:

Figure 124nano-Structure Integration Laboratory (nSil), Paul G. Allen Building, Room 155


1) Cinzia Da Via, Maurizio Boscardil, GianFranco Dalla Betta, Giovanni Darbo, Celeste Fleta, Claudia Gemme, Gabriele Giacomini, Philippe Grenier, Sebastian Grinstein, Thor-Erik Hansen, Jasmine Hasi, Christopher Kenney, Angela Kok, Alessandro La Rosa, Andrea Micelli, Sherwood Parker, Giulio Pellegrini, David-Leon Pohl, Marco Povoli, Elisa Vianello, Nicola Zoizi, and S.J. Watts, “3D active edge silicon sensors: Device processing, Yield and QA for the ATLAS-IBL production,” SciVerse ScienceDirect, May 31, 2012. [The University of Manchester, UK]

2) Dulan B. Gunasekara, Matthew K. Hulvey, Susan M. Lunte and Jose Alberto Fracassi da Silva, “Microchip electrophoresis with amperometric detection for the study of the generation of nitric oxide by NONOate salts,” Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Vol. 403 , No. 8, pp. 2377-2384, June 2012. [University of Kansas]

3) Grace M. Credo, Xing Su, Kai Wu, Oauz H. Eilbol, David J. Liu, Bobby Reddy, Ta-Wei Tsai, Brian R. Dorvel, Jonathan S. Daniels, Rashid Bashir and Madoo Varma, “Label-free electrical detection of pyrophosphate generated from DNA polymerase reactions on field-effect devices,” Analyst, Issue 6, pp. 1351-1362, January 2012. [Intel]

4) Hao Lin, Yanwei Wen, Chenxi Zhang, Yunhui Huang, Bin Shan and Rong Chen, “A GGA+U study of lithium diffusion in vanadium doped LiFePO,” Solid State Communications, Vol. 152, Issue 12, pp. 999-1003, June 2012. [State Key Laboratory of Material Processing and Die and Mold Technology, China]

5) B. A. Griffin, V. Chandrasekaran and M. Sheplak, “Thermoelastic Ultrasonic Actuator With Piezoresistive Sensing and Integrated Through-Silicon Vias,” IEEE Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, Vol. 21, Issue 2, pp. 250-358, April 2012 [University of Florida]

6) W. Berry, M. Jarrahi, “Broadband Terahertz Polarizing Beam Splitter on a Polymer Substrate,”Journal of Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Waves, 33, pp. 127-130, 2012. [University of Michigan]

7) J. Moore, M. Tomes, T. Carmon, M. Jarrahi, “Continuous-Wave Ultraviolet Emission through Fourth-Harmonic Generation in a Whispering-Gallery Resonator,” Optics Express, 19, pp. 24139-24146, 2011 (This article appeared in the Virtual Journal of Biomedical Optics, 7, 2012. [University of Michigan]

8) P.M. Zimmerman, D.C. Tranca, J. Gomes, D.S. Lambrecht, M. Head-Gordon, and A.T. Bell. “Ab Initio Simulations Reveal that Reaction Dynamics Strongly Affect Product Selectivity for the Cracking of Alkanes over H-MFI”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 134 (47), pp 19468–19476, (2012). [UC Berkeley].

9) K. Kamiya, M. Yang, S. Park, B. Magyari-Kope, Y. Nishi, M. Niwa, and K. Shiraishi, "ON-OFF switching mechanism of resistive random access memories based on the formation and disruption of oxygen vacancy conducting channels", IEDM, Techn. Digest, (2012). [University of Tsukuba, Japan]

10) J .L. Lauer, G.S.Upadhyaya, H. Sinha, J.B. Kruger, Y. Nishii and J.L. Shohet,”Plasma and vacuum ultraviolet induced charging of SiO2 and HfO2 patterned structures,” Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, Vol. 30, Issue 1, p. 01A109, January 2012. [University of Wisconsin-Madison]

11) D. M. Pierce, B. Zeyen, B. M. Huigens, and A. M. Fitzgerald, “Predicting the Failure Probability of Device Features in MEMS, “ IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability, Vol. 11, Issue 3, pp. 433-441, September 2011. [A.M. Fitzgerald & Assoc., LLC, Burlingame, California]

Sample publications from local labmembers in nano and non-traditional areas:


1) A.F. Sarioglu, S. Magonov and O. Solgaard, “Tapping-mode force spectroscopy using cantilevers with interferometric high-bandwidth force sensors”, Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 100, 053109 (2012); doi:10.1063/1.3679683 (4 pages), 31 January 2012.

2) A.Fu, R. J. Wilson, B. R. Smith, J. Mullenix, C. Earhart, D. Akin, S. Guccione, S. X. Wang and S. S. Gambhir, “Fluorescent Magnetic Nanoparticles for Magnetically Enhanced Cancer Imaging and Targeting in Living Subjects,” ACS Nano, in press, 2012.

3) A. J. Haemmerli, R.T. Nielsen, W. Kundhikanjana, N. Harjee, D. Goldhaber-Gordon, Z.X. Shen, and B.L. Pruitt, “Low-impedance shielded tip piezoresistive probe enables portable microwave impedance microscopy,” IEEE IET Micro & Nano Letters, Vol. 7, Issue 4, pp. 321-324, April 2012.

4) Arka Majumdar, Armand Rundquist, Michal Bajcsy, and Jelena Vuckovic, “Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics with a Single Quantum Dot Coupled to a Photonic Molecule,” Physical Review B, Vol, 86, p. 045315, 2012

5) B.R. Smith, P. Kempen, D. Bouley, A. Xu, Z. Liu, N. Melosh, H. Dai, R. Sinclair and. S. Gambhir. "Shape Matters: Intravital Microscopy Reveals Surprising Geometrical Dependence for Nanoparticles in Tumor Models of Extravasation," Nano Letters Vol. 12, pp. 3369-3377, 2012.

6) Beena Kalisky, Julie A. Bert, Brannon B. Klopfer, Christopher Bell, Hiroki K. Sato, Masayuki Hosoda, Yasuyuki Hikita, Harold Y. Hwang and Kathryn A. Moler, “Critical thickness for ferromagnetism in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures,” Nature Communications, Vol. 3, Article number: 922, June 26, 2012.

7) Chong Xie, Ziliang Lin, Lindsey Hanson, Yi Cui and Bianxiao Cui, “Intracellular recording of action potentials by nanopillar electroporation,” Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 7, pp. 185–190, 2012.

8) D.N. Stephens, U. T. Truong, A. Nikoozadeh, O. Oralkan, C. H. Seo, J. Cannata, A. Dentinger, K. Thomenius, A. de la Rama, T. Nguyen, F. Lin, P. Khuri-Yakub, A. Mahajan, K. Shivkumar, M. O'Donnell, and D. J. Sahn, "First In Vivo Use of a Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducer Array-Based Imaging and Ablation Catheter," J. Ultrasound Med., Vol. 31, pp. 247-256, Feb. 2012.

9) S. Park, H.W. Lee, H. Wang, S. Selvarasah, M.R. Dokmeci, Y.J. Park, S.N. Cha, J.M. Kim and Z. Bao, “Highly Effective Separation of Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes verified via Short-Channel Devices Fabricated Using Dip-Pen Nanolithography,”, ACS Nano. Vol. 6, pp. 2487-2496, 2012.

10) S. Puri, N. Y. Kim and Y. Yamamoto "Two-qubit geometric phase gate for quantum dot spins using cavity polariton resonance," Phys, Rev. B, Vol. 85, p. 241403(R) (June 2012).

11) S. R. Dupont, M. Oliver, F. C. Krebs and R. H. Dauskardt, “Interlayer Adhesion in Roll-To-Roll Processed Flexible Inverted Polymer Solar Cells,” Sol. Energ. Mat. Sol. C., Vol. 97, pp. 171-175, 2012.

12) K.X. Wang, Z. Yu, V. Liu, Y. Cui, and S. Fan, "Absorption enhancement in ultra-thin crystalline silicon solar cells with anti-reflection and light trapping nanogratings", Nano Letters, 12, 1616 (2012).

13) S. Gupta, B. Vincent, B. Yang, D. Lin, F. Gencarelli, J.-Y. J. Lin, R. Chen, O. Richard, H. Bender, B. Magyari-Köpe, M. Caymax, J. Dekoster, Y. Nishi and K. C. Saraswat, "Towards High Mobility GeSn Channel nMOSFETs: Improved Surface Passivation Using Novel Ozone Oxidation Method", IEDM, Techn. Digest ( 2012), Tech. Digest, VLSI, (2012).

14) B.Magyari-Kope, S.G. Park, H.-D. Lee and Y. Nishi, "First principle calculations of oxygen

http://www.stanford.edu/group/nqp/jv_files/papers/arka-PCmol_CQED.pdf

http://www.stanford.edu/group/nqp/jv_files/papers/arka-PCmol_CQED.pdf

http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v7/n3/abs/nnano.2012.8.html?lang=en?WT.ec_id=NNANO-201203

http://www-kyg.stanford.edu/khuriyakub/opencms/Downloads/12_Stephens_01.pdf

http://www-kyg.stanford.edu/khuriyakub/opencms/Downloads/12_Stephens_01.pdf


vacancy ordering effects in resistance change memory materials incorporating binary transition metal oxides", J. Mat. Sci., 47, 7498 (2012).

15) Gupta, R.M. Walker, R. Gharpuray, M.M. Shulaker, Z. Zhang, M. Javanmard, R.W. Davis, B. Murmann, R.T. Howe, “Electrochemical quantum tunneling for electronic detection and characterization of biological toxins”, Proc. SPIE, 8373, 837303, (2012).

16) J. Hsin , A. Gopinathan, and K. C. Huang. “Nucleotide-dependent conformations of FtsZ dimers and force generation observed through molecular dynamics simulations." Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 109:9432-9437, (2012).

A sample of the tremendous diversity of research that was enabled through the SNF over the past year is shown visually in the collage below. The complete list of hundreds of publications, conference papers, and patent applications has been reported through NNIN to NSF.

Figure 125: Stanford Research Examples


7.7.3 Equipment, Facility and Staff Highlights 7.7.3.1 Equipment The flux of new process tools into SNF has continued in 2012. Newly installed and operational tools include the four plasma etchers:

• Oxford Plasmalab System100, ICP 380 for etching III-V semiconductors

• Plasma-Therm Versaline Deep Silicon Etcher

• Plasma-Therm ICP Metal Etcher

• Plasma-Therm ICP Dielectric Etcher

In December 2012, a second chamber was added to the Applied Materials Centura epitaxial deposition system for doped and undoped silicon and germanium films. This system has become one of the most heavily used in the SNF; the second chamber will provide much-needed capacity and allow separation of the thick silicon used for MEMS from the thin silicon and germanium films used for electronic and optoelectronic applications.

Several more systems were acquired in 2012, to be installed during 2013, including two more Ultratech/Cambridge Nanotech systems for Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD): a Savannah in a glovebox for deposition of organic films and a single-chamber Fiji. A Primaxx HF vapor etcher also arrived in December 2012 and will provide a more reproducible process, complementing the two existing vapor-HF

Figure 126: Clockwise from upper left) New etchers in 2012: Oxford Plasmalab100 III-V etcher, Plasma-Therm deep-silicon etcher, Plasma-Therm metal etcher, and Plasma-Therm oxide etcher.


etching systems in SNF.

The tools acquired through the NNIN’s ARRA funding are now playing key roles in the SNF’s process capabilities. For example, the two Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) systems, a Plasma-Therm Versaline high-density PECVD system (for silicon nitride and oxide films at temperatures as low at 100 C) and the Plasma-Therm Shuttlelock SLR-730-PECVD system (for silicon nitrides, oxides, and carbides on a variety of substrates) now have 72 qualified users. The dual chamber Fiji ALD system, which became operation in August 2011, also has over 70 qualified users.

7.7.3.2 Facility The ability of SNF to meet research needs had become increasingly hampered by the lack of capacity in 25-year old cleanroom. Researchers’ demands for new materials and new chemistries required an expanded infrastructure to support chemical delivery, handling, abatement and waste management. In 2010, SNF received $4.2M from the NSF Academic Research Infrastructure (ARI-R2) program, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for lab infrastructure improvement. This was supplemented by a $2.4M investment from the University. Construction began in early December 2011 and completed for lab occupancy on February 1, 2012. The construction included a new toxic gas monitoring system, systems to support six new toxic and corrosive gases, expanded electrical distribution and process cooling water capacity, upgraded humidification system, upgrade of chemical waste lines, and the

Figure 127 : Additional New Stanford Equipment


construction of the nano-Structured Interfaces Laboratory (nSiL). This renovation will improve the useful life of the lab for the next decade.

In April of 2012, the University awarded SNF another $2.1M for a 3-year project to upgrade safety and security. Tasks include more secured building access, replacement of polypropylene wet benches with fire-safe process stations, and the replacement of all toxic and corrosive gas cabinets and panels.

7.7.3.3 Staffing Dr. Michelle M. Rincon joined in May as the process engineer for Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). In addition to providing technical expertise, she has been participating in a series of NNIN ALD workshops that have traveled to several sites. Ms. Aubrey Martinez joined in August as the Business & Finance Manager for the lab.

7.7.4 Educational/Computational/Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology Highlights

7.7.4.1.Education/Outreach Activities Last year SNF participated in many different educational and outreach activities, both network-wide programs and local activities. In the 5 year NanoTeach program, funded by NSF through a DLR grant and by NNIN, and also involving the Georgia Tech site and Mid-continent Research for Learning and Teaching (McREL), SNF is developing and testing a combination of workshop and online professional development experiences for high school science teachers. At the three 2-week NanoTeach Field PD workshops held this last summer in Houston, Denver, and Shreveport, local high school science teachers were taught about nanotechnology and how to incorporate it into their class curriculum. SNF provided webinars, content expertise, remote lab tours, nanofabrication demonstrations, as well as had SNF researchers talk to the teachers, all via our cleanroom webcam system. Mike Deal also attended one day at the workshop in Shreveport for seminar for extra content consultation. SNF also provided content advice to the 100 teachers across the country participating in the program as well as provided expertise in the assessment component.

SNF again participated in the week-long Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers, organized by the NSEC Center for Probing the Nanoscale, and also teamed up with them for NanoDays activities in which several classes visited Stanford’s nanotechnology facilities. SNF also took part in the People-to-People program, including a seminar, demonstrations, and live virtual webcam cleanroom tour to 180 US and international high school students. In addition SNF hosted numerous local school groups, including middle schools, high schools, and our local community college, for presentations, demonstrations and tours of the facility. For these we have developed a photolithography demonstration/activity in which photograph images are etched into silicon wafers for the students. Mike Deal also led the effort to produce equipment and process training videos for SNF, and updated the critical safety and lab introduction videos this year.

Stanford had a “Nanotechnology at Stanford” open house in June, in which Stanford and non-Stanford people visited and toured SNF and SNL, and learned about our nanotechnology capabilities and programs.

SNF hosted 6 NNIN REU students last summer, and 2 previous SNF REU students participated in the NNIN International REU program, with both students doing research in Europe. SNF staff also contributed to the NNIN activities at national and state conferences including the USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington DC, April 26-28, 2012. Uli Thumser, Mike Deal and Maurice Stevens developed and hosted a demo/exhibit about carbon nanotubes at the NNIN booth at the USASEF. Several hundred students and their teachers and parents visited our booth and display.


In addition, SNF hosted the premiere showing of “Nanotechnology: The World Beyond Micro,” a film by Ruth Carranza, May 20, 2012. SNF staff assisted Silicon Run Productions in their NSF-funded program to produce this film, with Mike Deal acting as one of the academic advisers.

7.7.4.2 Computational Activities: Infrastructure, Software Depository, Research Projects, Training and Outreach The Stanford NNIN Computing Facility (SNCF) consisting of a 64 node, 512 CPU linux computer cluster was fully utilized during the year of 2012 with a total of 37 users, 27 internal and 10 external. The computing facility at Stanford underwent a major upgrade process last year, both on the hardware and software level. The cluster’s operating system was upgraded, the queue processes were optimized for a better turnaround of users jobs, and all the simulation tools were updated and recompiled. On the hardware side, the memory on all the nodes were upgraded to 16 GB in order to accommodate the memory intensive jobs and for a more efficient usage of the computational nodes. This upgrade contributed significantly to the 263% increase in the research output in 2012, relative to 2011.

