NIST’s Center for Nanoscale Science and 

Technology 

Robert Celotta

Director

NIST Visiting Committee, February 5, 2014, Gaithersburg, MD
The Who, What, and How of the CNST

 Who are we?

 The Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) is NIST’s 

nanotechnology user facility. 

 What is our mission?

 We help to enable innovation in nanotechnology by providing rapid 

access to the tools and processes needed to make and measure 

nanostructures. 

 How do we do it?

 We:

 operate a national, shared-use facility for nanoscale fabrication and 

measurement,

 develop innovative nanoscale measurement and fabrication capabilities, 

 support researchers from industry, academia, NIST, and other government 

agencies in nanoscale technology from discovery to production.

2
The CNST in Brief

 Established in 2007

 Represents about 1/3 of NIST’s total effort in nanotechnology

 VCAT helped guide its direction and growth 

 A User Facility with a unique, two-part, hybrid design

 The NanoFab is a shared resource

with commercial state-of-the-art tools

for nanofabrication, open to all

 The NanoLab advances nanotechnology by

developing new measurement solutions, and

supports the NanoFab with expert consultation

 Budget: $32M (FY2013)

 Staff (Fall 2013): 106 (93 technical)

 Cooperative Agreement with the University of

Maryland Nanocenter

 Contributes to all phases of the CNST mission

Like NSFsupported,

university 

nanocenters

Like DOE

nanocenters
The CNST NanoFab

A national, state-of-the-art, shared resource for the fabrication 

and measurement of nanostructures:

 60,000 ft2 (5600 m2) of labs and cleanroom

 19,000 ft2 (1800 m2) cleanroom;

 8,000 ft2 (750 m2) at class 100

 Open (staffed) weekdays from 7 am to midnight

 Leverages the expensive tools needed for

nanotechnology through cost sharing (charged “a la carte”)

 About 100 major tools, including advanced lithography

(e-beam, ASML stepper), microscopy (FE-SEMs, FIBs, TEMs)

 Staffed with talented technical team who train and

assist users, operate and maintain the tools, and develop

and control the processes

 Connects external researchers to extensive measurement

resources in the NIST Laboratories and Centers
We Listened to our Potential Industrial Users

 NanoFab Characteristics Important to Companies

 Rapid Access

 Low Barrier to Access

 Clear and Acceptable Intellectual Property Policies

 State-of-the-art Equipment

 Industrial Strength Control of Processes

 Professional Staff that can:

 Develop needed processes

 Provide instruction on new tools

 Flexible Access Model

 Work Done by Company Staff

 Work by NanoFab Staff

 Work by Third Parties

 Remote Jobs Submission 

5
Using the CNST NanoFab

 Shared-use operation based on cost-reimbursement

 Modeled after US National Nanofabrication Infrastructure Network (NNIN) 

supported by National Science Foundation (NSF)

 Open to all, including industry, government, and academia

 Rapid access: application to orientation in a couple of weeks

 Charges based on operating costs, similar to charges at NNIN

 Researchers may apply for reduced rates

 If project advances CNST mission, rates similar to NNIN-NSF “academic” rates

 The NanoFab will train researchers in tool use

 Alternatively, work can performed by NanoFab staff, or others, at additional cost

 Users maintain IP rights for sole and joint inventions

 Projects usually begin in a meeting with our NanoFab manager, 

relevant NanoFab process engineers, and NanoLab researchers. 
CNST NanoFab Project Story: Lumedyne

 Lumedyne Technologies: a San Diego-based startup developing high 

performance MEMS sensors and energy harvesters

 Trying to develop prototype of novel inertial sensor

for navigation apps that combines MEMS oscillator,

tunnel junction, and CMOS

 Wafer structure and CMOS fabricated at foundry

 Prior attempts at tunnel junction fab at both commercial

and multiple academic nanofabs were unsuccessful

 Lumedyne met with NanoFab and

Nanofabrication Research Group staff:

 CNST team proposed design change to simplify fab

 NanoFab process engineer worked with Lumedyne to develop FIB 

process to create 10 nm to 40 nm gaps between pre-fabricated tips

 Additional prototypes being made by NanoFab staff as “remote jobs”

 Plan is to transition gap fab to CMOS process, then incorporate into 

foundry process for production
CNST NanoFab Project Story: IBM

 IBM wanted to develop a process for identifying and correcting device 

misalignment in multi-wafer assemblies for next-generation 

supercomputers. 

 They located device registration errors using CNST’s laser lithography 

system’s pattern recognition capability. 

 They developed a process for post-metrology, direct-write lithography to 

correct for the registration errors in bonded wafer stacks, enabling 

assembly of a functioning supercomputer system module which attaches 

a stack of vertical memory chips directly to the CPU. 

 They transitioned the process in-house by purchasing customized tools 

based on experienced gained in the CNST NanoFab. 

