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Nanofabrication Facility

The ASRC Nanofabrication Facility undertakes collaborative multidisciplinary projects centered around creating novel devices and interfaces. Examples of past and ongoing projects include miniature electrical circuits for quantum computing applications, microfluidic devices to create lab-on-chip platforms, microneedle arrays to interface with individual cells, micro electromechanical pressure sensors,  nano-coatings, and many others. The possibilities are virtually endless!

To create these devices we routinely use a variety of lithographic techniques that produce patterns which span eight orders of magnitude: from several nanometers to centimeters in size.

These patterns are subsequently used to either deposit materials, such as metals, glasses, or ceramics, or to etch these materials with nanometer precision.

The facility is also supported by an imaging suite, that consists of a cryogenic TEM for life sciences, a materials science TEM, a training TEM, and a dual beam SEM / FIB / Nanomanipulator system for sample preparation. For users, the facility provides an opportunity to carry out hands-on research with some of the world’s most sophisticated instruments for the fabrication and characterization of materials at the micro and nanoscale.

Mission Statement

The Nanofabrication Facility is a highly collaborative research space located on the ground floor of the Advanced Science Research Center at The Graduate Center, CUNY. The facility is home to dozens of interdisciplinary research teams from many diverse sectors of academia and industry. Our mission is to facilitate scientific discoveries and development of new technology by providing both mentorship and access to a state of the art nano-manufacturing environment. We are also passionate about enhancing the quality of science education in New York City. We partner with local educational institutions to develop curricula and find new and creative ways to share our enthusiasm for STEM with the next generation of New Yorkers.

Seed Grants

two researchers in cleanroom suits working in the deposition bay of the nanofabrication facilityThe NanoProject Seed Grant program was created to address the infamous catch-22 of academic research: you need preliminary data to get funded, yet you also need funding to acquire the preliminary data. The program provides researchers with limited access to the facility in order to collect data/make a device that will be used to either finish an experiment that is almost ready for publication or for a grant proposal.

  • The total fabrication costs incurred for a single NanoProject cannot exceed $1500.
  • NanoProjects may be performed either by the researchers themselves or in collaboration with Nanofabrication staff.
  • NanoProject Seed Grants are reviewed by an internal committee, and are awarded based upon equipment and staff availability at the discretion of the Nanofabrication staff.

Apply online for a NanoProject Seed Grant »

Please note: Due to the high demand for equipment use, a maximum of ten NanoProject Seed Grants will be awarded per academic year.

Complete the online application to become a user of this and other ASRC facilities.

Become a User

How to Become a User

After completing the online application to become a user of the facility there are a few more steps to becoming a user:

  1. Sign up for the ASRC Nanofab Facility Newsletter.
  2. Download Badger, click on New Member?, fill out the form and then set a password.  If you do not already have an account number just use any generic number as your actual account number will be assigned once it is approved.  Badger accounts will be approved once all submitted forms have been processed and approved.
  3. Complete the EHOS Lab Safety training.  Training is conducted over Zoom a few times a month.
    Date Time Meeting ID/Pass Code
    Thursday, November 30 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM 864 2561 3682/736495
    Thursday, December 14 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM 829 3621 4019/620458
    Tuesday, December 19 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM 883 5024 6556/363199

    Schedule is updated once future trainings are scheduled.  For questions regarding the Lab Safety Training contact Thomas Dickson (tdickson@gc.cuny.edu).

  4. Review the Lab Manuals and Policies.
  5. Complete the Cleanroom Orientation.  Orientation is conducted once a week in person by Jane Vogel.  Users must sign-up for orientation by 12:00PM the day before the scheduled orientation.
  6. Get an ASRC ID.
  7. Contact the appropriate staff member to schedule tool training.

Sign up for the ASRC Nanofab Facility Newsletter to stay up to date on news and events affecting users.