Projects on the cluster included ab initio NEGF transport simulations for nano-electronics and spintronics, electronic structure methods based on density functional theory, force field based molecular dynamics, etc. aiming for a broad range of applications in chemistry, biology, physics, materials sciences, electrical, biological and chemical engineering. Recent additions include photonic simulation tools, codes for spin-based devices and life science applications, particularly at the interface of nano-engineering and biology.

The research activities supported by the NNIN/C at Stanford site resulted in 29 publications in the year of 2012, 7 invited talks at major conferences including one keynote presentation at the Electrochemical Society’s Fall meeting (ECS Prime). The publications reflect the interdisciplinary aspect of the work done at Stanford with highlights including joint experimental and theoretical papers accepted in highly ranked engineering conferences as IEDM and VLSI, and also in the well recognized contributions in biology published in PNAS. One of the papers, published in the journal Current Biology was listed as a featured article.

As part of the outreach activities to the industrial community in the Silicon Valley last year Dr. Blanka Magyari-Kope gave an invited presentation at the San Francisco Bay Area Nanotechnology Council Annual Full Day Symposium in April 2012 and was the speaker of the Council’s monthly meeting seminar in December 2012. Both presentations included a detailed discussion of the role of simulations in building future electronic devices and joint experimental-theoretical approaches are needed to tackle the current bottleneck problems in the advancement of device performances in various applications. Ongoing collaborations between the Stanford computational experts and Silicon Valley company members included various site visits in the year of 2012 to discuss projects of interest to the industrial community. A few company representatives have also participated in local training sessions organized at Stanford by Dr. Magyari-Kope to learn about new methodologies and how to incorporate various simulation tools in a multiscale approach to be able to get the desired results for their process flow and prototype development.

7.7.4.3 Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology As part of the induction process, all new labmembers participate in an online questionnaire which poses thought-provoking questions about the ethical implications of engineering and nanoscience research. This is designed not only to serve as an educational tool, but also attempts to quantify an individual’s level of awareness of ethical issues in science and engineering. Professor Robert McGinn has analyzed this data and submitted an article for publication (“Nanoethics: Ethics for Technologies that Converge at the Nanoscale. Discernment and Denial: Nanotechnology Researchers’ Views About Ethical Responsibilities Related to their Work: New Users at the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility, 2010-2012”) which describes a clear correlation between labmembers’ consideration of the ethical consequences of


their work and whether they have had any exposure to ethics in their training

In Spring term of 2012, Professor McGinn taught for the second year, the course “Research Ethics for Engineers and Scientists”. This course, co-developed with Mike Deal and Mary Tang, has been approved by the Dean of Research at Stanford as satisfying the Responsible Conduct of Research requirements for both NIH and NSF.

In the Spring term of 2012, Professor McGinn taught, for the second straight year, a graduate seminar he developed for SNF: E204 (“Research Ethics for Engineers and Scientists). This course, co-taught with SNF staff members Dr. Mary Tang and Dr. Mike Deal, has been approved by the Dean of Research at Stanford as satisfying the Responsible Conduct of Research requirements for both NIH and NSF.

The course put a strong emphasis on ethical issues related to nanotechnology.

• One session, entitled "Research Ethics in the Nanotechnology Laboratory," built on two of Prof. McGinn NNIN-related publications on nanotech-related ethical issues, and on a new "Ethics Module" for new SNF users co-designed by Prof. McGinn and SNF's Dr. Mary Tang.

• Another session, on scientific misconduct, was devoted to discussion of the 2002 report of the Lucent Technologies' “Investigation Committee into the Possibility of Scientific Misconduct by J. Hendrik Schoen and Co-authors.” The work in question pertained to the research being carried out by Schoen and co-authors at Bell Labs on organic electronics.

• NNIN and SNF director Prof. Roger Howe led another session of the seminar on authorship, publication, and intellectual property.

• Another session, on Stanford University's policies on the responsible Conduct of Research, focused on "Misconduct, Authorship, Data Retention, Conflicts of Interest, and Intellectual Property." It was led by guest presenters Katharine Ku, Director of Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing, and Dr. Peter Michelson, Professor of Physics and Chair of the Stanford Faculty Senate Committee on Research.

In the final session of the class, each student made a presentation on an original case study of research ethics pertaining to engineering and science that s/he had researched. Following each presentation, there was discussion of the issues raised in the seminar as a whole. Prof. McGinn intends to continue to teach this class for the foreseeable future.

--end of Stanford text report---


7.7.5 Stanford Site Selected Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Figure 128: Selected Stanford Statistics

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7.8 University of California Santa Barbara Site Report 7.8.1 Site Overview UCSB's Nanofabrication Facility hosts a wide variety of users from many disciplines, drawing upon the strengths of UCSB's internal research in many areas: III-V (GaAs, InP, GaN based) compound semiconductor electronic and optoelectronic devices; polymer and organic electronic and photonic devices; quantized electron structures and THz physics; spintronics; quantum computation; quantum optics; MEMS/NEMS, bio-instruments, and microfluidics. The UCSB TIA (Technology and Industry Alliances) program facilitates the leveraging of the strong internal research program results to industrial partners. UCSB’s scientific research community hosts an extensive portfolio of over 600 active inventions, averages over 75 disclosures per year with over 50% of UCSB inventions under a licensing arrangement, raises over $220 million in annual extramural funding, and has 6 new start-up companies per year. The patent portfolio of UCSB is diverse in nature with a spread of research fields similar to that found in the facility (fig 129). Many of the UCSB patents are from researchers working in the UCSB-NNIN facility. One-third of the UCSB doctoral programs have a range of rankings reaching into the top five in the country and nearly one-half have a range of rankings reaching into the top ten in the country according to the National Research Council's 2010 Assessment of Research Doctoral Programs. UCSB as a whole represents a successful and dynamic range of research both in academics and industrial relations that impact the nation.

UCSB’s internal research houses a wide range of well-funded centers of excellence in areas of electronics, optoelectronics, energy efficiency, materials, biology and physics. These centers are funded by a wide variety of government agencies and industrial partners often involving significant academic and industrial collaborations not reflected directly in the facility user statistics. The centers include: The Optoelectronics Technology Center, The Solid State Lighting and Energy Center, The NSF-funded Materials Research Laboratory, the Mitsubishi Chemical - Center for Advanced Materials, the Institute for Energy Efficiency, The Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, The California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI), the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, the Institute for Terahertz Science and Technology, the Center for Energry Efficient Materials (CEEM), and the Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation. Researchers from these centers utilize the nanofabrication facility providing general knowledge that often benefits the entire user community. Many of the centers coordinate weekly and other special technical seminars and workshops that are often advertised to our research community.

Aside from the NNIN-funded Nanofabrication Facility, UCSB is also home to a wide and diverse range other outside user accessible laboratories in biological sciences, chemical synthesis, materials analysis, and specialized testing that can be accessed by internal and external researchers without the need for UCSB research agreements. These facilities are centers and laboratories hosted by the following departments: CNSI, Physics, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Materials, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Psychology. As a whole, the user-accessible UCSB research infrastructure has evolved and and is continuing to be developed to facilitate both traditional and interdisciplinary research goals that impact academia and the outside world at large.

The UCSB Nanofabrication Facility operates out of a 12000 ft2 class 100/1000 cleanroom environment, offering extensive facilities and research for nanotechnology for the diverse research community including: electron beam lithography down to <10 nm resolution; optical projection lithography to below 150 nm; advanced ICP etch tools for a wide range of materials including polymers, ceramics, dielectrics,

Figure 129: UCSB Patent portfolio by research department


metals, silicon, SiC, III-V nitrides, III-V phosphides, and III-V arsenides; thin film deposition techniques including evaporation, RF and DC reactive sputtering, ion beam deposition, atomic layer deposition, and ICP-based PECVD; Field Emission SEM and EDX; Scanning Probe Microscopy. The facility is open to processing a wide variety of materials with few restrictions, to facilitate research over a wide range of fields including Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Chemical, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering.

7.8.2 Research Examples The primary mission of the facility is to provide the resources and expertise to enable research into devices on the micro and nano-scale over a wide range of research fields and materials. The main trackable output for academic research is publications. From July 2011 through June 2012, internal researchers at the UCSB nanofab published 182 journal papers and 104 conference papers. External researchers (academic and industrial) published 34 journal papers and 35 conference papers over this same period for a total reported output of 355 published academic results. Also, a total of 27 patent applications were reported by users. True output from industrial users is often hard to assess due to the protection of intellectual property, a desire to stay under the radar until products are developed, and a lack of publishing allowed by many companies. Below are five examples of projects using the laboratory from different research groups and affiliations covering a range of scientific and engineering disciplines.

External Small Company User: Optics/Electronics: Widely Tunable Compact Monolithically Integrated Photonic Coherent Receiver: Freedom Photonics, Inc.

Freedom Photonics, a start-up company in Santa Barbara, does work on InP-based Photonic Integrated circuits. Coherent optical systems are of great interest for future fiber optic deployment, due to their high spectral efficiencies and the ability to mitigate signal degradation through available access to both optical phase and amplitude information. One of the main challenges in creating a compact monolithically integrated receiver is implementing a widely tunable, low noise, and high power local oscillator (LO). In this work, a monolithically integrated, photonic, dual polarization capable coherent receiver, with an on-chip widely tunable local oscillator laser has been fabricated and tested. A 20-Gb/s operation with nonreturn-to-zero-quadrature phase-shift-keyed signal, and local oscillator tuning over 40 nm of input wavelength span has been demonstrated. (Figs 130 and 131) (IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 24(5), 365 (2012)

Internal User: Optics/Electronics/Materials: First Demonstration of Electrically Pumped non-polar GaN-based VCSEL: Nakamura, DenBaars, Speck Groups, UCSB

Researchers at UCSB have demonstrated the first-known nonpolar m-plane GaN-based VCSEL, achieving room-temperature electrically-injected lasing at ~412 nm. Nonpolar GaN has the potential to significantly increase GaN VCSEL performance over polar devices, including higher gain leading to lower threshold currents and higher efficiency devices. Additionally, nonpolar GaN VCSELs exhibit the unique featue

Figure 130: Photograph of the widely tunable optical receiver integrated circuit mounted on an Aluminum-Nitride ceramic carrier

Figure 131: Typical output wavelength spectra over the tuning range of the widely tunable laser obtained from test device

Figure 132: Device schematic, SEM image, and far-field laser output pattern


of polarization locking, whereby all the devices are polarized in the same direction, with the electric field aligned along the a-direction of the GaN wurtzite crystal structure. This work also demonstrate a novel method for VCSEL fabrication, where the bulk GaN substrate is removed and the cavity length is defined by photoelectrochemical (PEC) etching, giving precise control of cavity length, which controls the output wavelength of the laser. (Figs 132 and 133) (Appl. Phys. Express 5 (2012) 092104)

External Academic User: MEMS/ME: High-Frequency (>50 MHz) Medical Ultrasound Linear Arrays Fabricated From Micromachined Bulk PZT Materials, Shung Group, Bio-Medial Engineering Dept, USC

High-frequency, wideband ultrasound transducer arrays can provide the necessary spatial resolution for applications in dermatology, ophthalmology, and other medical disciplines for which high-quality subsurface imaging is required. Unlike high-frequency single-element transducers, one of the major challenges in developing high-frequency ultrasound transducer arrays is the patterning of small-scale features within the array. For example, linear arrays designed for 50-MHz operation should have array elements with a pitch of 36 µm and a kerf width of 12 µm. Linear arrays made from micromachining bulk PZT at frequencies over 50 MHz have been developed using a DRIE dry-etching technique. The arrays consist of 32 elements with an element width of 24 µm and a kerf width of 12 µm. The element length is 4 mm, and the thickness is approximately 32 µ m. Values for the −6-dB bandwidth and two-way insertion loss are about 40% and 26 dB, respectively. (IEEE Trans on Ultrasonics Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, 59(2), 315, 2012) (Figs 134 and 135).

Internal User: MEMS/Bio-Chemistry: Rapid, Sensitive, and Quantitative Detection of Pathogenic DNA through Microfluidic Electrochemical Quantitative Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification: Plaxco, Soh Groups UCSB

Genetic detection of pathogens at the point of care (POC) has become increasingly important in applications ranging from molecular diagnostics and food safety testing to environmental monitoring and homeland security. To this end, we have developed the microfluidic electrochemical quantitative loop-mediated isothermal amplification (MEQ-LAMP) system—an integrated microfluidic platform for the rapid, sensitive, and quantitative detection of pathogenic DNA, offering a powerful alternative to PCR in terms of sensitivity, reaction speed, and amplicon yield, and can be applied to non-denatured genomic DNA samples under isothermal reaction conditions. This amplification technique also employs six different primers, conferring exquisite specificity and enabling MEQ-LAMP to

Figure 134: SEM image of deeply etched PZT that forms the linear array transducer. PZT was etched using Cl2 ICP-RIE.

Figure 135 Pulse echo response of a typical array element measurements versus gate bias

Figure 133 VCSEL Lasing Spectrum

Figure 136: Overview of the MEQ-LAMP


readily distinguish pathogens of interest from non-target genomic DNA. As a demonstration of the platform effectiveness, we report the direct and quantitative detection of as few as 16 copies of genomic DNA of Salmonella enterica enterica Typhimurium—a pathogen that causes food poisoning—in less than an hour. (Fig 136) (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 51, 4896, 2012)

External Foreign Academic User: Physics: Mass sensing with a mechanical resonator, Chaste, et. al. Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology, Campus de la UAB, Barcelona, Spain

Nanomechanical resonators have been used to weigh cells, biomolecules and gas molecules, and to study basic phenomena in surface science, such as phase transitions and diffusion. These experiments all rely on the ability of nanomechanical mass sensors to resolve small masses. Here, we report mass sensing experiments with a resolution of 1.7 yg (1 yg = 10-24 g), which corresponds to the mass of one proton. The resonator is a carbon nanotube of length ∼150 nm that vibrates at a frequency of almost 2 GHz. This unprecedented level of sensitivity allows us to detect adsorption events of naphthalene molecules (C10H8), and to measure the binding energy of a xenon atom on the nanotube surface. These ultrasensitive nanotube resonators could have applications in mass spectrometry, magnetometry and surface science. (Nature Nanotechnology 7, 301, 2012) (Fig 137).

7.8.3 Operations and Capital Acquisitions The UCSB facility hosted 509 research users over the span of Mar. through Dec. 2012. This included 61 external academic users, 126 small company users, and 42 large company users for a net 45% external cumulative user base (35% external use by lab hours), consistent since year 2010 after increasing from 21% external cumulative user use in 2003. The cumulative external academic user numbers have remained consistently in the 50-65 range since 2010 after increasing from 18 in 2003 to 63 in 2010. Average lab hours per month have remained near 6000. The number of cumulative remote users has increased to 54 (from 24 in 2008), with the average number and hours of remote users per month at 12 and 83 respectively, our largest yearly remote use to date. The remote use is a combination of academic and industrial projects that range from single specialized process steps to full multi-layer process sequences. There were 34 new projects since last reporting, bringing the total number of new external research projects up to 266 since the inception of the NNIN, 123 of them from academic/government institutions (7 foreign) and 143 from industry(1 foreign). Colleague referral, former lab users, and internet searches are still responsible for most of the new projects in 2012. The UCSB facility continues to house a diverse community comprised of significant numbers of users from Physics (14%), Materials (21%), Electronics (24%), MEMS/Mechanical Engineering (9%), and Optics (27%).

