The quality of materials research studies is often governed by the ability to synthesize high quality materials. Thin films of metals, insulators, semiconductors and superconductors are fabricated by laser ablation, evaporation, sputtering, and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Polymer fibers and sheets with controlled electrical and optical properties are synthesized. Liquid crystals of DNA and related macromolecular systems are made and studied. In addition, instrumentation includes a focused ion beam source and a scanning tunneling microscope for writing nanoparticles on lines.
Extensive facilities exist for the characterization of material properties.
Fourier transform spectroscopy for both routine measurements and low temperatures and high magnetic fields is also available.