Nanofab Newsletter Sign-up

Facility Details

Usage Rates

Rates effective March 5, 2023

Internal Academic (CUNY) Members

  • Monthly Cap: $1,800 per month
  • Daily Access Fee: $10 per day with a maximum charge of $150 per month

External Academic Members

  • Monthly Cap: $2,000 per month
  • Daily Access Fee: $15 per day with a maximum charge of $200 per month

Start-Up Members

  • Daily Access Fee: $20 per day with a maximum charge of $300 per month

Industrial Members

  • Daily Access Fee: $30 per day with a maximum charge of $450 per month

Back End Processing

Equipment Manufacturer Internal Academic Rate ($/hr) External Academic Rate ($/hr) Start-Up Rate ($/hr) Industry Rate ($/hr)
Wire Bonder West Bond 25 30 90 150
Dicing Saw Disco 25 30 90 150
Film Frame Wafer Mounter Ultron Systems 0 0 0 0
UV Curing System Ultron Systems 0 0 0 0

Deposition

Equipment Manufacturer Internal Academic Rate ($/hr) External Academic Rate ($/hr) Start-Up Rate ($/hr) Industry Rate ($/hr)
Atomic Layer Deposition Ultratech Cambridge NanoTech 36 40 120 160
PECVD Oxford Instruments 45 50 150 250
Ebeam and Thermal Evaporator AJA International 38 42 126 210
Ebeam and Organics Thermal Evaporator AJA International 38 42 126 210
Sputtering System AJA International 30 35 105 175
Thermal Evaporator AJA International 10 15 45 75
Sputter Coater Cressington Scientific Instruments 40 45 135 225

Etching

Equipment Manufacturer Internal Academic Rate ($/hr) External Academic Rate ($/hr) Start-Up Rate ($/hr) Industry Rate ($/hr)
Chlorine ICP Etcher Oxford Instruments 45 50 150 250
Fluorine ICP Etcher Oxford Instruments 45 50 150 250
DRIE Etcher Oxford Instruments 45 50 150 250
Reactive Ion Etcher Oxford Instruments 43 48 144 240
Plasma Asher PVA TePla 33 36 108 180
UV Ozone Cleaner SAMCO 25 28 84 140
Vapor HF Etcher SPTS Technologies 20 25 75 125
Xenon Difluoride Etcher SPTS Technologies 20 25 75 125

Lithography

Equipment Manufacturer Internal Academic Rate ($/hr) External Academic Rate ($/hr) Start-Up Rate ($/hr) Industry Rate ($/hr)
Electron Beam Lithography – 50keV Elionix 60 70 210 350
Electron Beam Lithography – 100keV Elionix 60 70 210 350
3D Lithography System Nanoscribe 36 40 120 200
Mask Aligner EV Group 28 32 96 160
Photo Resist Spinner Brewer Scientific 21 24 72 120
Ebeam Resist Spinner Brewer Scientific 21 24 72 120
Non Standard Materials Spinner Brewer Scientific 21 24 72 120

Metrology

Equipment Manufacturer Internal Academic Rate ($/hr) External Academic Rate ($/hr) Start-Up Rate ($/hr) Industry Rate ($/hr)
Scanning Electron Microscope FEI 35 40 120 200
Atomic Force Microscope Bruker 30 35 105 175
Surface Profilometer Bruker 25 28 84 140
Optical Profilometer Bruker 18 20 60 100
Ellipsometer J.A. Woollam 28 32 96 160
Thin Film Analyzer Filmetrics 0 0 0 0

Thermal Processing

Equipment Manufacturer Internal Academic Rate ($/hr) External Academic Rate ($/hr) Start-Up Rate ($/hr) Industry Rate ($/hr)
Furnace – Thermal Oxide Tystar 15 20 60 100
Furnace – Anneal Tystar 15 20 60 100
Furnace – LPCVD TEOS Tystar 20 25 75 125
Rapid Thermal Annealer MPT 10 15 45 75

