Up Close: National Nanofabrication Facility at Cornell University
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The National Nanofabrication Facility began in 1977 out of the scientific community's recognition of a national need for an openly accessible resource in microfabrication. The NNF was then known as the National Research and Resource Facility for Submicron Structures (NRRFSS). In establishing the NRRFSS, Cornell University and the National Science Foundation launched an ambitious experiment both in an a d v a n c e d technology a n d in a n e w research m e t h o d o l o g y . The c u r r e n t charter of the facility, which differs little frorri NRRFSS' original charter, is to: • Develop state-of-the-art instrumentation and processes for fabricatiori and c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n of s t r u c t u r e s at dimensions below 100 nm. • Provide for both nanofabrication and microfabrication a national facility that is available to any qualified researcher from U.S. universities, industry, and federal laboratories. • Aggressively pursue applications of nanofabrication techniques in a broad spectrum of engineering and scientific disciplines; • Train students, scientists, and engineers in nanofabrication and microfabrication and their applications. • Transfer nanofabrication technology and information to the research and development communities. Tö meet these goals, faculty involved with the NRRFSS c o m m i t t e d t h e m selves to establishing a world-class research center. They hired staff, purchased equipment, built a new building, attracted new students and faculty, and b e g a n innovative research that
MRS BULLETIN/JULY1988
either utilized microfabrication techniques or advanced those techniques. They began a national user research program which made all the resources of the facility available to any qualified researcher (in any field of science) with demonstrated scientific need for access to these capabilities. They began an industrial affiliates program to formalize and promote the exchange of knowledge and technology with industrial researchers. In its first d e c a d e of O p e r a t i o n , NRRFSS conrributed to more than 300 research projects from about 40 institutions throughout the United States — projects that resulted in over 700 publications. The facility also participated in a w a r d i n g m o r e t h a n 250 g r a d u a t e d e g r e e s a n d s t i m u l a t e d t h e u s e of microfabrication technology in at least 12 scientific disciplines, from plant pathology to astronomy. At the same time, the NRRFSS vindicated the vision of its founders and established itself as a role model for university-based research centers nationwide. These centers expedite research by providing equipment, facilities, m a n a g e m e n t Organization, and focus for advanced research in multidisciplinary fields. Finally, the accomplishments at NRRFSS helped iriove s u b m i c r o n t e c h n o l o g y from the research laboratory to the productiori floor, and set the stage for the next decade of research in nanofabrication. In 1987 the Cornell facility began a new mission, the fabrication of struct u r e s in the n
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