About the Facilities
Comprising four major facilities, the Singh Center for Nanotechnology is vital to the research and educational programs at the University of Pennsylvania and are leveraged by partner institutions and local industry within the Mid-Atlantic region.
Unifying these central resources fosters the exchange of scientific ideas and the development of nanoscale science and technology, brings together crosscutting capabilities and the staffing to support these tools, and provides the modern infrastructure necessary to establish a regional center for nanotechnology.
QNF: Fabrication
QUATTRONE NANOFABRICATION FACILITY
The Quattrone Nanofabrication Facility (QNF) operates a ~11,000 sq.ft. cleanroom with cutting-edge equipment, including electron-beam and optical lithography, deposition techniques, processing tools, metrology, and device characterization. Additionally, QNF offers a complementary facility for soft lithography for soft materials and laser micromachining, catering to diverse materials processing, microfluidics, and lab-on-chip activities. To complete the cycle, QNF provides backend equipment for device packaging and hybridization, encompassing wire bonding, wafer bonding, electrical testing, and wafer dicing.
Soft Litho: Fabrication
SOFT LITHOGRAPHY LAB
The QNF Soft Lithography Lab facilitates PDMS device fabrication for microfluidics and microcontact printing. Equipped with essential tools like an ABM mask aligner and Anatech barrel asher, the lab provides photoresist, PDMS, and necessary supplies. The lab addresses the growing demand for miniaturized liquid-based assays in research, diagnostics, and sample analysis. Soft lithography enables diverse applications, including particle separation, cell culture, chemical mixing, and organ mimetics. It is also instrumental in non-fluidic devices like micro-contact printing and cellular force measurement, exemplified by microfabricated culture devices for long-term neuronal studies.
NCF: Characterization and Measurement
NANOSCALE CHARACTERIZATION FACILITY
The Nanoscale Characterization Facility (NCF) at the Singh Center offers cutting-edge electron- and ion-beam analysis tools. The facility includes an integrated sample preparation laboratory with complete sample coating and plasma cleaning capabilities and cryogenic TEM sample preparation equipment. A computer suite for offline image and data analysis and office and meeting space for staff and industrial users round out the facility in the Singh Center.
SLPF: Microscopy
SCANNING AND LOCAL PROBE FACILITY
The Scanning and Local Probe Facility (SLPF) is a comprehensive user facility of scanning probe microscopes and confocal Raman microscopes allowing characterization of morphology, mechanical properties (friction, stiffness, adhesion), electrical properties (surface potential, conductivity, piezoelectric force), and chemical structure in over a range of environment. Some instruments combine techniques, such as fluid cell AFM + fluorescence microscopy for in situ measurements and AFM + Raman for tip-enhanced spectroscopy.