UCSB continues to improve process offerings and user capacity through capital purchases and systems improvements. This year’s purchases both expand processes available to users and improve on process capability. In 2012, these systems include:

• Primaxx uEtch Vapor HF etch system. Purchased in 2012. Installation Feb 2013. This system provides for vapor etching of MEMS and other devices that require highly selective etching of SiO2 over other materials in order to form free standing structures or membranes that could be negatively affected by the surface tension caused by liquid-based processing. (NNIN funded)

• ADT Fully Automated dicing saw. Installed in 2012. This system replaces an outdated Disco dicing saw the facility has used for over 20 years. The new system has improved dicing performance and user interfaces that allow for uniquely shaped saw cuts as well as traditional dicing. With this system, a UV tape and release system was also purchased to facilitate

Figure 137 : Red arrows point to the shifts of the resonance frequency consistent with the adsorption of C10H8 molecules


mounting and de-mounting of parts for dicing. This is a heavily used tool. The dicing seminar given by the company and applications manuals are located on-line for reference. (facility funded)

• Takatori Corporation WSD-K2 Wire saw for wafer (boule) and other very thick substrate cutting. This system uses diamond imbedded, spooled wire that is fed at high speeds to cut through wafer boules (including sapphire) or thick samples for wafer fabrication. The system is primarily used in our facility for the creation of wafers of different planes of GaN from GaN bulk material. (donated tool)

• Upgrade of Oxford FlexAL ALD system to include NH3 gas and Ozone. Installed in 2012. Additional gases of NH3 and ozone are needed to open the process windows for thermal and plasma-assisted growth of ALD films. The addition of ozone in particular leads to the possibility of thermally grown SiO2 from existing precursors as well as low temperature Al2O3 growth without water or plasma. (facility funded)

The UCSB facility hired one new full-time employee (female) for outside user process support and process control in 2012.

7.8.4 Education, Diversity, and SEI In 2012, UCSB again hosted NanoDays at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History in collaboration with two other UCSB centers, CNSI and the Center for Nanotechnology in Society. This year we had a 60% increase in attendance having 1442 community members participate in hands-on activities versus the 897 guests the previous year. This event reached all ages, with an area dedicated for pre-k children focusing on size and scale, to activities using an AFM to see the nanoscale features of a butterfly wing, and SEM to see the hairs on a bee’s leg. The Center for Nanotechnology in Society assisted by staffing a booth with activities to bring about discussion on the possible impacts of nanotechnology on society and the ethical impact nanotechnology research has with the visiting community members.

Outside of the weekend NanoDays, UCSB presented education on nanotechnology and research applications to the community through various forms of Science Night events. During these events at local elementary and junior high schools 807 community members (470 of them students) participated in hands-on activities such learning about super-hydrophobic surfaces (Figure 138) and thin films. These events were co-sponsored by California Nano Systems Institute and for one event NNIN was invited by California State University at Channel Islands (CSUCI) to present a nanotechnology booth at their annual Science Carnival.

UCSB continues to train talented, motivated people of all ages who want to learn nanotechnology in an educational clean room. In 2012, multi-day chip camps reached 85 students and 16 teacher and community members, providing opportunities for females (38%) and underrepresented (73%) students to learn basic nanofabrication processing techniques. This year UCSB partnered with the California State University at Long Beach (CSULB) Upward Bound Math Science Program. This group brought 20 underrepresented high school students to chip camp for 2 days during their summer session to give a nanotechnology experience in parallel with their biotechnology curriculum. The upward bound students must meet specific criteria to be included in their program such as a specific socio-economic background or parents who lack college degrees. The feedback from the program was positive and the same group has requested to repeat chip camp with their Summer 2013 class. Chip camps serve as a pipeline for students into longer research experiences.

Figure 138 NanoDays held at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History


In 2012, UCSB provided research experiences that actively engaged 8 traditional college students, 1 community college student, 2 secondary science teachers and 1 community college faculty member in a clean room laboratory, so they could contribute to real-world nanoscale research. These activities are part of the larger NNIN REU and RET programs. All research experiences are similar in that they participate in nanoscale research over a summer, and later they present it through an oral presentation, a poster presentation, and through a written report (or, in the case with teachers, curriculum is developed based on that research). The experiences differ in the target participants, and the length of time during the summer. The particulars of these programs are summarized below.

Undergraduate Research Experiences (REU):

• Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) recruits 9 students (22% females) from all over the US.

• One student was from a local community college, Santa Barbara City College.

• Students participated in 10 weeks of research in the clean room (Figure 139) under the supervision of trained researchers.

• Their research was presented at a network wide convocation in Washington DC.

The NNIN REU Program has been a proven pipeline for students to continue in the field of nanotechnology research. During the summer of 2012, two graduate student mentors for the UCSB intern program were previous participants as interns in the NNIN REU Program. Steven Brown (2009 REU at the University of Colorado) mentored Dashiell Bodington and Brian McSkimming (2007 REU at UCSB and 2008 iREU in Japan) mentored Caroline Yu. Further, a former REU Intern at UCSB from 2005, Samantha Cruz, was hired full time as the UCSB NNIN Education Programs Coordinator.

Research Experience for Teachers (RET):

• 7-week summer research for local secondary science teachers and community college faculty: 1 male; 2 female; 1 Hispanic

• classroom follow-up: 199 high school and community college students: 44% females; 50% minority

• RET Summer 2011 participants disseminated their curriculum at the 2012 National Science Teachers Association annual conference: we brought 3 teachers: 1 female; 1 Hispanic

• RET Summer 2012 participants will disseminate their curriculum at the 2013 NNIN RET Workshop to be held in Atlanta, GA in March 2013.

Our Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program has three components:

1. the research and curriculum development (done over a summer—teachers do research and then develop curriculum based on that research)

2. follow-up (impact measured in the number of students who the NNIN Coordinator sees the teacher do the activities that the teacher developed as part of the program)

3. dissemination of nanotechnology activities both locally and nationally

In 2012, UCSB also held the NNIN Symposium: Frontiers in Nanoscale Transistors and Electronics. This

Figure 139: UCSB REU Intern working in Nanotech


two-day conference brought 114 nanotechnology researchers from across the country together to discuss the future of nanoscale electronics. UCSB invited 18 researchers from academia and industry presented on various topics. The conference had 87 undergraduate, graduate students and post docs attended the symposium and discussion sessions. In all, there were 18 educational outreach events held by UCSB in 2012. These events reached 2783 students and community members highlighting the commitment UCSB has to the broader impacts of the nanotechnology research that occurs at this node.

In this past year SEI of technology exposure was given to new lab researchers, students in the research programs, and to the community. New users of the facility are asked to watch the video training module on the NNIN website. Ongoing exposure is done through the NNIN-SEI posters displayed in the facility and through advertising of on-campus ethics seminars and events to our research community as well as web links to SEI at NNIN, the UCSB Office of Research ethics in research series, CNS (Center for Nanotechnology and Society) at UCSB, and UC CEIN (Center for Environmental Impact of Nanotechnology). This year one UCSB CNS faculty member, Prof. W. Patrick McCray of the Dept. of History received an NNIN seed grant to work on a project entitled “From Blueprints to Bricks: Building a Community for DNA Nanotechnology”. For the REU and RET educational programs, participants read "Nanotechnology & Society: Ideas for Education and Public Engagement" from the Center of Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University and watched a web seminar given by Professor Paul McEuen of Cornell University. In addition, participants spent time discussing the reading and going over the Envisioning Cards (http://www.envisioningcards.com) which were produced by the University of Washington's Value Sensitive Design Center (http://www.vsdesign.org). Finally, as mentioned above, CNS participated with NNIN at the annual Nano-Days event at the Natural Science Museum by staffing a booth dedicated to SEI in nanotechnology for the general public.


7.8.5. USCB Selected Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Figure 140: Selected Site Statistics from UCSB

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7.9 University of Colorado Site Report 7.9.1 Summary Since its inception four years ago, the Colorado Nanofabrication Laboratory (CNL) has transitioned from a research laboratory to a fast-growing open-access user facility. It is the only such facility along the Front Range, with the next closest facility being more than 500 miles away.

The facility increased its overall number of users at an average annual rate larger than 50% reaching a total number of 209 in 2012, while the number of external users increased on average by 80% annually, reaching 63 in 2012. The number of companies served increased from 12 to 22. Publications tripled from 20 to 62, reflecting the increased number of user hours of the prior year.

R&D highlights include the first commercial demonstration of a Bose-Einstein (BE) condensate, the fabrication of a graphene optical modulator and the demonstration of an ion FET that is compatible with standard IC fabrication processes.

Additional equipment and space were acquired during the year, adding three major tools and increasing the total lab space to 7,000 sq. ft. Staffing was restructured and renovation of 1,400 sq. ft. is underway which will result in more efficient use of the available space and easing of specific bottlenecks.

The education and outreach/SEI activities were expanded, reaching hundreds of K-12 and UG students with significant female and Hispanic participation.

A major new initiative is the formation of a Colorado Nanotechnology Alliance including NREL and NIST.

7.9.2 Technical Focus Areas The technical focus areas are linked to local research strengths in precision measurements and energy, while there are strong and related research effort in MEMS and optics. Ongoing research spans the range of UV and X-ray lasers, frequency combs, BE condensate, NEMS/MEMS, high speed electronics, THz devices, self-assembled block copolymers, nanoparticles, photovoltaics, plasmonics, advanced imaging, and more.

Precision measurements: Related research activities in Colorado are concentrated at NIST and JILA, a joint institute supported by NIST and the University of Colorado. Last year we started interactions with both institutions, which helped increase the number of JILA users from 9 to 20. First publications are emerging and the increased use will result in an increased number of publications with a delay of about one year. A first success story is emerging: ColdQuanta, a CNL small company user announced the first commercial demonstration of a Bose-Einstein condensate. The condensate, discovered by Eric Cornell and Carl Weiman who were awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in physics, is now commercially available through ColdQuanta. This company has been a CNL user since 2011 having 4 employees that use the facility.

Figure 141: CNL user ColdQuanta: The first company to demonstrate a Bose-Einstein condensate


Energy: Energy research in Colorado is rapidly growing with a clear focus at NREL and multiple Colorado-based initiatives such as Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), a multi-university research initiative, the Center for Revolutionary Solar Photovoltaics (CRSP) and the Renewable Energy Materials Science and Engineering Center (REMRSEC) at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM). The REMRSEC at CSM has been identified as a complementary NSF-funded research effort in Colorado. Their focus is on materials including nanoparticles and chalcogenides for thin film solar cells, advanced membranes and clathrates for hydrogen storage. NREL has a long track record pursuing photovoltaic and hold numerous records for highly-efficient solar cells. They are set up as an independent research unit with their own funding and facilities, but welcome interaction with Universities across the globe.

First users from local energy startups have been attracted, including researchers from Ampulse Solar (2), RedWave Energy (2) and Ravenbrick (1). Interaction with NREL is primarily through local users that are funded through NREL or collaborate with NREL researchers with an occasional NREL staff member using the facility. Two users from CSM have been trained and have become frequent visitors of the facility. Ongoing research includes thin film solar, adaptive window coatings and nanoparticles.

7.9.3 Research Highlights The following are examples of research results that were published and or presented by users of the CNL facility during the past year:

Broadband graphene electro-optic modulators with sub-wavelength thickness, Prof. Thomas Schibli et al., University of Colorado: This research aims to fabricate and demonstrate THz optical modulators using graphene as the active medium. Devices with a modulation depth up to 10% and bandwidth up to 154 MHz were obtained. Published in Optics Express, Vol. 20, pp. 5264-5269, 2012.

Solid-state Ionic field effect transistor, Prof. C. Taylor et al., Colorado School of Mines. This work is the first demonstration of an ionic field effect transistor that is compatible with standard IC fabrication processes. This transistor operates under an electric field effect, as a standard FET, but its current is ionic instead of electronic. The transistor design leverages innovations from fuel cell technology, giving it the unique ability to operate in electronics-unfriendly environments (e.g. aqueous).

Figure 142:: a) Modulator structure and measurement set-up, and b) Top view of a fabricated modulator


a) b)

7.9.4 Operations Focus of year four was to accommodate the rapid growth of the number of users and their broad range of activities. This was achieved by streamlining operations and removing bottlenecks. In addition, CNL acquired three major tools from a discontinued facility and consolidated operations. In the process, 1,400 sq. ft. of non-cleanroom space was added to the facility and 1,400 sq. ft. of existing space is being remodeled resulting in 1) a centralized service area, 2) a separate area to accommodate dirty processes that are not allowed in the main cleanroom and 3) an additional room for more vacuum/deposition systems.

Equipment, Renovation and Staffing: The additional tools consist of a focused ion beam (FIB) system, a field emission SEM and an LVSEM. The FIB is an FEI NOVA 600i dual beam instrument, capable of nanoscale machining, high-resolution imaging and deposition of platinum, tungsten and insulators. This tool is equipped with a micromanipulator and will be equipped with a Nabity beam control system to facilitate fabrication of arbitrary structures. The FESEM is a JEOL JSM-7401F with a cold cathode, providing superior resolution especially when imaging soft materials such as copolymers. The LVSEM is a JEOL JSM-6480LV with a tungsten emitter and low temperature sample holder. It enables better imaging of biological samples.

This equipment came with 1,400 sq. ft. of quality lab space. CNL’s SEM, AFM and spectrophotometer were moved to that location, freeing up space in other parts of the lab. Remodeling of 1,400 sq. ft. of existing space is underway. Funding has been secured, demolition including asbestos removal has been completed and the A&E design is to be completed in February 2013.

Staffing has been restructured, allowing staff to focus on a smaller number of activities.

New Materials: We added two new materials, Indium Zinc Oxide (IZO) and PdAg and further developed/characterized our graphene growth.

An IZO deposition capability was added to our reactive sputter system based on a suggestion of NREL collaborators. It provides a transparent conductor with properties similar to that of Indium Tin Oxide, with the advantage that it can be deposited at low temperature and does not require the addition of oxygen or subsequent annealing. Applications include organic photovoltaics, organic LEDs and other areas of optics where soft materials and polymers require low deposition temperatures.

Palladium Silver was added as an allowed material in the CVC evaporator. It is used as a contact for ionic structures. Hydrogen is absorbed in the contact and provides proton exchange with the ionic material such as Nafion. Applications include ionic electronics, batteries and biochemical structures that require proton exchange.

Figure 143: a) Cross-section of the ionic FET and b) Top view of the fabricated device.


Process development: Process development is a key component for a successful user facility. We aim to provide a base-line process for any tool and work with users to develop their own research specific processes. This year we developed further etch processes for the STS ICP etcher, providing highly controlled etching of silicon ridges using an HSQ ebeam resist mask as needed for silicon photonics applications.

User data and trends: The number of users increased to 209 which is a 50% increase over last year, while user hours remained steady around 20,000 hours. A major local DARPA-funded research program focused on NEMS/MEMS ended in April 2012, which dramatically reduced the use of the facility for that group. As a result, the distribution of users and hours of use has become more balanced between different research areas as shown in Fig 144. Physics and Medicine/Life Sciences have gained ground, a trend which is expected to continue.

2011 2012

The number of external users increased from 37 to 63 compared to last year, a 70% increase with a 4:3 split between industry and academic users. Local companies using the lab increased from 12 to 22, while the number of academic institutions remained the same. The number of remote access users remained the same, while the remote access fees more than doubled, reaching 8% of all fees collected.

These numbers exceed our 5-year goal of reaching 200 users and 16,000 user hours. Current trends indicate that we will reach 300 users, including 100 external users and 30,000 hours of use by February 2014.

External user development: As the facility has been renovated and upgraded, the operational focus is further shifting towards attracting and accommodating external users, especially those performing research in our focus areas.

Visibility of the facility has been increased through education and outreach activities, additions to the website, a targeted mailing to local industry and word of mouth. This year we contacted 200 local companies that received SBIR funding in the last two years who could potentially benefit from access to the facility for current and future R&D projects. This effort almost doubled the number of companies using the facility compared to last year. We will repeat this mailing campaign while adding local universities as

Figure 144 User demographics in 2011 compared to 2012.


we advertise the expanded facility and highlight the new equipment and capabilities. We will further promote external academic use by advertising remote access use to all universities in the Rocky Mountain region.

There have been few users from NIST and NREL, as their preferred mode of operation is to either collaborate with CU/CSM faculty or hire a student that exclusively uses their own facilities. As a result we are changing our way of interacting with these organizations: we are forming an alliance that focusses on exchanging information regarding capabilities, processes and best practices including safety and training and promoting collaborations. This new initiative is described in section 7.9.8.

