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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 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.
How to Become a User
After completing the online application to become a user of the facility and receiving an approval email for your account, there are a few more steps to becoming a user:
- Sign up for the ASRC Nanofab Facility Newsletter.
- Download Badger. To run Badger, you’ll need to edit the Java Security Exception List. Once you open Badger for the first time, 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.
- Complete the EHOS Lab Safety training. Training is conducted over Zoom a few times a month.
Date Time Meeting ID/Pass Code Monday, November 4 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM 834 3423 9812/936277 Friday, November 8 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM 896 1232 5174/437697 Thursday, November 21 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM 882 2693 6199/085112 Schedule is updated once future trainings are scheduled. For questions regarding the Lab Safety Training contact Thomas Dickson (tdickson@gc.cuny.edu).
- Review the Lab Manuals and Policies.
- Complete the Cleanroom Orientation. Orientation is conducted once a week in person by Salam Elhalabi. Users must sign-up for orientation by 12:00PM the day before the scheduled orientation. You will not be allowed to attend orientation if you have not received the approval email for your account.
- Get an ASRC ID.
- 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.
Facility Details
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
P.S: These rates are effective as of July 1st, 2024.
Instrument / Service | Manufacturer | Per/Unit | CUNY Rate | Outside Academic | Start-Up Companies | Industrial Companies |
Back End Processing: | ||||||
Wire Bonder | West Bond | $ / Hour | $ 25 | $ 30 | $ 90 | $ 150 |
Dicing Saw | Disco DAD3220 | $ / Hour | $ 25 | $ 30 | $ 90 | $ 150 |
Film Frame Wafer Mounter | Ultron Systems | $ / Hour | $ – | $ – | $ – | $ – |
UV Curing System | Ultron Systems | $ / Hour | $ – | $ – | $ – | $ – |
Deposition: | ||||||
Atomic Layer Deposition | Ultratech Fiji G2 | $ / Hour | $ 36 | $ 40 | $ 120 | $ 200 |
PECVD (Oxford PlasmaPro System 100) | Oxford Instruments | $ / Hour | $ 45 | $ 50 | $ 150 | $ 250 |
Ebeam Evaporator (AJA Orion 8E) | AJA International | $ / Hour | $ 38 | $ 42 | $ 126 | $ 210 |
Ebeam Evaporator – Organics/Dielectrics (AJA) | AJA International | $ / Hour | $ 38 | $ 42 | $ 126 | $ 210 |
Sputtering System | (AJA Orion) | $ / Hour | $ 30 | $ 35 | $ 105 | $ 175 |
Thermal Evaporator (AJA Orion 3-TH) | (AJA Orion) | $ / Hour | $ 10 | $ 15 | $ 45 | $ 75 |
Sputter Coater | Cressington Scientific Instruments | $ / Hour | $ 40 | $ 45 | $ 135 | $ 225 |
Etching: | ||||||
ICP Etcher – Chlorine (Oxford PlasmaPro System 100 Cobra) | Oxford Instruments | $ / Hour | $ 45 | $ 50 | $ 150 | $ 250 |
ICP Etcher – Fluorine (Oxford PlasmaPro System 100 Cobra) | Oxford Instruments | $ / Hour | $ 45 | $ 50 | $ 150 | $ 250 |
DRIE Etcher (Oxford PlasmaPro System 100 Cobra) | Oxford Instruments | $ / Hour | $ 45 | $ 50 | $ 150 | $ 250 |
Reactive Ion Etcher (Oxford PlasmaPro NPG80) | Oxford Instruments | $ / Hour | $ 43 | $ 48 | $ 144 | $ 240 |
Plasma Asher (PVA Tepla IoN 40) | PVA TePla | $ / Hour | $ 33 | $ 36 | $ 108 | $ 180 |
UV Ozone Cleaner (SAMCO UV-2) | SAMCO | $ / Hour | $ 25 | $ 28 | $ 84 | $ 140 |
Vapor HF Etcher (SPTS Primaxx) | SPTS Techonologies | $ / Hour | $ 20 | $ 25 | $ 75 | $ 125 |
Xenon Difluoride Etcher (SPTS Xactive E1) | SPTS Techonologies | $ / Hour | $ 20 | $ 25 | $ 75 | $ 125 |
Lithography: | ||||||
Electron Beam Lithography – 50keV | Elionix ELS-G50 | $ / Hour | $ 60 | $ 70 | $ 210 | $ 350 |
Electron Beam Lithography – 100keV | Elionix ELS-G100 | $ / Hour | $ 60 | $ 70 | $ 210 | $ 350 |
3D Lithography (Nanoscribe Photonic Professional) | Nanoscribe | $ / Hour | $ 36 | $ 40 | $ 120 | $ 200 |
Mask Aligner (EVG620) | EV Group | $ / Hour | $ 28 | $ 32 | $ 96 | $ 160 |
Photo Resist Spinner | Brewer Scientific | $ / Hour | $ 21 | $ 24 | $ 72 | $ 120 |
Ebeam Resist Spinner | Brewer Scientific | $ / Hour | $ 21 | $ 24 | $ 72 | $ 120 |
Other Materials Spinner | Brewer Scientific | $ / Hour | $ 21 | $ 24 | $ 72 | $ 120 |
