NANOSCALE CHARACTERIZATION AND FABRICATION LABORATORY

Virginia Tech is building a Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Laboratory in the Corporate Research Center as part of the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS).

This laboratory will house an array of the sensitive instruments needed to make and study structures at the nanometer level.

Equipment purchased with the support of the Commonwealth Research Initiative includes:

• X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS)
• Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (E-SEM)
• Field Emission (FE) SEM
• Magnetic Resonance Imager
• Integrated Near-field Scanning Optical Microscope with Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope and an Atomic Force Microscope (NSOM/CLSM with AFM)
• Dual Beam-Focused Ion Beam
• Cryo-Ultra Microtome
• Nano-indentor
• Two-photon Excitation Microscope

Such equipment makes it possible to see and manipulation materials that are sometimes only several atoms thick – and to attract federal sponsorship of advanced materials research.

For example, a Focused Ion Beam can etch material atom by atom, and can also be used to build up materials. The Magnetic Resonance Imager allows researchers to trace nanoparticles and fluorescent markers to locate target cells, such as cancer, in living organisms. And the Nano-indenter is used to measure mechanical properties such as fracture toughness and wear resistance of thin films, coatings, and particles.

As a centralized university facility, the Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Laboratory will provide researchers with convenient access to expensive, sophisticated equipment that would be difficult for individual departments to maintain and operate. This world-class laboratory will enhance the ability to conduct path-finding and interdisciplinary research in such areas as micro/nanoscale science and engineering, biology, and information technology, as targeted in the CRI and Virginia Tech’s strategic plan.