7.9.5 Diversity oriented initiatives Overall, we have aimed to be inclusive in all of our activities, particularly with respect to underrepresented groups, specifically Hispanics and woman.

Outreach activities have been identified as a prime opportunity to promote diversity, from the REU program, workshops, to Nanodays, and K-12 oriented presentations and activities. Inclusion of women has been straightforward so far, while inclusion of minorities had been identified last year as requiring further improvement. Hispanic K-12 students are a primary focus which we addressed by targeting bilingual schools in the area. Between the Nanodays and Engineering events we hosted 175 people of which 101 were Hispanic and 85 were female. 55 of the 95 Graduate School Advising Workshop participants were female. Details of these events are provided below.

7.9.6 Education oriented contributions Our main focus in education is on establishing educational activities that can be repeated on an annual basis, thereby continuously improving their scope, quality, effectiveness and efficiency from year to year. A collection of pictures is shown in Figure 145.

This year’s REU program hosted 7 students. The PI/mentor training was further expanded this year, ensuring a rapid start by carefully planning the activities of the first 2 weeks. Three full-day REU events were organized jointly with the REU program of the REMRSEC at CSM, including technical presentations, lab tours, a poster session, an SEI discussion, a picnic at Chautauqua and one-on-one interaction. The students also participated in the second annual Graduate School Advising Workshop. In addition, student attended bi-weekly user meetings and self-organized social activities during weekends.

The annual Nanotechnology workshop covering basic nanofabrication processes was held for the fourth time June 5-8, 2012. Separate lectures on lab safety and SEI were included with dedicated time for discussion. The lectures were recorded and are available to registered users throughout the year as streaming video with slides. The hands-on lab experiments are available as supplemental training for CNL users.


The second annual Graduate School Advising Workshop was held June 16, 2012. The format included short presentations by recent graduates employed in Industry, at Federal laboratories, and in Academia. After lunch there was a panel session and one-on-one Q&A sessions in small groups with current graduate students. Topics covered included the application process, standardized tests, the selection of graduate schools, field of research and potential thesis advisor. The option of delaying graduate school for study abroad or other foreign activities such as the Peace Corps or engineers without borders received quite a bit of attention. A total of 95 students/speakers participated in the event. These included REU students from the NNIN and REMRSEC as well as SULI students from NREL.

The Nanodays event was held on March 23, 2012 and was scaled up compared to last year. This year we invited elementary school students from a local bilingual school with a large Hispanic student body. Teachers and parents accompanied them. The format consisted of short and entertaining presentations in smaller groups presented by junior faculty and graduate student volunteers, followed by hands-on experiments using NISE net kits and one-on-one interaction with graduate students. A total of 157 people participated of which 92 were Hispanic.

A special effort was made by CNL staff to participate in other NNIN and local outreach activities, such as the REU convocation in Washington DC, the Electromagnetic Waves Workshop and the “Engineering...Because Dreams Need Doing” event. The experience gained from these activities will be used in our own education and outreach activities.

7.9.7 Society and ethics oriented activities Our society and ethics oriented activities were further refined and have become an integrated part of most education, outreach and training activities. Creating awareness and promoting discussion are the main objectives. The SEI training material was first included in the annual workshop in June 2010 and is being incorporated into all user training. REU posters highlighting SEI activities, including the awareness posters developed by Cornell have been posted in the facility.

SEI training of larger groups of new users is incorporated in the annual workshop and REU student training. Here we have separate lectures on lab safety and SEI with ample time for discussion. SEI seminars are included in the biweekly user meetings, ranging from a discussion of case studies and research practices, to an SEI webcast. Last summer, Prof. Carl Mitcham of the Colorado School of Mines led two SEI discussion sessions.

Figure145: a) REU picnic at Chautauqua with CSM and b) Graduate School Advising Workshop


7.9.8 New Initiative: Colorado Nanotechnology Alliance A set of specific ongoing initiatives and operational plans have been highlighted in the previous sections. In addition, we started a new initiative, the formation of a Colorado-wide Nanotechnology Alliance. Its founding members are CU, NREL, NIST and CSM. The Alliance addresses the need and desire to join forces promoting nanotechnology R&D in the greater Denver-Boulder area. NREL has recently tripled its activities in Golden, Colorado, with a strong emphasis on renewable energy. The Photonics Device Integration Laboratory (PDIL) at NREL is specifically aimed at scaling up PV research towards commercialization. NIST Boulder recently built a new 60,000 sq. ft. precision measurements laboratory (PML) which co-locates a full cleanroom and a precision microscopy lab, containing a helium ion microscope, FIB, FESEM, high end TEM and atom probe. CSM and the REMRSEC are building a user facility that includes both nanomaterial synthesis and Nano characterization. The plan is to promote networking, research collaborations, access to user facilities and shared facilities, industry interaction and commercialization, and coordinate educational activities such as the NSF funded REU, SULI and SURF programs. The task of the alliance is to promote these interactions by facilitating the exchange of information through a centralized website, workshops, and other appropriate venues. A first planned activity is a Nanocharacterization Workshop on March 22, 2013 to be held on the Boulder campus.

a) b)

---End of Colorado Site Text Report---

Figure 146 a) Precision Measurements Laboratory at NIST Boulder and b) Solar Energy Research Facility at NREL, Golden CO.


7.9.9 University of Colorado Selected Site Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Figure 147: University of Colorado Selected Site Statistics

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7.10 University of Michigan Site Report 7.10.1 Technical Focus Areas The Michigan Lurie Nanofabrication Facility (LNF) focuses primarily on micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), complex integrated microsystems, and micro and nanotechnology. Applications of integrated sensors/actuators and microsystems include health care, biology and biochemistry, medical implantable microsystems, chemistry, environmental monitoring, and homeland and infrastructure security.

Michigan’s continued efforts on geosciences include outreach to the geoscience community, new collaborations between geo and nano researchers, and support for new users from the geo community.

Collaborative projects are continuing between geosciences and nanotechnology researchers. In the project on “Micromachined Sensors for Multi-functional and Autonomous Analysis of Geofluids: A New Approach to the Design and Performance of Chemical Sensors in Extreme Environments” (U. Michigan and U. Minnesota), sensor fabrication has been completed and laboratory testing under simulated deep sea and hydrothermal conditions is in progress.

A proposal is currently in preparation and will be submitted to the NSF-Ocean Technology and Interdisciplinary Coordination program for the development of an in-situ oxygen, light and temperature integrated sensor for coral health monitoring. Additional projects are underway at U Michigan with researchers from the department of Geological Sciences on micro/nanomachining for the preparation of geological samples prior to further analysis: for instance, modifying a high presicion dicing saw to hold small odd-shaped samples, then conducting photolithograhy on Al2O3 disks to create multibore sample chambers; or developing a polishing process on a CMP tool, which can remove the oxidation layer on pyrite samples for the study of uranium reduction precipitation features on pyrite by in-situ fluid tapping AFM.

Over this past year, NNIN/C@Michigan has provided a series of workshops and webinars on modeling and simulation at both local and national levels. Topics covered included MEMS and microfluidic devices and their fabrication processes. The workshops and webinars have been used to keep research community informed of MEMS modeling activities and provided a platform for networking amongst academic and industrial researchers. The response to the computational workshops was very strong even though the hands-on aspect limited the number of attendees to about 75 in total, and over 240 researchers participated in our webinars.

In addition, the NNIN/C@Michigan domain expert has continued to provide consulting and assistance with software and/or hardware needs to many different researchers. In some cases, the computation expert at Michigan has been directly

Figure149: A few examples of the NNIN/C@Michigan webinars

Figure 148 Integrated device in Ti alloy housing on a US dime. The YSZ diaphragm is shown, along with three thin-film metal electrodes and RTDs on the diaphragm. The length of the Ti housing is for demonstration only.


Figure 150: Microfabricated PDMS prototype for sample processing and handling (top) and microfluidic subcomponents for homogenization, multiplexing, and detection (bottom).

engaged in the project to develop novel techniques and algorithms for the site users.

The Michigan site of the NNIN has also continued expanding its experimental user community through many different events and activities: seminars and workshops on and off-site, participation in technical conferences, partnerships and discussions with local business organizations, etc. By continuing to work with a dedicated person for marketing and user outreach, we have been able to continue to develop the marketing/communication for NNIN@Michigan and spread the NNIN message among the research community who could benefit from it.

As a consequence, the LNF user community has continued to grow over this past year, both in number of users and in terms of the number of research groups and organizations served. Off-site processing capabilities, in which researchers send samples to be processed by NNIN@Michigan staff, are still proving to be very popular, especially for researchers who are doing most of their fabrication in a different laboratory and are only making use of a specific capability available at our site (DRIE, wafer bonding, e-beam lithography, deposition of non-standard material, etc).

7.10.2 Research Highlights Below are a few highlights for this past year from some of the LNF users.

STIgma Free Diagnostics, LLC is a new start up company that develops point-of-care (POC) diagnostic devices for small clinical use utilizing novel microfluidic and BioMEMS technology to ensure quick, efficient, and accurate results. Their diagnostic device will enable greater access to testing for the most common curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) - Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and Trichomoniasis. The devices

integrate microfluidics and micro-fabricated cantilevers into a receptacle cup for gravity-driven, user-friendly operation. Urine samples from patients are collected in the receptacle and drive the flow into microfluidic channels for homogenization, multiplexing and detection. High sensitivity testing is achieved through real-time protein and cell-fragment sensing using in-channel cantilevers.

Prof. Tuteja’s group at the University of Michigan has been working on thermoelectric materials for future portable power generation systems. More specifically, one of the group’s project aims to enhance the figure of merit of inorganic oxides by providing independent control over the electrical and thermal conductivities.

Figure 151: A polycrystalline oxide nanofiber placed across the electrodes of the measuring device (left) and nanostructured bulk oxide (right).


Kasra Momeni, in prof Levitas’s group at Iowa State University has been working with the NNIN/C@Michigan domain expert to investigate the piezoelectricity in ZnO nanowires. Zinc oxide nanostructures play a key role in the field of nanopiezotronics because of their biocompatibility, piezoelectricity, and high band gap. In this project, size-scale effect on piezoelectric properties of ZnO nanowires (NW) using molecular dynamics (MD). This can open new possible applications of ZnO NWs as a new energy source for micro/nano devices.

Prof Sepulveda at Michigan State University sent several of his graduate students to the LNF Summer Smart Start, an intensive training program offered for the first time in the summer 2012, and these students have been usign the LNF for their fabrication process since then. The group aims at developing new materials with unique properties, so that their integration in devices cleverly designed for particular applications result in transformative technologies. One of the projects uses the structural phase transition of vanadium dioxide (VO2) into monolithically integrated MEMS devices. Given the repeatability, large strain energy density, robustness, and inherent multifunctionality that VO2

brings to MEMS actuators, these devices are expected to replace currently used actuation technologies. The MEMS devices that make this technology possible have been fabricated at LNF facilities and VO2-based MEMS actuators have demonstrated strain energy densities of ~ 8.1 x 105 J/m3 and speeds in the kHz range.

Prof Zhong’s group, in the EECS department at the University of Michigan, aims to overcome the fundamental ionic screening effect in high background ionic solutions where the mobile ions screen off the biomolecules, thereby reducing the biosensor sensitivity. The group has successfully fabricated carbon nanotube (CNT) transistors, which are operated as frequency mixers. The nonlinear mixing between alternation current excitation filed and molecular dipole field can generate mixing current sensitive to surface bound biomolecules.

Figure 154: An SEM image of suspended top gate CNT FET (left) and typical frequency mixing I-V response (right).

Figure 153: VO2-based MEMS actuator chip (right) and close up of a fully suspended MEMS actuator with patterned resistive heaters (left).

Figure 152: Zinc oxide nanowires with different diameters are studied to capture the size-scale effect on their piezoelectric properties.


Evigia Systems, Inc is a local company which has been using the LNF for several years to develop a variety of energy-efficient sensors and sensing systems for integration with radio-frequency identification tags (RFID). Its core technology is on post-CMOS proprietary integration of MEMS/NEMS sensors and circuits and packaging at wafer-level, and ultra low-power circuits and ultra low-power sensors. One of the sensors recently fabricated at LNF is a microgravity accelerometer for precision acceleration measurements at micro-g levels. The sensor is fabricated atop of CMOS wafers providing high-sensitivity, low-noise and high-stability, and sealed at wafer-level with silicon-cap lowering drift and shielding EMI. It has a sensitivity of 1.8V/g and noise floor of 1.2µg/rt-Hz.

At Wayne State University, Prof Yong Xu’s group has been working on flexible electronics technology and has used the LNF to successfully fabricate flexible MOSFETs using a simple SOI-CMOS compatible technology. Compared with existing technologies such as direct fabrication on flexible substrate and transfer printing, the biggest advantage of this new technology is its SOI-CMOS compatibility. Consequently, high performance and high density CMOS circuits can be first fabricated on SOI wafers, and then be integrated into flexible substrates. The yield is improved by eliminating the transfer printing step and furthermore, this new technology allows the integration of various sensors and microfluidic devices into the flexible substrate.

Prof Pruitt’s group at Stanford University is developing scientific instruments with an unprecedented combination of force and time resolution to study the sense of hearing. The study of mammalian hearing has been limited by instrument speed to date, and the force probes were developed to address this technological gap. The devices integrate a piezoresistive sensor and piezoelectric actuator onto a cantilever beam, allowing the measurement and application of atomic-scale forces with microsecond-scale time resolution. Most of the device fabrication is done in the SNF and her group is using the LNF as a complement, for the backside DRIE step which is critical as it releases the cantilevers. For this project, the work was done remotely by NNIN@Michigan staff members.

Figure 156: A bent flexible device held by a pair of tweezers.

Figure157: SEM of a completed force probe, which consists of a stiff piezoelectric at the base of a flexible piezoresistive sensor.

Figure 155: Single-Chip CMOS-MEMS

Microgravity Accelerometer


Figure 158 AMAT P5000 RIE cluster tool.

7.10.3 Acquisitions, Changes and Facility Operations Several new pieces of equipment have been acquired and/or installed during this past year, including our new two Applied Materials (AMAT) P5000 cluster tools: one for PECVD, one for RIE. Both systems are 3 chamber cluster tools for 6” wafers and can accommodate 4” or smaller samples by using carrier wafers. They will allow us to improve our material segregation for both PECVD and RIE processes. The PECVD tool will provide deposition capabilities for a-Si (intrinsic or doped), SiO2, SiN, TEOS and oxynitride, while the RIE tool will allow us to etch polySi, SiO2, SiN, DLC and oxynitride. Installation of these tools is underway and we expect to release them to the user community later in 2013.

We have also installed the Angstrom Engineering CNT deposition system: this tool is a general use system for CNT, graphene and annealing. It offers both LPCVD and atmospheric processes, temperature up to 1100ºC and a wide variety of gases. Segregation will be supported via interchangeable 2" and 8" processing tubes. The tool has already been released for CNT and graphene, but we target the annealing and sintering applications for Spring 2013.

Our lithography capabilities have also been enhanced during this past year with the acquisition and installation of a Heidelberg Instruments µPG 501 Direct Write Pattern Generator. This tool has the ability to write structures down to 1 μm, at a write speed up to 50 mm2/min. It can be used with standard positive and negative photoresists as well as UV-resists such as SU8, and should be a significant enhancement for users who need a quick turn around. At the time of this report, the tool characterization is almost complete and we expect to release the tool to the user community very shortly. The tool also has the ability to create 3-dimensional structures using Gray Scale Exposure technology.

Furthermore, we have installed new spinning and developper stations, compatible with sample size from pieces to 7” mask plates. These automated tools will minimize the risk of cross contamination between samples and at the same time will reduce chemical waste.

