The Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility (CNF) is a scientific user facility and

cleanroom A cleanroom or clean room is an engineered space, which maintains a very low concentration of airborne particulates. It is well isolated, well-controlled from contamination, and actively cleansed. Such rooms are commonly needed for scientif ...

which is located at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

. The CNF is one of the sixteen members of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI). The CNF was started as part of a

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

initiative in 1977, and has subsequently been partially supported by several other NSF programs. It currently receives about $20 million each year in federal funding. In 2004 the CNF moved into its current facility, Duffield Hall, supported by $100 million in support from Cornell. It now includes 15,000 square feet of Level 1000 cleanroom as well as several times more non-cleanroom laboratory space. In 2009 the NNIN received $10 million as part of the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. The CNF is a general user facility, and while many users are from Cornell or other nearby universities, it also draws users from a wide range of universities and companies around the world. Roughly 700 scientists use the facility every year, half of whom are associated with Cornell. The CNF is used for research in a wide range of fields such as

MEMS Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), also written as micro-electro-mechanical systems (or microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems) and the related micromechatronics and microsystems constitute the technology of microscopic devices, ...

microfluidics Microfluidics refers to the behavior, precise control, and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small scale (typically sub-millimeter) at which surface forces dominate volumetric forces. It is a multidisciplinary field tha ...

nanomagnet A nanomagnet is a submicrometric system that presents spontaneous magnetic order (magnetization) at zero applied magnetic field (remanence). The small size of nanomagnets prevents the formation of magnetic domains (see single domain (magnetic)). Th ...

ics and

bioelectronics Bioelectronics is a field of research in the convergence of biology and electronics. Definitions At the first C.E.C. Workshop, in Brussels in November 1991, bioelectronics was defined as 'the use of biological materials and biological architectu ...

. It includes fabrication tools for processes including

electron-beam lithography Electron-beam lithography (often abbreviated as e-beam lithography, EBL) is the practice of scanning a focused beam of electrons to draw custom shapes on a surface covered with an electron-sensitive film called a resist (exposing). The electron b ...

photolithography In integrated circuit manufacturing, photolithography or optical lithography is a general term used for techniques that use light to produce minutely patterned thin films of suitable materials over a substrate, such as a silicon wafer, to protect ...

chemical vapor deposition Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a vacuum deposition method used to produce high quality, and high-performance, solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films. In typical CVD, the wafer (substra ...

, electron-beam deposition and

reactive ion etching Reactive-ion etching (RIE) is an etching technology used in microfabrication. RIE is a type of dry etching which has different characteristics than wet etching. RIE uses chemically reactive plasma to remove material deposited on wafers. The pl ...

. It also contains characterization equipment including scanning electron microscopes, ellipsometers and probe stations for electrical measurement.

References

{{Reflist Cornell University