Chemical Hoods

Equipment Manufacturer Internal Academic Rate ($/hr) External Academic Rate ($/hr) Start-Up Rate ($/hr) Industry Rate ($/hr)
Resist Hood Air Control 5 10 20 30
Development Hood Air Control 5 10 20 30
Solvent Hood Air Control 5* 10* 20* 30*
HF/Piranha Hood Air Control 5 10 20 30
Metal/Caustic Etch Hood Air Control 5 10 20 30
RCA Cleaning Hood Air Control 5 10 20 30
Spin Rinse Dryer OEM Group 0 0 0 0

* Single use charges for the Solvent Hood will be capped at $15 for internal academic members, $25 for external academic members, $50 for start-up members, and $75 for industrial members, in order to accommodate extended lift-off processes.  Note that this only applies to the Solvent Hood as lift-off should not be performed in other hoods.

Staff Training Time

Equipment Internal Academic Rate ($/hr) External Academic Rate ($/hr) Start-Up Rate ($/hr) Industry Rate ($/hr)
Staff Time 35 50 100 150

Staff Time

Staff members may, depending on their availability, perform some fabrication processes for members upon request.  Staff members do not generally have time available to develop full processes for members.  Members will be charged for both tool time and staff time.

Equipment Internal Academic Rate ($/hr) External Academic Rate ($/hr) Start-Up Rate ($/hr) Industry Rate ($/hr)
Staff Time 80 100 200 300

Additional Items

Item Cost Cost – effective 8/15/2023 Unit
SU-8 Developer $16.63 $16.63 500 ml
Remover PG $22.88 22.88 500 ml
Gold E-Beam Evaporation $0.85 $0.98 1 nm
Platinum E-Beam Evaporation $0.45 $0.55 1 nm
Palladium E-Beam Evaporation $0.95 $0.71 1 nm

Training

For training requests, please email the tool owner listed below.

Review related SOPs and chemical safety data sheets (SDS) before your training.

Orientations are held weekly.

Ebeam Lithography Sam (sroberts@gc.cuny.edu)
Ebeam Evaporator Salam (selhalabi@gc.cuny.edu)
Sputter Salam (selhalabi@gc.cuny.edu)
RIE/ICP/DRIE Salam (selhalabi@gc.cuny.edu)
PECVD (Oxford) Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu)
ALD Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu)
Mask Aligner Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu)
Nanoscribe 3D Lithography Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu)
Stylus & Optical Profilometer Maya (mnair@gc.cuny.edu)
AFM Maya (mnair@gc.cuny.edu)
FEI SEM Maya (mnair@gc.cuny.edu)
Ellipsometer Maya (mnair@gc.cuny.edu)
Plasma Asher Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu)
Vapor HF/XeF2 Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu)
Furnace Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu)
Gold Sputter Coater Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu)
Dicing Saw Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu)
Wire Bonder Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu)
Photo and EBL Spinners Jane (jvogel@gc.cuny.edu)
UV Ozone Cleaner Jane (jvogel@gc.cuny.edu)
Chemical Hoods Jane (jvogel@gc.cuny.edu)
Schedule clean lab orientation and chemical hood training online »

Policies, Procedures and Resources

Equipment Access and Reservations

Instrument Policies and Operating Procedures

After-Hours Access

Chemicals and MSDS

Loss of Facility Access

Facility User Tools (Badger, Slack, Shared Drive)

Safety

Other Policies

Cost Adjustment Requests

Fill out the Cost Activity Adjustment Request Form to request a correction to our records to make sure that you are not billed incorrectly for lab activities. Form must be submitted within one week of the charge in question.

Publication Attribution

When publishing or presenting results derived from staff and services in ASRC Nanofabrication Facility, please use the following acknowledgement:

“This work was performed in part at the Nanofabrication Facility at the Advanced Science Research Center at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.”

For more information, please contact:

Nanofabrication Facility
Advanced Science Research Center
City University of New York
85 St. Nicholas Terrace
New York, NY 10031

Email: nanofab@gc.cuny.edu

Facility Staff