Metrology capabilities have also improved with the addition of the Woollam M-2000, a spectroscopic ellipsometer capable of extracting thickness and index of refraction for transparent and semi-transparent thin films or coatings. The tool is equipped with fully automated alignment of stage tip/tilt and focus, which greatly improves ease of use, and has a high speed CCD detector for collection of data across the full spectral range of 193-1683nm simultaneously. Typical acquisition time is 5sec per site per angle. Figure 160: Heidelberg µPG501

Direct Write Pattern Generator

Figure 159: Angstrom Engineering CNT System


This tool is already being used by the LNF user community. In addition, a new Dektak XT contact profilometer has also been purchased and will be released by Spring 2013. This tool has a Single-arch design and improved electronics to provide lower noise floor, it is capable of 10A 1-sigma step height repeatability and its automated X-Y stranslation stage allows for 3D topography mapping and automated data collection. The scan length of 55mm in a single scan with up to 150 mm total scan length allows data collection of wafer bow and film stress calculation by using built in stress analysis software.

As part of the continued development of capabilities for the LNF bio-community, we have habilitated a Bio-safety Level II area in proximity to the Soft Lithography Facility. Users who need to grow, deposit or observe bio-specimens in fabricated structures such as micro-channels have now access to a secure, clean and safe environment where all the capabilities are in the same laboratory space, thus avoiding the transport of live specimens or clean devices outside of the controlled environment. The Bio-Safety II laboratory is equipped with a bio-safety cabinet, CO2 incubators, centrifuge, UV lamp, storage capabilities, a computer controlled fluorescent microscope (also with CO2 capabilities), Olympus BX51 top down microscope, and all the necessary equipment needed to perform experiments safely for the specimens and the user community.

7.10.4 Diversity Oriented Contributions This past year, the NNIN@Michigan group worked with the Cody High School group in Detroit and achieved high minority/female participation in our NanoCamp and REU programs. We have continued to strategically partner with organizations such as the University of Michigan CoE Center for Educational Diversity and Outreach (CEDO) and the University of Michigan Medical School Diversity and Career Development Office (DCDO) to support their summer outreach programs (e.g. SCEEP, MITE) that target underrepresented populations. Moving forward, we plan to continue developing additional strategic partnerships with relevant organizations such as MI-LSAMP and Give Merit, a local non-profit that offers an after-school program for high school students in Detroit, MI, which contains a large population of students from underserved communities.

7.10.5 Education The NNIN@Michigan has continued to build its educational infrastructure through the delivery of established programs and the development of new initiatives and strategic partnerships.

K-12 and general public Our main efforts toward the K-12 community include the NanoCamp for middle and high school students, science fair judging and awards, hosting school visits and hosting a hands-on workshop for science teachers. Additionally, we are contributing to statewide initiative to promote STEM education through our efforts with the Michigan STEM Partnership. This has also allowed us to contribute to the development of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) that will adopted by numerous states within the next few years. We will be partnering with the Michigan Science Teachers Association (MSTA) to offer an onsite professional development workshop related to nanotechnology for attendees at their next annual meeting in March 2013.

Figure162: Middle and high school students from throughout the region attended our 2012 NanoCamp

Figure 161 Woolam M-2000 spectroscopic ellipsometer


Undergraduate Students Undergraduate initiatives include hosting REU students and mentoring undergraduate students on research projects within our facility throughout the year. Additionally, we implemented a science communication workshop for summer undergraduate researchers.

Graduate Students and Professionals Graduate and professional education efforts included onsite workshops (e.g deep reactive-ion etching), seminars at regional institutions and a series of webinars on topics related to computation and geoscience. We have also developed the LNF Summer Smart Start program, an intensive training program for new LNF users during the summer, which provides both lectures and hands on activities on fabrication and characterization steps applicable to many research projects.

Over the last year, significant strides have been made to identify and establish partnerships with additional community colleges and have resulted in substantial interactions with three regional community colleges, Oakland Community College (OCC), Henry Ford Community College (HFCC) and Washtenaw Community College (WCC). Our role with the community colleges not only focuses on instructional support but also workforce development and retraining efforts. In partnership with Oakland Community College, we developed an internship for students from their nanotechnology technician training program. Our first OCC intern, who was unemployed since 2009 after over 20 years as a technician in the automotive industry, was immediately hired upon completion of the internship by a biotech firm currently using our facility. This successful outcome was covered by one of our major news organizations, the Detroit Free Press.

With the assistance of HFCC, we are developing a job profile for nanotechnology-relevant technicians that will be used to strengthen curricula in existing programs at current and future regional partner community college. Additionally, we have developed a strategic partnership with the Southwest Center for Microsystems Education (SCME), an NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) center focused on microsystem technician training which aligns well with our primary MEMS thrust.

7.10.6 SEI highlights

Figure 164: The remarkable experience of our community college intern, a laid-off autoworker, generated the attention of a major regional newspaper, The Detroit Free Press, in December 2012

Figure 163: Middle and high school science teachers learn about nanotechnology at a one-day workshop for educators


Our current SEI efforts primarily focus on new users by requiring their participation in a roundtable discussion on the ethical implications of their work. Additionally, laboratory safety is emphasized during these roundtables and users are required to view the US Chemical Safety Board video entitled “Experimenting with Danger” prior to arriving. Overall, we have found that users appreciate the opportunity to discuss the ethical implications of their work and learn from the perspective and experiences of other researchers.

We also continue to engage our existing users by hosting seminars and advertising relevant local events. Recently, we offered a seminar on the topic of ethical issues related to technology transfer and the potential impact on start-ups. Additionally, K-12 students are also exposed to SEI activities during our NanoCamp event.

Figure 165 Prof. Jasprit Singh gives a closing presentation on the potential role of nanotechnology in creating a world where everyone enjoys a sustainable good life to an audience of NanoCamp participants and family members


7.10.7 University of Michigan Selected Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Figure 166: University of Michigan Selected Site Statistics

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7.11 University of Minnesota Site Report 7.11.1 Summary of Initiatives and Activities The Minnesota node focuses on serving a large set of external users in a variety of areas including electronics, MEMS and alternative energy. A primary performance metric is the number of users, especially external users. As a result of an aggressive recruiting processwe continue to increase by about 10% per year. We now have users from more than xx external universities or companies.

Major new capabilities this year include a Heidelberg DWL200 mask maker and direct write optical lithography system, an Oxford Instruments Plasmalab System 100 ICP etch system, an Xactix xenon difluoride etcher for sacrifical layer removal, and a Intlvac Ion Milling System which we expect to take delivery in February of 2013.

The major advance for the node, however, is the construction of a new Physics and Nanotechnology building across the street from the Electrical Engineering building which houses the current cleanroom facilities. The building will house a new cleanroom with 5000 square feet under filter. Most of the nano systems will be moved to the new facility beginning in early 2014 when it opens. This will be supplemented with new equipment, funded through the University’s College of Science and Engineering. The current facility will continue to operate to support MEMS research as well as serving as a teaching lab.

At this writing building construction is more than halfway complete. The outer envelop is complete and masonry work on the eterior is nearing completion. Trade work (plumbing, electrical HVAC) is well underway. The new cleanroom will be housed on the first floor immediately adjacent to the entrance to the building. This enclosure is nearing completion. Cleanroom construction will begin in the spring of 2013. An interesting aspect of the new facility is the includion of nonclean space adjacent to the cleanroom. These labs, which will operate as open facilities in the same manner as the cleanroom, will support researchers active in bionano and nano materials, supporting activites such as mamalian cell culturing, fluoresence and hyperspectral microscopy, dip pen lithography, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, and nanoparticle synthesis and functionalization.

7.11.2 Selected External and Internal Highlights All optical switch of light on a silicon chip

Professor Mo Li’s (Minnesota ECE) new device allows one optical signal to directly control another of a much higher power level so that signal amplification is achieved. The device has two optical waveguides. Between them is an optical resonator. Utilizing this resonance, the optical signal in the first waveguide is significantly enhanced and generates a very strong optical force on the second waveguide. The second waveguide is released from the substrate so is free to move. When the first optical signal, which generates an amplified force on the second waveguide, is modulated, it controls the position of the second waveguide. If light of a different color with a higher power level is input in the second waveguide, the information is

Figure 167: Physics and Nanotechnology building under construction. Current cleanroom is in the building on the upper left.

Figure 168: All optical switch sequencing scheme


thus transferred from one color of light to another color with amplified amplitude. The relay currently operates at 1-10 MHz and can be improved to 1GHz so it is sufficiently fast for radio-frequency photonics and sensor applications.

Low cost methods for making dense nanopore arrays Professor Beth Stadler (Minnestoa ECE) has developed a technique to fabricate large area periodic nanopore arrays. The technique to suitable for mass production at very low cost. In the process Ni is directly deposited by seedless electroplating on a Si line array mold which is made by e-beam lithography or laser interference lithography. The Ni submaster is removed from the Si by template stripping. This is used to provide a double imprint on Al foil. The hole periodicity and pattern is determined by the array period and the angle between the two imprint steps. Then the pattern transfer is completed by anodization of the Al foil.

MEMS deformable mirrors for focus control Professor David L. Dickensheets (Montana State ECE) has developed a technique to fabricate deformable mirrors. MEMS deformable mirrors are useful elements in miniaturized optical imaging systems. The MEMS mirrors can achieve wide bandwidth actuation by choosing a correct backplate design. The mirrors are able to adjust focal length from infinity to 2.8 cm at a driving frequency 25 kHz for 3 mm diameter membrane. We used the MEMS mirrors for fast focus scanning in a confocal microscope.

Electroplate-and-Lift (E&L) Lithography Professor Michael Zach (Wisconsin Stevens Point, Chem) has developed a novel technique for the mass production of micro- and nano-wires of any electroplatable material. The process employs reusable template of lithographically patterned ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD). Wires initially nucleate on the edge of a 50 nm thick conductive layer (nitrogen incorporated-UNCD). The wire growth continues as long as voltage is applied, to desired final diameter. Wires may be removed by applying an adhesive polymer such as office tape, to regenerate template for subsequent electrodepositions. The group has produced micro- or nanowires of 26 distinct materials with wire diameters from <100 nm to 10 mm and lengths more than 100x that of the diameter.

Long Wavelength VCSELs Dr. Mary Hibbs-Brenner (Vixar Corporation, www.vixarinc.com) has developed a process for making vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) using InP-based materials. These are intended for biomedical and industrial sensing and lase at a wavelength of 1850 nm. They have achieved continuous wave lasing up to 85° C, with power up to 7mW. The device shows a single mode spectrum with <0.1nm FWHM.

Figure 169: Array of nano dots made by successive line imprints

Figure 170: Deformed optical mirror and optical properties of the element

Figure 171: electroplate and lift process

Figure 172: VCSEL current-voltage and output power as a function of current.


7.11.3 Equipment and Facility Highlights New Clean Room

The new Physics and Nanotechnology building is scheduled to be completed in Nov 2013, including a new clean room facility (5000 ft2 under filter, 10000 ft2 gross) to supplement our current cleanroom. The new building will also have non-clean laboratory space dedicated to bio-nanotechnology and nanoparticle technology. The existing facility will continue to operate focusing on MEMS and teaching, while the new facility will be focused on nanoscale activities.

Heidelberg Laserwriter Our new Heidelberg DWL 200 laserwriter was installed and qualified for use. The primary use of this tool will be photomask fabrication as well as direct write on substrate. The DWL 200 can define features down to 0.6um, and write a 5 inch mask plate in a few hours. We purchased the 3D lithography option, which will be useful for researchers working in micro-optics. A second option for backside alignment was purchased, which will be useful for those working in MEMS processing.

Oxford High Density Plasma Etcher An Oxford Instruments Plasmalab System 100 plasma etcher with an inductively coupled plasma source was purchased and installed to replace an older, less efficient etcher. The new etcher has improved etch rates by a factor of 10 for many materials. This is a workhorse system that will greatly increase our capacity for etching different materials. Etch gases include Cl2, BCl3, CF4, CHF3, and O2, and commonly etched materials are metals such as Al, silicon, compound semiconductors, and dielectrics such as SiO2 and SiN.

Xactix Xenon Difluoride Etcher A Xactix model Xetch e1 etcher was purchased and installed to provide the new capability of xenon difluoride etching of silicon. This tool is particularly well-suited for MEMS applications, since XeF2 gas etches silicon rapidly as a vapor etchant, (meaning no need for plasma or high temperatures), but does not etch other commonly used films such as photoresist, aluminum, SiO2, and SiN. The vapor nature of the etch eliminates common MEMS processing problems associated the use of wet etchants.

Intlvac Ion Milling System An Intlvac model Nanoquest II ion milling system has been ordered to replace our current tool that is over 20 years old. The new system has an improved 22 cm diameter RF ion source, which will greatly improve etching uniformity. The substrate stage is designed for high cooling capacity, which is essential for improved etch rate and yield for many materials. The stage also has precise rotation and tilt capabilities that are important variables for optimizing etching recipes. The tool is scheduled to arrive in March 2013.

7.11.4 Diversity A. Extended Tours & Presentations 1. NanoDays Community Event, March 31, 2012.

NFC’s Outreach Coordinator, Dr. Jim Marti, worked with a community-based education advocacy group to

Figure 173 Rendering of new Facility


organize an all-day education fair on nanotechnology. The organization, SELF International, has the mission to improve participation and success in STEM education by students of color in a Mineapolis inner-city neighborhood. Dr. Marti delivered the keynote address for the event, staffed the NFC exhibit, and presented demonstrations on nanoscale phenomena for visitors. About 100 people attended the event; 90% of school-age visitors were African-American.

2. NanoDays On-Campus Event, March 29, 2012.

The Nanofabrication Center hosted 350 high school students from Washington Technology Magnet School (St. Paul) during its on-campus Nanodays event. Washington is a STEM magnet school that serves 700 students in grades 7-12, 90% of which are students of color and 91% of which are eligible for free or reduced school lunches. The students received tours of the NFC cleanroom, saw demonstations on making integrated circuits, played with hands-on nanoscience activities, toured UM reserarch labs, and took in an auditorium show of physic demonstrations.

B. Recruiting a More Diverse User Group Throughout the year in 2012, Dr. Marti contacted faculty members at colleges and universities around the state of Minnesota, with the primary aim of reaching out to new potential academic users and building a more diverse user group. He gave presentations on research opportunities at the Nanofabricaiton Center to groups of faculty from six universities: Winona State University, Minnesota State Univesity-Mankato, Iowa State University, South Dakota State University, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and the University of South Dakota. During thise visits, faculty were invited to work with the NFC and collaborate with UMN faculty in new nanoscience research projects. Faculty were also recruited for NNIN’s Laboratory Experience for Faculty (LEF) Program.

During the 2012 academic year, Prof. Gina Samuelson of the St. Catherine University in St. Paul took part in the LEF program at Minnesota. Working with Prof. Andre Mkoyen of the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science department, Prof. Samuelson spent the summer and fall of 2012 fabricating characterizing samples of graphene films.

7.11.5 Education and Outreach

A. Outreach to Teachers and Faculty

1. Minnesota Science Teachers Association Conference on Science Education, March 1-3, 2012 Jim Marti staffed an exhibit booth during this conference, a meeting of about 500 elementary and secondary science teachers from throughout Minnesota. Dr. Marti spoke with 40-50 people, handed out information on the NNIN RET program, and actively solicited applicants for the program. He distributed summaries of NNIN's educational modules (available on NNIN's education portal web site), and encouraged teachers to check out these materials as a free curriculum resource for teaching nanoscience and nanotechnology.

2. Presentation on the Nanofabrication Center at Winona State University, March 21, 2012 Jim Marti provided a presentation on Nanofabrication Center to explain processes and capabilities of the Nanofabrication Center to undergraduate students at Winona State University.

3. Presentation on the Nanofabrication Center at the University of South Dakota, April 19, 2012Jim Marti provided a presentation on Nanofabrication Center to explain processes and capabilities of the Nanofabrication Center to undergraduate students at the University of South Dakota. Using a video link, faculty and students from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and South Dakota State University also took part in the presentation and following discussion.


4. Presentation on the Nanofabrication Center at Iowa State University, April 24, 2012 Jim Marti provided a presentation on Nanofabrication Center to explain processes and capabilities of the Nanofabrication Center to undergraduate students at Iowa State University.

5. Presentation on the Nanofabrication Center, Mankato State University, September 26, 2012 Jim Marti provided a presentation on Nanofabrication Center to explain processes and capabilities of the Nanofabrication Center to undergraduate students at Mankato State University.