Metrology: | ||||||
Scanning Electron Microscopy | FEI NovaNano 450 | $ / Hour | $ 35 | $ 40 | $ 120 | $ 200 |
Atomic Force Microscopy | Bruker Dimension FastScan | $ / Hour | $ 30 | $ 35 | $ 105 | $ 175 |
Surface (Stylus) Profilometer | Bruker Dektak-XT | $ / Hour | $ 25 | $ 28 | $ 84 | $ 140 |
Optical Profilometer | Bruker Contour GT-I | $ / Hour | $ 18 | $ 20 | $ 60 | $ 100 |
Ellipsometer | J. A. Woollam V-VASE | $ / Hour | $ 28 | $ 32 | $ 96 | $ 160 |
Thin Film Analyzer | Filmetrics | $ / Hour | $ – | $ – | $ – | $ – |
Thermal Processing: | ||||||
Furnace Tube 1 – Thermal Oxide | Tystar | $ / Hour | $ 15 | $ 20 | $ 60 | $ 100 |
Furnace Tube 2 – Annealing | Tystar | $ / Hour | $ 15 | $ 20 | $ 60 | $ 100 |
Furnace Tube 3 – LPCVD Nitride (Tystar) | Tystar | $ / Hour | $ 20 | $ 25 | $ 75 | $ 125 |
Furnace Tube 4 – LPCVD Oxide (Tystar) | Tystar | $ / Hour | $ 20 | $ 25 | $ 75 | $ 125 |
Rapid Thermal Annealer (Allwin21 AccuThermo AW610) | MPT | $ / Hour | $ 10 | $ 15 | $ 45 | $ 75 |
Chemical Hoods: | ||||||
Resist Hood | Air Control | $ / Hour | $ 5 | $ 10 | $ 30 | $ 50 |
Litho Development Hood | Air Control | $ / Hour | $ 5 | $ 10 | $ 30 | $ 50 |
Solvent Hood * | Air Control | $ / Hour | $ 5 | $ 10 | $ 30 | $ 50 |
Piranha/HF Hood | Air Control | $ / Hour | $ 5 | $ 10 | $ 30 | $ 50 |
Caustics/Metal Etch Hood | Air Control | $ / Hour | $ 5 | $ 10 | $ 30 | $ 50 |
RCA Hood | Air Control | $ / Hour | $ 5 | $ 10 | $ 30 | $ 50 |
Spin Rinse Dryer | OEM Group | $ / Hour | $ – | $ – | $ – | $ – |
Additional Items: | ||||||
Tool Training Staff Time | $ / Hour | $ 35 | $ 50 | $ 100 | $ 150 | |
Non-Training Staff Time ** | $ / Hour | $ 80 | $ 100 | $ 200 | $ 300 | |
Door Charge | $ / Day | $ 10 | $ 15 | $ 20 | $ 30 | |
SU-8 Developer | $ / 500 ml | $ 16.63 | ||||
Remover PG | $ / 500 ml | $ 22.88 | ||||
Gold E-Beam Evaporation | $ / 1 nm | $ 0.98 | ||||
Platinum E-Beam Evaporation | $ / 1 nm | $ 0.55 | ||||
Palladium E-Beam Evaporation | $ / 1 nm | $ 0.95 |
* 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 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.
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 | Emma (eanquillare@gc.cuny.edu) |
PECVD (Oxford) | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) |
ALD | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) |
Mask Aligner | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) and Salam (selhalabi@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) |
Vapor HF/XeF2 | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) |
Furnace | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) |
Dicing Saw | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) |
Wire Bonder | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) |
Gold Sputter Coater | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) and Salam (selhalabi@gc.cuny.edu) |
Plasma Asher | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) and Salam (selhalabi@gc.cuny.edu) |
Photo and EBL Spinners | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) and Salam (selhalabi@gc.cuny.edu) |
UV Ozone Cleaner | Shawn (skilpatrick@gc.cuny.edu) |
Acids and Caustics Hoods | Emma (eanquillare@gc.cuny.edu) |
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.”
ASRC Nanofabrication Facility Newsletters:
- March 8, 2024
- February 9, 2024
- January 12, 2024
- October 20, 2023
- September 11, 2023
- August 25, 2023
- August 11, 2023
- July 14, 2023
- June 13, 2023
- May 25, 2023
- May 12, 2023
- April 7, 2023
- February 24, 2023
- February 10, 2023
- February 3, 2023
- January 13, 2023
- January 2, 2023
- December 22, 2022
- December 9, 2022
- December 2, 2022
- November 17, 2022
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
-
Emma Anquillare, Ph.D.
- Research Scientist, Nanofabrication Facility
-
Salam Elhalabi
- Cleanroom Technician, Nanofabrication Facility
-
Shawn Kilpatrick
- Lab Manager, Nanofabrication Facility
-
Maya Narayanan Nair, Ph.D.
- Research Assistant Professor, Nanoscience Initiative
- Facility Staff, Nanofabrication Facility, Surface Science Facility
-
Suresh Rai
- Cleanroom Engineer, Nanofabrication Facility
-
Samantha Roberts, Ph.D.
- Nanofabrication Facility Director, Nanofabrication Facility
-
Jane Vogel
- Equipment Technician, Nanofabrication Facility