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The CNST NanoLab

 Responds to user needs for measurement and fabrication beyond current 

commercial state-of-the-art, with current priorities in:

 Nanomanufacturing and Nanofabrication: Top-down and 

bottom-up fabrication and assembly

 Future Electronics: Nanoscale devices, architectures, 

interconnects

 Energy: Conversion, storage, and transport at the nanoscale

 Provides access to advanced equipment and measurement through 

collaboration

 Designed to be agile; priority areas will change with

NIST and national nanotechnology needs

 Integrated tightly with the NanoFab, providing expert

consultation and beyond-state-of-the-art measurements

 Complements and supports the NIST metrology and

engineering laboratory programs
A CNST NanoLab Success: Quantum Electronics

 Key measurement need for future

electronics: high-resolution imaging

and spectroscopy

 As materials and devices are reduced to the

nanoscale, energy levels become

quantized, leading to new properties

 High spatial and energy resolution

measurements required to understand and

exploit such systems

 A unique, ultra-low-T scanning probe system

 10 mK base temperature 

 15 Tesla magnetic field (vertical)

 ΔE ≈ 10 μeV

 Extensive sample and tunneling tip prep

Y. J. Song, et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 121101 (2011)
Low Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy 

/Spectroscopy: A Tool for Graphene Research

 In collaboration with Georgia Tech, Columbia University, 

Nanoelectronics Research Initiative, NIST Physical 

Measurement Laboratory

 Faculty, postdocs, students participate

 Other NIST groups: Dave Newell, Curt Richter, Angie HightWalker, Eric Cockayne

 Outcomes

 Publications: 33 (LT-STM, ULT-STM, and theory)

 Nature, Nature Physics, Science, Nano Letters, PRL

 STEM Education: 2 Undergrads, 4 PhDs, 13 Postdocs

 Tech Transfer

 Invited Rev. Sci. Instrum. article (33 pages, 130 refs)

 Janus sells the co-designed dilution refrigerator (JDR-500); 

McAllister Technical Services sells manipulator and isolators

 Recent postdoc hired by Intel

 Standards and new NanoFab processes

 NIST project on graphene resistance standard

 Unique graphene device fabrication for SPMs
Our tour will only give a small glimpse of the 

NanoLab’s diverse program

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Active and inactive catalyst particles can 

be observed and analyzed to optimize 

carbon nanotube growth

Active & inactive 

catalyst nanoparticles 

growing CNTs

10 μm

Near-field optical sensor for high-bandwidth, highsensitivity (1 fm/√HH) displacement measurement

0 

50 

100 

200 

150 (nm)

Height

1.0 μm

1721 cm-1 intensity a.u

PTIR 1721 cm-1 (5.81 μm)

1.0 μm

A laser cooled ion source 

provides a new FIB imaging and 

nanofabrication technology

A layer of quantum dots provide addressable 

nanoscale optical sources to probe the structures 

of photovoltaics 

Nanoscale chemical composition measurements are done with 

resolution comparable to AFM using the Photothermal Induced 

Resonance (PTIR) technique

25 nm
Participating Institutions

13
Participating Institutions

14
Participating Institutions

15
Participating Institutions

16
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2009 2010 2011 2012

Industry

Government

(incl. NIST)

Academia

Research Participation has Grown Rapidly

FY2012 Institutions (363)

Companies: 131

Universities: 187

Gov. Labs: 45

States + DC: 40

Research Participants By Fiscal Year Participating Institutions By Fiscal Year Number of Institutions

22 %

26 %

28 %

36 %

Academia, 

892

NIST, 271

Other Gov., 

265

Industry, 

241

 FY2012 Research Participants

192

396

524

970

1402

1669

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

 

Number of Participants
STEM is not part of our mission, but CNST does a 

great deal of technical education

 About 1600 person-hours/year of technical instruction on NanoFab 

tools/processes

 Postdoctoral Training

 Currently 38 postdocs; during ramp-up, trained 47 postdocs; 50% went to 

Academia, 25% went to Industry, 25% went to National Labs

 Students

 Currently ~12 students/year; during ramp-up, trained 29 students

 New CNST-NSF NanoFab-Community College Internship Program 

 Begins this spring with Hudson Valley Community College 

 Montgomery College and University of the District of Columbia programs in 

preparation.

 Visiting Fellows

 Currently, 8 Visiting Fellows

 During ramp-up, 14 former Visiting Fellows

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NIST’s Center for Nanoscale Science and 

Technology 

Thank you!

Questions?

NIST Visiting Committee, February 5, 2014, Gaithersburg, MD
Supplemental Slides

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Future Directions: Address Unmet Needs

 User demand to add capability and capacity is high, and 

increasing rapidly, in two areas:

 Nano-Bio-Medical Technology

 Supporting the convergence of the life sciences, physical sciences, and 

engineering

 Addressing the needs of a large, regional biotechnology community

 Remote Facility Access

 Making our tools and processes available to the national community

 Enabling innovation in underserved regions

– Adopting a “NetFlix” approach to providing nanofabrication solutions and 

leveraging high bandwidth communication to enhance access to nanoscale 

imaging and measurement

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CNST NanoFab Project Story: Plasmonix

 NanoFab Manager received call from Jim Russo, an engineer at 

Plasmonix, a local startup focused on improving diagnostic assays.

 They needed a process for fabricating multilayer thin films with plasmonic 

top layers that interact with fluorophores;

 To be applied to commercial fluorescence-based microarrays to increase assay 

sensitivity.

 CNST worked with Jim to develop methods to fabricate desired 

plasmonic structures on practical substrates, including plastic and glass.

 Devices successfully increase fluorophore

intensity, improving sensitivity of immunoassays

by a factor of a hundred;

 Company working with partners to test device in

typical microarray settings and scale up production.

 Following NanoFab project’s success, Plasmonix chosen as 2013 

Maryland Incubator Company of the Year for Technology Transfer.
High-Throughput Nanoscale Measurements for 

Manufacturing

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Carbon Nanocomposite Manufacturing

• High-resolution characterization

• Electromagnetic properties modeling

• High-speed, non-contact microwave 

measurements for quality control

Nanoparticle Characterization

• Size, shape, charge, surface properties, 

etc. must be known 

• Precise, nanofabricated structures enable 

fast, accurate measurements

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffic

e/2012/cancer-particle0404.html