B. Classes and Tours for Students Jim Marti presented the following tours and classes.

6. NFC Tours for QuarkNet Particle Physics Program, March 9, 2012 Tours of the Nanofabrication Center were given to "Masterclass" physics students who were part of the the QuarkNet Particle Physics outreach program (NSF).

7.NFC Tour for FIRST Robotics Competition Participants, March 28, 2012 A tour and explanation of what is done at the Nanofabrication Center was given to participants in the FIRST Robotics Competition.

8. NFC Tours, April 8 and April 30, 2012 Tour of the Nanofabrication Center provided for groups of University of Minnesota freshmen interested in engineering majors.

9. Photolithography Class, April 20, 2012 An all-day class was presented to a group of students attending the Minnesota Profoundly Gifted Conference, on the concepts and ideas behind microelectronics and photolithography.

10. NFC Tours, April 30, 2012 Jim Marti provided tours of the Nanofabrication Center for visitors attending the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Open House.

11. NFC Tour, June 26, 2012 A tour of the Nanofabrication Center and a demonstration of microelectronics fabrication was presented to high school students attending a summer nano camp at Dakota County Technical College.

12. Nanotechnology Class and NFC Tours, July 11, 2012 An overview of the ideas and science behind nanotechnology was presented to a group of middle school students taking part in the SELF international summer program. Two tours of the Nanofabrication Center were included in this program.

13. Kick-off for the Northstar STEM Alliance, September 25, 2012 Jim Marti staffed an exhibit table to promote and discuss NNIN REU program at this event. The event provided resources and information on undergraduate research opportunities to Minnesota’s underrepresented minorities receiving bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

14. Classes and NFC Tours, November 13-15, 2012 Six groups of students enrolled in the engineering program at the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul) were given tours of the NFC cleanroom, as well as demonstarions of microfabrication.

C. Outreach to External Users

15. 8th Annual Minnesota Nanotechnology Workshop, November 7-8, 2012 This two-day workshop at the University of Minnesota offers presentations and discussions on topics


including Nanoparticle Synthesis and Reactivity, Advanced Electronic Materials, Nano Toxicity, and Photovoltaics. The workshop, which was attended by approximately 170 people, also included a reception and poster session after Tuesday's talks. The reception allowed opportunities to network, view the poster exhibit, and talk one-on-one with researchers about their work. This workshop reaches more than 50 undergraduate and community/technical college students. It exposes them to this research and these discussions and allows them to network and discover education options in nano and related science/engineering areas.

16. Thin Film Coatings Seminar, November 7, 2012 This seminar introduced the processes of thin film deposition and characterization. Class members learned about thin film applications and the most common thin film deposition methods, then got hands-on experience by depositing and testing thin films using the tools in the NFC.

17. Seminar on Making Nano-structures with Electron-beam Lithography, November 8, 2012 This seminar covered the principles of electron-beam lithography as well as the capabilities of the Vistec EBPG5000+, and includes a hands-on demonstration of the tool's patterning capabilities.

18. Micromachining Introduction, November 8, 2012 This seminar was aimed at those in the fields of precision manufacturing and small scale devices. The objective was to educate designers of medical devices, precision mechanisms, and other devices on the ability of microlithography to fabricate very small structures. The course presented an introduction to surface and bulk micromachining, MEMS structures, and photolithography.

D. NNIN Outreach Events and Activities

19. USA Science and Engineering Festival, April 25, 2012 Along with several other NNIN personnel, Jim Marti took part in this large scale education outreach event to promote awareness and understanding of nanoscience and technology to the general public.

20. Research Experience for Undergraduates, summer 2012 Five NNIN REU students were selected to spend their summer at the U of Minnesota. Interns spent 10 weeks of intensive laboratory research experience working with a faculty member and his/her research group to make meaningful contributions to a research project. This year's projects included: microfabrication of neural networks, photocapacitance of embedded Si nanoparticles, DNA barcoding in nanochannels, nanofabrication of engineered metallic electrodes for thin-film organic solar cells, giant magnetoresistive sensors.

21. Research Experience for Teachers, summer 2012 Three NNIN RET participants were selected to spend 7 weeks working with a faculty member and his/her research group making meaningful contributions to a research project. Participants translated this research experience to written activities for their classrooms. After returning to their schools in the fall, participants tested their activites on their classes with the aim of refining the activity.

7.11.6 SEI Activities

During early 2011, a polished Social, Ethical, Implications (SEI) Discussion and Module were created, ready to be delivered to Nanofabrication Center (NFC) users at the University of Minnesota. The main content for the Guide and Module was researched, assembled, and refined by Humphrey School of Public Affairs student Jonathan Brown, and reviewed and critiqued by Humphrey School faculty member Dr. Jennifer Kuzma. Since the pilot session in March 2011, the Module was approved for further implementation in all follow-up sessions. Throughout the remainder of 2011, sessions have been conducted about one to two times per month. In mid 2012, the operation of these session was transferred


to Leili Fatehi, J.D.. Typically session last between 1.5 to 2 hours, and had groups sizes ranging between 2-12 attendees. For groups six attendees or larger, group discussion involves first tackling the given question/issue in groups of two to three and then sharing ideas with the larger group later on. For groups five or smaller, group discussion consists of individuals jotting down notes on a sheet a paper explaining the question/issue and then discussing the question/issue as a whole group.


7.11.7 University of Minnesota Selected Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Fig. 174; Selected U.Minnesota Site Statistics

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other university 11%

4 year college 2%

small company 9%

large company 4%

state and fed gov 0%

foreign 0%

Minnesota Lab Users March 2012-Feb 2013


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Figure 175: IntelliJet Drop Pattern Generator in hard disk drive applications by Molecular Imprints Inc. (Jet-FIL™)

Figure 176 A novel nanotechnology tool from MII: R2R system installed in the MRC cleanroom.

7.12 University of Texas Site Report 7.12.1 Technical leadership areas: Initiatives and Activities The MRC UT-Austin technical leadership areas comprise nanofabrication instrument design and process research through techniques such as nano-imprint lithography (NIL), electron beam lithography and chemical and molecular-scale methods with major emphasis on materials and manufacturing. Two examples of advanced research undertakings at the MRC in industrial areas are described below. MRC supports these and other start-ups by providing scientific exchange and access to equipment. Some of these start-ups are yet to make the necessary breakthroughs to speed up technology from the lab to the marketplace in order to create new industries and companies.

Activities, which involved several NNIN schools, took place at MRC UT Austin in 2012. These workshops and seminars fueled new research and innovation to solve difficult research questions.

Jet-and-Flash Imprint Lithography for HDD Storage One of the core-strengths of the MRC for nano-imprint patterning involves Step-and-Flash Imprint Lithography (S-FIL™) method. At MRC, imprint processes are conducted on the IMPRIO100 tool, acquired in 2005 from the MRC-hosted start-up, Molecular Imprints Inc. (MII). MII is one of the successful Univ. Texas spin-offs by two UT Professors. The revolutionary MII techniques are based on a Jet Drop Pattern Generator (resist version of an inkjet printer module) that optimizes the consumption of photoresist by replacing the spin coating step with a resist drop pattern matching the pattern layout. Looking to address the display market, the chief scientist at MII and Professor at UT Austin, SV Sreenivasan, introduced a roll-to-roll lithography system based on MII nanoimprint technology. The LithoFlex 100, is a high-volume unit capable of producing polarized glass or films for LCDs. MRC supports MII development activities by offering a suite of state-of-the–art metrology tools and jointly acquired TRION RIE equipment. A portion of MII employees is using the MRC cleanroom to sustain production lot analysis and sampling

Low-Cost Radiation-Hard Nonvolatile Random-Access Memory PrivaTran is a fabless semiconductor company, specializing in developing custom mixed signal integrated system solutions. Located in Austin, Texas, PrivaTran's staff of silicon designers, material, process, and interconnect specialists utilize a full suite of semiconductor design, simulation, and layout tools. PrivaTran partners with other companies to utilize the necessary additional facilities, equipment and staff to develop integrated system solutions. A key device developed by PrivaTran is memristor made from pure silicon. They could enable resistive random access memory (ReRAM) that are simpler and cheaper to manufacture than Hewlett-Packard's titanium-based formulation. The PrivaTran/ Rice University team demonstrated a proof-of-concept ReRAM that packs only 1-kbit, but which they claim can be scaled beyond the densities of flash. PrivaTran is sponsonred by a Air Force SBIR AF112-087.


Figur 178: Little TEX auditorium at the U of Texas hosted Dr. D. Lichan - Principal Scientist at Plasma-Therm- workshop

Joint NNIN workshop organization: Penn State/ Texas UT Austin, in collaboration with Penn State University, organized a 2-day workshop on Materials and Manufacturing for Energy and Electronics. Tutorial overviews on energy and electronics by experts from industry and academia were given. Speakers discussed the materials and manufacturing challenges and their research accomplishments in those fields. The specific topics of the workshop sessions were: Novel Memories, Energy Generation and Storage, and Novel Photovoltaic Cells. Forty professionals attended this workshop.

Stanford ALD roadshow at UT Austin Dr. J. Provine from Stanford University gave talks on the basics of ALD, ALD precursors and applications. He detailed the SNF's ALD processes and characterization. UT Austin experts presented their novel ALD BeO deposition recipe for gate dielectrics for InP based devices. Al2O3 gate dielectric deposition on graphene with Ti seed layer was also discussed. A total of 30 people (professors, graduate students) attended this workshop. Because Austin and Stanford share the same ALD platforms (Cambridge ALD), exchanges regarding maintenance and processes benefited both parties.

Characterization and process workshops: Woollam Ellipsometry, Plasma-Therm, Keyence Three workshops were co-organized by equipment manufacturers and MRC UT Austin.

MRC UT Austin hosted a technical workshop by Plasma-Therm, a leading supplier in plasma process equipment. This workshop focused on the fundamentals of plasma etching and deposition. Lectures by Dr. Lishan included the basics of plasma reactors and mechanisms for etching and deposition and review of state-of-the-art etching and deposition technologies as applied to semiconductors, MEMS and nanofabrication. The talks covered compound semiconductors, dielectrics, and deep silicon etching, as well as PECVD and high density plasma CVD of silicon based materials. Fundamental and new ideas for endpoint

detection and sample thermal budget management were presented. MRC owns 6 Plasma-Therm reactors and this workshop provided a better understanding of plasma technologies to users. 70 people attended this one day event.

Woollam ellisposmetry offered a one day short course and demo on our M-2000DI ellipsometer. Users grabed this opportunity to sharpen their skill on ellipsometry models. Multilayers sample measurement and Lorentz oscillators model were introduced by Woollam Application Engineer, Ron Synowicki.

Keyence demonstrated the power of surface profilometry with hands-on experiements using the VK-X200

Figure 177: Silicon oxide memory chip where silicon nanowire forms when charge is pumped through the silicon oxide, creating a two-terminal resistive switch. (Images courtesy Jun


Color 3D Laser Scanning Microscope. Users brought their samples for free characterization.

7.12.2 Acquisitions, Changes and Operations

The Microelectronics Research Center (MRC) of The University of Texas at Austin recently acquired a new set of state-of-the-art instruments that complement its existing nanofabrication strengths, while also expanding capabilities for manufacture and test of nanoscale devices and materials.

• To complement our 10 year old Westbond 7400A wire bonder, we upgraded and diversified the bonding capabilities by adding a Gold Ball bonder from K & S. Materials like graphene and InP based devices are still an ongoing challenge for developing a low temperature bonding process.

• For various back-end-of-the-line applications, a KML wafer bonder has been purchased and installed. Wafer-to-wafer as well as wafer-to-quartz bonds, with alignment capabilities are currently used.

To serve over 300 MRC annual cleanroom users, the facility team comprises 8 technicians and engineers, and 4 administrative staff members. Roughly a third of these are supported by NNIN funds.

7.12.3 Diversity Activities The University of Texas participated in the NNIN-sponsored Laboratory Experience for Faculty (LEF) program, which enabled research experience for faculty member belonging to a minority serving institutions. In summer 2012, one professor from Texas State University San Marcos, Prof. Nikoleta Theodoropoulou, was hosted by the MRC to advance her research program and extend her skills on organic semiconductors. She worked with Prof. Ananth Dodabalapur’s group about how to process and measure organic materials based devices with a cryoprobe.

7.12.4 Education Since 2004, MRC has hosted Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) scholars. Last summer UT Austin supervised 7 undergraduate students supported by the NNIN REU program, in addition to many other REU students. The REU participants consisted of 3 females and 4 males, working with UT professors and graduate students, acting as mentors on research projects. In addition to the REU students, UT Austin also hosted a graduate student from the Japanese Nanonet (a network similar to NNIN, guided by the National Institute for Materials Science, NIMS). The visiting students engaged in developing “Silicon Heterojunction Photovoltaic Cells” (Hans Banerjee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), “Anti-Reflective and High-Reflective Coatings for Room Temperature Terahertz Quantum Cascade Laser Sources” (Alexander Buck, Applied Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Fabrication and Characterization of a Micromachined In-Plane Directional Piezoelectronic Microphone (Jia (Gloria) Lee, University of California Berkeley), “Metasurface Dichroic Mirrors and Applications to Solar Energy via Spectral Splitting” (Adam McMullen, Mechanical Engineering, Rice University),

Figure 180 Non-contact line roughness and data can be generated over a large area of an antenna pattered with e-beam lithography. (courtesy R. Chen group & Keyence)

Figure 181: J. Johnson training user on Westbond wire bonder


“Improving power conversion efficiency of CuIn1-xGaxSe2 photovoltaics formed with nanocrystal ink” (Isao Mori, Electronic Engineering, the University of Tokyo), “Electrical properties of LaLuAs films” (Maria Michael, Mechanical Engineering, University of Virginia), “Using CIS nanocrystals capped with inorganic ligands for inexpensive photovoltaics” (Thomas Cherrelle, Chemical Engineering, Howard University) “ Enhancing the Luminescence Efficiency of GaSb-Based Dilute-Nitrides by Rapid Thermal Annealing”, (Nathaniel Wendt, Computer Engineering, Gonzaga Univ.).

The undergraduates also received an education on SEI via a remote conference from Dr. Paul McEuen, Cornell University. This conference induced passionate discussions and comments on research ethics.

They concluded their internship with a convocation with all the NNIN REU candidates at Washington DC. They had to comment on their posters and present their work in 12 minutes about their goals and research achievements of this 10-week program.

• On 8-10 Nov. 2012, UT co-exhibited with Georgia Tech an NNIN booth at the largest science teacher conference of the nation with 4,000 attendees. The NNIN booth was set up for this 3-day conference in the Bank of America convention center at Corpus Christi. Hands-on activities were presented – hydrophobic magic sand, ferrofluid. Samantha Andrews and Joyce Palmer (Georgia Tech) jointly with Dr. Marylene Palard (Texas) distributed more than 6,000 Nanooze magazines and promoted nanotechnology to the teachers and curriculum coordinators who visited the booth. The goal was to increase the content knowledge of elementary, middle and high school teachers in nanotechnology. The Texas Scientific teacher will be held in Houston in 2013.

• MRC UT-Austin offered cleanroom tours. During these guided tours, MRC specialists gave a synopsis of micro and nano fabrication, equipment and applications. Individuals from dissimilar age groups and different professional areas attended the tours: summer camp students, Nanomedicine Teachers from The Methodist Hospital -Houston, 15 students and their professor from Northwest Vista College were among the visitors.

7.12.5 Social and Ethical Issues (SEI) The MRC safety coordinator, Darren Robbins, schedules twice-a-week orientation sessions for new users. The SEI component is embedded in this 3-hour training. It is fulfilled using an in-house developed presentation that discusses the benefits and risks of using nanomaterials, and analyzing the case of silver nanocrystals as an antibiotic and therapeutic tool in living beings. A comprehensive review of safety procedures (emergency exits, cleanroom protocol to dispose acids, solvent and other chemicals, safety gear to handle chemicals, etc.) follows the Social and Ethical Issues (SEI) discussion. Questions and comments from the new trainees are stimulated during the discussion.

