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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.
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.
- 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.
Facility Details
After completing the online application to become a user of the facility there are a few more steps to becoming a user:
- Sign up for the ASRC Nanofab Facility Newsletter.
- Complete the EHOS lab safety training. Training is conducted over Zoom by Thomas Dickson (tdickson@gc.cuny.edu).
Date Time Meeting ID/Pass Code Tuesday, October 3 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM 868 4709 3945/410992 Thursday, October 12 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM 869 5174 0274/817587 Tuesday, October 24 11:30 PM – 1:00 PM 884 9661 7184/123936 - Review the Lab Manuals and Policies.
- Lab Manual – Rules of Conduct and Use
- Lab Manual – Safety
- Policy for Suspension of Access and After-Hours Access
- 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.
- Download badger, click on New Member?, fill out the form and then set a password. Badger accounts will be approved once all submitted forms have been processed and approved.
- Get an ASRC ID.
- Contact the appropriate staff member to schedule tool training.
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 |
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 | Sam (sroberts@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 » |
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
-
Salam Elhalabi
- Cleanroom Technician, Nanofabrication Facility
-
Shawn Kilpatrick
- Research Program Manager, Nanofabrication Facility
-
Maya Narayanan Nair, Ph.D.
- Research Assistant Professor, Nanoscience Initiative
- Facility Staff, Nanofabrication Facility, Surface Science Facility
-
Samantha Roberts, Ph.D.
- Nanofabrication Facility Director, Nanofabrication Facility
-
Jane Vogel
- Equipment Technician, Nanofabrication Facility
Sign up for the ASRC Nanofab Facility Newsletter to stay up to date on news and events affecting users.