The Stanford Nanofabrication Facility and the National Nanofabrication Users' Network: The ultimate sandbox for bioMEMS and bioengineering RD

摘要

As cutting-edge research becomes more multidisciplinary, it becomes increasingly difficult to find experimental and laboratory resources that can support such broadly defined research. The five, founding-member university facilities of the Nanofabrication Users' Network (NNUN) have been providing such broad-based resources for nine years. The goal of the NNUN is not only to develop micro- and nanotechnology fabrication resources and expertise across a broad range of disciplines, but also to encourage researchers from industry as well as academia outside the network to make use of our facilities. All NNUN sites are shared-equipment, open-use laboratories featuring a broad range of micro- and nanofabrication equipment. The NNUN is comprised of two main "hub" facilities at Stanford and Cornell Universities, and three "satellite" facilities at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Perm State University, and Howard University. Based on the academic traditions of openness and sharing, these facilities comprise a vibrant, dynamic community of researchers. Our lab members come from a wide variety of disciplines, with research in areas of optics, MEMS, biology, and chemistry, as well as process characterization and fabrication of more traditional electronics devices. We are especially committed to supporting use of micro- and nanofabrication technologies in non-traditional research applications. The NNUN is supported by the National Science Foundation under cooperative agreements ECS-9731293 and ECS-9731294.