---End of Texas Text Report--

Figure 182: Science Teacher Association of Texas (STAT), 2012 conference in Corpus Christi.

Figure 183: Northwest vista college students: MRC cleanroom tour


7.12.6 University of Texas Selected Statistics

Figure 184: Selected U. Texas site statistics

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foreign6%

Texas Lab Hours March 2012- Feb 2013

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7.13 University of Washington Site Report 7.13.1 Overview The University of Washington NNIN node (UW-NNIN) has primary responsibilities in the areas of biological and life sciences, society and ethics (SEI), and in connecting the network to the aquatic and geoscience communities. UW-NNIN employs a technical staff of 10 and consists of the Microfabrication Facility (MFF) and Molecular & Nanotech User Facility (NTUF). MFF occupies 15,000 sq ft of space in Fluke Hall and provides access to precision e-beam lithography, photolithography, thin-film deposition, wet and dry etching, metrology, and advanced packaging capabilities. Since July 2011, the University of Washington has continued facility and equipment upgrades as well as increased staffing to ensure that MFF remains the primary regional resource for fabrication. In 2012 NTUF was relocated to the new Molecular Engineering and Science Building, where it occupies 1900 sq ft of laboratory space and 1200 sq ft of shared prep space. NTUF tools and facilities are partially targeted towards the needs on nanobio users. It also provides access to general nanoscale testing equipment and complementary e-beam lithography. Over the reporting period, UW-NNIN served 186 (282 under the 4-hr/month rule) users coming from the local site. Additionally, UW-NNIN supports 15 other academic institutions, 43 small and 15 large companies, one government, and 3 foreign organizations.

7.13.2 Aquatic, Geo and Environmental Sciences News Together with U. Michigan, and with the support of Cornell, Stanford and Georgia Tech, U. Washington has primary responsibility in connecting the network and its users with the aquatic and geoscience communities. 15 UW-NNIN users were doing research in these areas in 2012.

The Gallaher group (UW Environmental and Health Sciences) reported a study of zebrafish, a well-defined genetic model, to better understand the mechanisms of chemical olfactory injury. Their studies incorporate model olfactory toxicants, including trace metals (cadmium and copper) that are common pollutants in Superfund sites. The data shows impaired olfactory function damage accompanied by damage to sensory neurons in zebrafish larvae exposed to cadmium.

UW-NNIN is enabling research, with Shyam Sablani and Roopesh Syalamadevi (Washington State University), Food safety and spoilage are two major issues associated with organic fruits where the use of chemical disinfectants is impractical. Ultraviolet-C (UV-C 254 nm) light treatment is a possible alternative for chemical disinfection of fresh fruits. Understanding UV-C inactivation kinetics of microorganisms on fruit surfaces is required for designing effective UV-C treatments. However, fruit surface morphology may influence the kinetics of UV-C inactivation of microorganisms. In this study, UV-C inactivation of Penicillium expansum, inoculated onto the surfaces of organic strawberries and cherry and Escherichia coli O157:H7, inoculated onto the surfaces of organic strawberries and raspberries were analyzed. The surface properties of the selected fruits were characterized using environmental scanning electron microscopy and the surface roughness was determined using interferometer and P15 profiler. This study showed that UV-C effectively reduces P. expansum and E. coli populations on fresh fruit surfaces however, the efficacy of treatment is dependent upon the fruit surface morphology and surface integrity.

Figure 185. SEM view of 4-day-old zebrafish larvae. (pi, olfactory pits; e, eye; b, brain). Scale bar=100 µm

Figure 186. White light interferometer scan of a raspberry


7.13.3 Research Highlights David Cobden’s and Xiaodong Xu’s labs (UW Physics) reported in Nature Nanotechnology a research of the fundamental optoelectronic response of strongly correlated electronic systems for developing novel optoelectronic and photonic devices. They fabricated suspended VO2 nanobeam transistors. VO2 is an exemplary strongly correlated material known for its dramatic metal-insulator transition (MIT) at TC ≈ 68 °C. The nanobeams were first grown on SiO2/Si substrate. Fabrication of gold electrodes on top of selected nanobeams involved photolithography, e-beam metal evaporation, and metal lift-off to. Nanobeams were suspended by etching away SiO2. It was determined that photo-thermoelectric effect dominates photocurrent generation in VO2.

Xiaodong Xu’s group also reported on two semiconducting alternatives to graphene, including monolayer MoSe2 and bilayer MoS2 in press for Nature Communications and Nature Physics respectively. Monolayer MoSe2 is used to investigate new seminconducting physics by observing excitons and trions that will lead to development of a new generation of optoelectonic devices and possibly excitonic circuits. For bilayer MoS2, the Dirac-valley degrees of freedom emerge in the atomically thin two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. Xu’s group demonstrated the electrical control of this new electronic mode using polarization resolved photoluminescence of bilayer MoS2 and find that the circularly polarized PL can be continuously tuned from -15% to 15% as a function of perpendicular gate electric field. The observations are well explained as resulting from the continuous variation of orbital magnetic moments between positive and negative values via symmetry control and may open a way to utilize Dirac-

valleys in future electronic and photonic device operation. MFF enabled this research by establishing a process to accurately address and write electrodes on multiple 5-10 micron size flakes on a single subtrate via EBL.

Leslie Rosenberg’s group (UW Astronomy) has been working toward quantum noise limited amplifiers based on the Super Conducting Quantum Inference Devices (SQUID) for detection of subtle magnetic fields. Such amplifiers are commonly fabricated from a Nb/Al2O3/Nb metal tri-layer process, a novel version of which has recently been developed in MFF. Several tools were modified in order to accomplish this goal and achieve superconductivity. Continued development will provide UW astronomers with record setting radio frequency amplifiers.

Figure 188. Monolayer of MoSe2 fabricated into a 2-terminal, back-gated FET using e-beam lithography

Figure 187 A focused laser is depicted superimposed on a SEM image of a VO2 nanobeam suspended between gold electrical contacts

Figure 189. 3.75 micron Josephson junctions fabricated using a superconducting tri-layer process developed at MFF


Kai-Mei Fu’s (UW Physics) research is focused on the fabrication and testing of novel hybrid GaP/diamond photonic devices and networks for quantum information processing. Negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond are considered excellent candidates for qubits suitable for a solid state technology. Fu’s group successfully fabricated submicron resonator structures in GaP using EBL and etch tools in MFF. Furthermore, they realized hybrid device structures with diameters of a few micrometers with a layer transfer process. Currently, they are investigating the generation and conversion of nitrogen-vacancy defect centers in diamond by high-temperature anneal and electron beam exposure, as well as fabrication approaches that allow for integration of large GaP networks on diamond surfaces.

Hamish Robertson (UW Physics), Director of the Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, is using MFF to pattern synthetic fused-silica wafers with gold contacts for the MAJORANA Demonstrator experiment, for the Department of Energy, which seeks the answer to whether neutrinos and antineutrinos are the same particle or not. Extremely low levels of natural radioactivity are required, and the materials used in these connectors must have only a few parts per trillion of uranium and thorium. Cleanroom processing at MFF is an important aspect of performance to ensure the fidelity of these detectors.

Research by Lih Lin (UW EE) explores stimulating cells to trigger signaling in neural networks using quantum dots (QDs), an approach that combines the advantage of semiconductors, namely high sensitivity, fast response, and high design flexibility, with the advantage of photosensitive proteins, such as small size and cell-specific targeting. An optically excited QD exhibits an electric dipole moment. When placed close to a cell membrane, this light-stimulated dipole is polarized by the membrane potential. The

dipole field can be detected by the voltage sensor of a voltage-gated ion channel in the proximity of the QD, leading to channel activation. One of the future potential applications for this technology is simple and effective retinal prosthetics using QDs to replace deteriorated rods and cones.

Figure 192:. Fluorescent silicon quantum dots for future in vivo applications. Silicon quantum dots are also the center of a local SBIR grant for green lighting applications.

Figure 190 Hybrid GaP/Diamond device fabricated with EBL and Chlorine ICP etching

Figure 191: High purity gold electrodes on synthetic fused silica


Enabled by the JEOL EBL and ICP etch capabilities, the UW NNIN site has become a regional and international source for silicon photonics prototyping and fabrication. MFF has partnered with Lukas Chrostowski’s group at the University of British Columbia (UBC). This partnership includes the development and publishing of a Process Development Kit and parameterized cells (administered by Chrostowski via UBC) with fabrication of multiproject wafers (MPW) for silicon photonics being produced at MFF. Fabrication is done on 220 nm bonded silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. Researchers using the MPW processes include Jeff Young (UBC), Paul Barclay (Calgary), Mark Freeman (Edmonton), Joyce Poon (Toronto), and Lawrence Chen (McGill), with several more requests in the queue. Furthermore, the MPW includes several designs from academic courses.

Using the standardized MFF process flow, Chrostowski’s group has developed several novel photonic structures and has applied for several patents. One such structure is an anti-reflection, contra-directional coupler which is an add-drop filter with Bragg-grating wavelength selective functions. The anti-reflection component is a set of external gratings that induce destructive interference and supress back reflections. This substantially improves the bandwidth, temperature sensitivity, and increases power efficiency which is essential for short haul communications. While an obvious application of this technology is in telecommunications, silicon photonics is rapidly evolving into the sensing domain.

Jeff Young (University of British Columbia) studied the interaction of single metal and semiconductor nanoparticles with single photons using cavity quantum electrodynamics. The MFF SOI silicon photonics process was used to fabricate a photonic-crystal-based optical microcavity. The microcavity is based on a slot-waveguide geometry which supports modes localized primarily outside of the silicon. By operating the circuit in a solvent (such as hexane), containing metal and/or semiconductor nanocrystals, efficient optical trapping of the nanoparticles at the antinode of the cavity is demonstrated.

Silicon photonics is also crossing into the biology domain. Leveraging the grating couplers and structures from the telecom work, Chrostowski is partnering with Dan Ratner

(UW Bioengineering) to create low cost biosensors using MFF’s single etch process that is inherently cheaper than multi-etch processes. Biosensing is accomplished by creating holographic fiber grating couplers; basically arrays of 50 nm pores in the 220 nm thick top layer of the SOI. When exposed to an analyte of interest a spectral response occurs; shifting the wavelength that can be detected by instrumentation or the human eye. Furthermore, the grating couplers allow remote sensing with low cost lasers. MFF is working with Ratner’s group on potential development of even lower cost systems by using disposable, direct mounted lasers and detectors.

Figure 195. Photonic crystal microcavity

Figure 193. Multiproject Wafer (MPW) die for silicon photonics

Figure 194 Anti-reflection, contra-directional coupler

Figure 196. Holographic grating coupler for biosensing


Nathan Sniadecki (UW MechE) is using nanoposts for the detection and study of biological phenomena. Sniadecki’s group uses EBL and etching to create a silicon master to form PDMS replicas of arrays of nanoscale canteliever beams and microfluidic channels. By measuring post deflection, the forces acting on the posts can be determined. One critical application is the use of these nanopost arrays to study the platelet forces as measure of a trauma patient’s condition. This quick test can be vital in detecting internal bleeding and is part of a commercialization effort to develop rapid response, low cost sensors for trauma centers.

Jonathan Posner (UW MechE) is also pursuing applications using nanoposts; however, his group’s research is focused on development of biocompatible styrenic elastomers. The group is fabricating post and microfluidic channels using styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene block copolymers (SEBS). SEBS copolymers exhibit a combination of glassy thermoplastic and elastomeric behavior that make them a unique material for lab-on-a-chip applications. For these applications, microstructures are replicated from a SU-8 master mold that is patterned via lithography.

Also from UW Mechanical Engineering is I.Y. Steve Shen who is working on small scale lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin-film actuators for cochlear implants. The PZT microactuator generates a pressure wave that directly stimulates perilymph in the cochlea to provide acoustic stimulation. Using an integrated device, the PZT microactuator could enable a combined electric and acoustic stimulation (CEAS) of the inner ear. The current actuator is 1 mm wide, 10 mm long, and 0,4 mm thick. At the tip of the probe, there is a piezoelectric diaphragm serving as an acoustic actuator. The entire actuator is encased in a 250 nm thick layer of parlyene. The competed actuator has been successfully tested in water.

Dave Castner’s (UW ChemE) group is characterizing time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to create 3D depth profiles of materials, enabling the ability to monitor the chemical make-up of a sample as a function of depth. Since the images acquired are 2D chemical maps of a 3D object, the data from a depth profile must be corrected in order to display the true 3D structure of the original object. Calibration standards were fabricated to relate flat structures to surfaces with more topography and are used to study the affects of surface topography on the correction of 3D ToF-SIMS depth profiles.

Figure 197. Platelet formation between nanoposts in an array for trauma detection sensors (top), single post deflection due to platelet agglomeration (middle), fluorescence image of post deflection (bottom).

Figure 198 PZT cochlear implant with diaphragm actuator on tip (insert)

Figure 199. Calibration wafer for 3D ToF-SIMS


UW-NNIN houses several resident small and large corporate customers that work on applied research and prototype development. Several companies, including PCB Piezoelectronics, develop high-G accelerometer prototype systems. Applications vary from defense ballistics testing, oil drilling feedback, and reusable car crash sensors, Some of the devices require a 3-layer SOI wafer bonded process. A bulk portion of packaging is also completed at MFF.

Microvision (MVIS) is the world leader in scanned laser display systems for a variety of applications including near eye and projection displays. Since 1998 Microvision has used the MFF and its predecessor, the WTC MicroFab Lab, for prototype development of MEMS and the supporting optical elements needed for realizing these systems. The project focus has three primary areas: process development, scanner development system level support. The process development focus is to improve existing processes and develop new processes to create micro and nano structures that can open up new design opportunities and capabilities. The scanner development focus is on design improvement and advancement of MEMS scanner technology. Whenever applicable, Microvision uses the capabilities of the MFF to characterize, prototype and advance other optical and system elements such as micro-lens arrays, screens, and lenses that are needed to create the full system solutions that are being investigated.

NorthShore Bio, a startup from Oregon, designed 3D nanochannels in silicon for electronic molecular detection to enable a wide range of capabilities, including 3rd generation nucleic acid sequencing. The technology will greatly decrease the time and cost for genome-scale sequencing, as well as enable new form factors, molecular detection modes and markets. The components of this system fabricated at UW-NNIN include 3D structures and integrated electrodes. The structures are fabricated using a ‘stack’ of dielectrics holding electrodes on top of a silicon substrate. The process development to build the structures shown was done entirely at the UW-NNIN, which allows NorthShore Bio to use metals not available in conventional semiconductor manufacturing. Biochemical assays run on the surface of the structures are being used to develop novel bio-chemical sensors.

Figure 200. High-G accelerometer packages offered by PCB.

Figure 202:Optical image 3D nanochannels in silicon (top), SEM cross-section (bottom).

Figure 201: MEMS scanner die (top), microlens array (bottom).


7.13.4 Equipment, Facility and Staff Highlights Equipment – A CHA Industries Solution electron-beam evaporator was installed and commissioned in September 2012. This system is an addition to the two existing e-beam evaporators and two Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) sputtering systems and helps reduce contention in the deposition of thin-films. Furthermore, it enables one of the legacy systems to be used for processing of exotic and experimental materials that may be incompatible with mainstream processes.

A Leica Digital Video Microscope was purchased and installed in October 2012. The DVM depth of focus and software-based XY and Z stitching enable users to take high resolution, high depth of field, and large field of view images.

A Westbond semi-automatic ball-wedge wire bonder was installed in December 2012. This system has a programmable wire loop feature that eases use for ocassional operators. It also features a gold stud bumping option that will be used for development of 3D integration structures and flex assemblies.

Facility – MFF is currently in the completion of schematic design of a complete fabrication facility rennovation. Plans include a 3-phase construction process to minimize operational disruptions to the users of the facility. New cleanroom spaces will feature ISO Class 5 and 6 labs with completely new support infrastructure including all electrical and mechanical systems. This expansion will nearly triple the existing cleanroom floorspace. Part of the rennovation will include integration with the UW Center for Commercialization (C4C) that will increase the startup company and increase the ability of MFF to be an economic engine for the region.

NTUF has been relocated to the new Molecular Engineering and Science Building (MolES). The opening celebration of the MolES building (http://www.moles.washington.edu/) was held on September 18th 2012. It is centrally located on the UW campus and homes several advanced analytical facilities and faculty labs, providing an excellent environment for interdisciplinary collaborations and synergy, in particular in green technologies and life sciences.

Staff – In December 2012, after 8 years of distinguished service, Prof. Françios Baneyx (UW ChemE) stepped down as the UW-NNIN PI and has embarked on a well deserved sabbatical. Prof. Karl Böhringer (UW EE/BioE), the John M. Fluke Distinguished Chair of Engineering and Director of UW MFF, has assumed the role of UW-NNIN PI and Director of NTUF. In December 2012, the MFF and NTUF organizationally merged into a single administrative entity while operating in different buildings on the UW campus. This integration provides users a single point of contact, equipment scheduling, and accounting for all fabrication and characterization needs.

Between April and June 2012, MFF hired several new engineers including Dr. Darick Baker, Dr. Andrew Lingley, and Leonard Hixson. Dr. Baker joined UW-NNIN after running the cleanroom facility at the Colorado School of Mines and is now the lead engineer for the PVD section and performs a substantial amount of academic instruction within the cleanroom. Dr. Lingley is a recent graduate of UW under the advisement of Prof. Babak Parviz (UW EE/Google) where he worked on integrated sensor and electronics systems on flexible, biocompatible, and non-planar substrates, like contact lenses. Dr. Lingley now leads the photolithography and etch sections as well as running several foundry development

Figure 203 Dr. Baker commissioning the CHA solution evaporator

Figure 205: Molecular Engineering and Sciences building is the new location of NTUF

Figure 204: Fluke Hall concept drawing after major building renovation and cleanroom expansion

http://www.moles.washington.edu/


projects. Leonard Hixson joins UW-NNIN from the solar and hard drive (Hitachi) industries and leads the equiment and infrastructure support group. He has been instrumental in several interim facilities upgrades including toxic gas delievery systems, systematic dry pump standardization, and humidification control of the lithography spaces. Sadly, Lindsey Maier who had been working as SEM/EBL specialist, left UW-NNIN to join FEI as field support at a major semiconductor manufacturer in Oregon. We wish her the best as she takes on the challenge of this new and exciting endeavor.

7.13.5 Educational Highlights MFF, as part of the University of Washington NNIN node’s educational mission, hosted an Introduction to MEMS course that consisted of over 40 students during the 2012 autumn quarter. This graduate course is truly interdisciplinary with students from Bioengineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Material Sciences and Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. In the Winter 2013 term, UW-NNIN is hosting EE527, a graduate course in microfabrication techniques, taught by Prof. Bruce Darling (UW EE) where several devices are being produced and characterized during the 10-week quarter. In addition, BIOEN 455, an undergraduate course in BioMEMS is being taught

simultaneously. UW-NNIN engineers are actively engaged in supporting and instructing the lab sections for both these courses.

The special REU program for students of the North Seattle Community College (NSCC) Nanotechnology AAS-T degree program continued in 2012, with two NSCC interns conducting research in EBL fabrication of devices involving nanowires and graphene. With the UW-NNIN support, NSCC has received an NSF Advanced Technological Education grant to expand their Seattle’s Hub for Industry-driven Nanotechnology Education (SHINE) effort into a Regional Center for Nanotechnology education, which will further enhance UW-NNIN links to community colledge education.

A re-envisioning of the UW Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Student Association (NaNSA) was made to promote interdisciplinary interactions among students from different disciplines and supports the Nanotechnology and Molecular Engineering education programs at the University of Washington. By developing and coordinating interactions between industry and the Center for Nanotechnology, inviting special seminar speakers, and engaging students in outreach activities (http://www.facebook.com/pages/UW-Nanotechnology-Student-Association/341127365907453?ref=ts&fref=ts).

Increased lab capacity with the new Molecular Engineering building has brought increased capacities for student tours. The resources of the UW NNIN labs were combined with NaNSA for the Life Sciences Research Weekend, Nov. 2-4th at the Seattle Pacific Science Center.

Figure 206: UW-NNIN engineers teaching a fabrication course

Figure 207: Life Sciences Research Weekend, Nov. 2-4th at the Seattle Pacific Science Center

http://www.facebook.com/pages/UW-Nanotechnology-Student-Association/341127365907453?ref=ts&fref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/pages/UW-Nanotechnology-Student-Association/341127365907453?ref=ts&fref=ts


7.13.6 SEI Highlights The UW-NNIN SEI activities are coordinated by the Center for Workforce Development (CWD) has submitted two papers on research carried out the previous year. The CWD interviewed nanoscientist and nanoengineers at four NNIN sites regarding three areas: 1) Career pathways of men and women scientists; 2) Perceptions of risks and benefits of technology; and 3) Views on social and ethical awareness in the nanotechnology community. The four institutions were Cornell, Georgia Tech, Stanford and the University of Washington (UW). A total of 59 nanoscientists were interviewed.

Findings include:

1. Perceptions of risk by nanoscientists are persistently associated with safety precautions within the lab rather than any potential benefits or risks of the results.

2. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of participants mentioned that some kind of training would be beneficial in providing awareness of nanotechnology social and ethical issues for faculty. Responses also included a request for web-based training and in-person discussions.

3. More male nanoscientists are drawn into the field out of an intrinsic interest or excitement, whereas more female scientists enter the field as a tool rather than an end-in-itself.

The research and findings were compiled into two journal manuscripts. The first, ‘Managing Nanotechnology Risks in Vulnerable Populations: A Case for Gender Diversity” has been accepted to the Review of Policy Research Journal and will be published in a forthcoming special edition on nanoscience. The second manuscript, “Factors and perspectives influencing nanotechnology career development: Comparison of male and female academic nanoscientists” is under review by the Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering.

The Nanotechnology and Gender Workshop, titled “Toward Increasing Diversity in STEM Faculty: A workshop Addressing Underrepresentation of Women of all Ethnicities in Nanoscience Fields” conducted in 2011 has continued to receive positive feedback, including an article in Nano Reviews and a small write up in Science. The piece titled, “Workshop attendees suggest methods to improve the number and advancement of women scientists in NanoScience/NanoTechnology,” was written by Constance Jeffery, a science writer.

In combination with the career pathways research and the Nano and Gender Workshop, the CWD will be implementing a survey on perceptions of risk. Initial interviews led to the conclusion that risk is often conflated with laboratory-specific safety. The survey will be sent to all 198 females in the nanotechnology workforce, identified through a CWD-led search on nanotechnology and academic research centers, and a comparison group of males.

----End of University of Washington Text Report---


7.13.7. University of Washington Selected Statistics a)Historical Annual Users



Figure 208 : University of wshington Selected Site Statistics

Local Site Academic

66%

Other University1%

pre-college0%

Small Company24%

Large Company7%

State and Fed Gov1%

Univ. Washington Lab Hours March 2012-Feb.2013

16,091 hours

Local Site Academic

78%

Other University4%

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2yr college 1%precollege, 0%


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Univ. Washngton Users by Type- March 2012 - Feb. 2013

359 unique users

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7.14 Washington University in St. Louis Site Report 7.14.1 Overview The primary focal area of the Washington University in St. Louis NNIN node (WUSTL-NNIN) is in nanomaterial environmental health and safety; applications in medicine (nanomedicine), and in environmental and energy applications. WUSTL-NNIN is operated by the Nano Research Facility (NRF) and employs 4 technical staff. NRF includes over 2,000 sqft of cleanroom space with tools for photolithography, thin-film deposition, etching, and metrology as well as over 2,000 sqft of laboratory space populated with tools for synthesis of nanoparticles and characterization instrumentation to support the needs of nanomaterial envionmental health and safety investigators.

To meet the needs of nanomedicine and nanotoxicology researchers we have expanded our capabilties in the synthesis of functional nanomaterials and have recently added a one-of-a-kind tri-modality imaging system for in-vivo monitoring of nanoparticles to our imaging suite. During the reporting period WUSTL-NNIN has supported more than 140 unique users including users from 7 other universities, 6 small companies, and 3 large companies.

7.14.2 Research Project Highlights Highlight 1: Energy and the Environment NRF serves a strong user base in energy and environmental engineering research areas. Some of the topics under investigation are advanced materials for solar cells, batteries, and catalysis; transport of nanomaterials in the environment; nanoscale mineral transformations; and carbon sequestration.

The Biswas group (WUSTL Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering) has developed an efficient photocatalyst system to solve the CO2 emission problem by converting CO2 into value added products, e.g. CH4 and CO. By decorating ultra-small platinum nanoparticles on nanostructured titania single crystals, they were able to achieve record high CO2 conversion efficiency, with a maximum CH4 yield of 1361 mol/g-cat/hr. This collaborative work with the Gangopadhyay group from the University of Missouri – Columbia work was highlighted in the Journal of American Chemical Society (JACS) Spotlights.

The Biswas group has also worked with researchers from the Central Arid Zone Research Institute in Jodhpur, India, to develop an efficient aerosol process for synthesis and delivery of nanoparticles for living watermelon plant foliar uptake. This is an efficient technique capable of generating nanoparticles with controllable particle sizes and number concentrations. Aerosolized nanoparticles were easily applied to leaf surfaces and enter the stomata via gas uptake, avoiding direct interaction with soil systems,and hence eliminating potential ecological risks. The uptake and transport of nanoparticles inside the watermelon plants were investigated systematically using elemental analysis and transmission electron microscopy.

The Environmental NanoChemistry lab of Dr. Young-Shin Jun (WUSTL Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering) studies the transport of contaminants, including nanoparticles, in the environment. In work published in Environmental Science and Technology in November 2012 they combined synchrotron-based grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) and SAXS and other nanoparticle and substrate surface characterization techniques to observe

Figure 209: SEM image of TiO2 crystals decorated with platinum nanoparticles used as a photocatalyst for conversion of CO2 to valued added products.

Figure 210: Illustration of the relationship between iron hydroxide nucleation with hydrophilicity and zeta potential.


iron(III) (hydr)oxide precipitation on various quartz and organic-coated substrates. Their findings indicate that the degree of hydrophilicity may control heterogeneous nucleation of iron hydroxides and that the arrangement of functional groups at the substrate surface may also contribute. These results provide new information that will help predict nanoparticle interactions in natural and engineered systems.

Highlight 2: Nanomedicine To meet it’s commitment to the field of nanomedicine NRF provides technical expertise and user support in biological imaging and in characterization of nanoparticle-biological mixed mediums.

The Singamaneni group (WUSTL Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science) has designed a highly efficient Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering probe for high-resolution bioimaging. The designed probes (BRIGHTs) contain Raman a reporter (1,4-benzenedithiol) which is trapped between a core and shell of a layered gold nanostructure. The core-shell structure subjects the sandwiched reporter to a large and uniform EM field and protects them from desorption and degradation. When conjugated with a targeting antibody BRIGHTs have been demonstrated to serve as ideal candidates for fast and high-resolution SERS-based bioimaging of breast cancer cells using visible and near infrared excitations.

The Wang group (WUSTL Biomedical Engineering) has recently developed double-illumination photoacoustic microscopy (DI-PAM), which improves traditional reflection and transmission-mode optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) by illuminating the sample from top and bottom sides simultaneously, providing a penetration depth of ∼2 mm in tissue at 532 nm and a focal zone of 260 μm. DI-PAM offers significant improvements to photacoustic microscopy techniques which have been proven, by the Wang group in collaboration with researchers in medicine and materials science, to be effective tools for in-vivo imaging and localization of nanoparticles used for drug delivery and targeted treatment.

The St. Louis start-up company Pulse Therapeutics Inc. is developing emergency room stroke treatment technologies using magnetomotive enhanced thrombolysis with sub-micron magnetite particles. The WUSTL-NNIN facility continues to be a key resource for Pulse Therapuetics Inc. as they conduct post-clinical testing and examine other applications of the technology, including enhanced diffusion in capillary beds.

7.13.3 Equipment and Operation In 2012 WUSTL-NNIN dramatically increased its cleanroom capabilities with the support of the School of Engineering and Applied Science by adding:

• J.A. Woollam alpha-SE Ellipsometer for characterization of thin films

• AlphaStep D-100 Stylus Profilometer for characterization of film and device step height

Figure 211: Transmission electron microscope image and illustration of the designed probe (BRIGHTs) and example of SERS-based bioimaging using the BRIGHTs targeted to a breast cancer cell.

Figure 212: DI-PAM images of the small intestine of a mouse in-vivo.


• Signatone Probe Station S-1008 w/ Keithley 238 High Current Source & Instek LCR Meter LCR-821 for testing of microelectronic devices

• Lindbergh Blue M Tube Furnace for thermal oxidation

• Kurt Lesker PVD 75 RF and DC sputtering system for deposition of metal, oxide, and magnetic thin films

Additional tools to support nanoparticle synthesis and bioimaging were also added, including:

• Syrris Atlas Automated Synthesis System for controlled synthesis of nanoparticles in aqueous solution

• Olympus Tri-Modality Imaging System for confocal, two-photon confocal, and photoacoustic microscopy at the cellular and tissue levels.

In 2012 WUSTL-NNIN technical staff increased our in-house nanoparticle synthesis capabilties to include:

• Gold Nanocubes: Monodispersed 50-60nm cubic gold nanoparticles.

• Gold Nanododecahedra: Monodispersed 50-60nm rhombic gold nanoparticles.

• Gold Nanorods: Monodispersed rod-shaped gold nanoparticles with an aspect ratio of 3:1 and length of 145nm.

• Gold Nanoflowers: Gold nanoclusters consisting of a 50-60nm gold cube surrounded by 10-20nm gold spheres.

• Silica Nanospheres: Monodispersed 200-300nm spherical silica nanoparticles.

7.14.4 Staff In August of 2012 Jinho Park returned to graduate school to pursue a PhD in Materials Science with Dr. Younan Xia at Georgia Insitute of Technology. His position was filled by Dr. Sanmathi Chavalmane who has many years of experience in nanomaterial synthesis and characterization.

7.14.5 Education and Other Activities WUSTL-NNIN played an active role with the St. Louis Science Center (SLSC) during Summer 2012 by providing guidance to the SLSC coordinators of the “Amazing Nanoworlds” special exhibit and demonstrations and staff support at both Nanodays and three additional SLSC “Amazing Nanoworlds” events.

In May 2012 WUSTL-NNIN held it’s first advanced bio-imaging short course. The half-day course was open to the public and included lecture and live demonstrations highlighting both the challenges and opportunities of imaging biological samples at the nanoscale using electron microscopy. In June 2012 NRF Lab Manager, Kate Nelson, gave a technical seminar to Washington Univeristy in St. Louis researchers on atomic spectroscopy techniques. A series of similar seminars by NRF technical staff is planned for the Spring 2013 semester.

WUSTL-NNIN has provided lab tours, demonstrations, and imaging services for undergraduate and graduate classes at Washington University and is playing a key role in the development and execution of

Figure 213Kurt Lesker PVD 75 sputtering system.

Figure 214 Gold nanoflowers synthesized at NRF.


the first microfabrication lab course to be taught at the university. This course, MEMS 5611, is a cross-listed course being offered by the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in Spring 2013, that includes two 3 hour lab sessions held inside the WUSTL-NNIN cleanroom and supported in part by WUSTL-NNIN technical staff.

---End of Washington University at St. Louis Text Site Report--


7.14.6 Washington University at St. Louis Selected Site Statistics a) Annual Users by type (historical)

b)Lab Hours by Institution Type c) User Distribution by Institution Type

d)Average Hours per User( in 10 months) e) New Users

Figure 215: Washington University Selected Site Statistics

Local Site Academic

86%

Other University2%

4 year college0%

Small Company11%

Large Company1%

State and Fed Gov0%

Foreign0%

Washington University User Hours March 2012-Feb 2013

5545 hours

Local Site Academic87%

Other University6%

4 year college1%

Small Company4%

Large Company2%

foreign0%

WUSTL Users by InstitutionMarch 2012- Feb 2013


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End of NNIN Annual Report


Documents

National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network Year 9...This report summarizes the activities and progress for the 9th year of the operation of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure