Facilities

On October 29, Nanotech West Laboratory was honored to host a visit from a Chinese delegation representing Hubei Province, a sister-state to Ohio since 1979 and home of Wuhan University.  The delegation of 14 included Mr. Yang Song, Deputy Party Secretary of Hubei Provincial Committee and Mr. Wang Dunsheng, Deputy Director-General of Hubei Provincial Department of Agriculture.

Dr. John Carlin, Research Scientist and IMR Member of Technical Staff, provided the distinguished group with an overview of the photovoltaics research taking place at Ohio State and the broad research capabilities of OSU’s Nanotech West Laboratory. Dr. Carlin was joined by Dr. Yun Wu, a Postdoctoral Researcher at OSU’s NSEC program, who is originally from Hubei Province.

During their visit to Ohio, the Hubei group signed a memorandum of agreement with the Ohio Department of Agriculture pledging to continue a long-standing alliance between Ohio and Hubei Province in promoting and advancing their agriculture industries.

A team of OSU researchers has won an NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award for the acquisition of a hybrid diamond/nitride synthesis cluster tool for studies of wide bandgap semiconductors.

The team of researchers spans two colleges and three departments including Physics (Prof. Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin, CME, PI on the proposal*; Prof. Fengyuan Yang, CME; Prof. Harris Kagan, HEPX), Electrical and Computer Engineering (Prof. Siddharth Rajan**; Prof. Steven A. Ringel) and Materials Science and Engineering (Prof. Roberto Myers**). This cluster tool will allow for in situ sample transfer of substrates between diamond and nitride growth chambers, giving it the unique capability to grow high quality wide-bandgap semiconducting heterostructures. Research activity will span from high-energy physics to prototype electronic, magnetic and photonic devices, covering 15 orders of magnitude in energy (from ~1 meV to ~ 1,000 TeV), 13 orders of magnitude in time (~ 100 fs to ~ 1 ms), and 11 orders of magnitude in length (from ~ 1 nm to ~ 10 cm).

The MRI instrument aqcuisition award will allow an interdisciplinary research team to impact many areas.

As shown in the diagram above, this activity will also support local, national, and international collaborations including the Center for Emergent Materials (CEM, an NSF funded MRSEC at OSU), the RD42 collaboration (located at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland), the State-funded Wright Center for Photovoltaic Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC), and the Center for Affordable Nanoengineering of Polymeric Biomedical Devices (CMPND, an NSF funded NSEC at OSU). The multi-disciplinary project was supported by and developed in conjunction with The Ohio State University Institute for Materials Research (IMR).

* For more information please contact Prof. Johnson-Halperin at ejh@mps.ohio-state.edu.

** Profs. Rajan and Myers have complementary 80/20 appointments between ECE/MSE and MSE/ECE, respectively.

The OSU Institute for Materials Research (IMR) has released a Request for Proposals for our FY2010 Facility Grants competitions. 

IMR Facility Grants are awarded at $2,000 each for 12-month project periods, to assist OSU researchers with facility user access fees and related minor charges.  This fiscal year, IMR will again hold two rounds of Facility Grants competitions with deadlines of October 15, 2009 and March 15, 2010.

Since the inception of our Research Enhancement Program in 2007, IMR has awarded 54 Facility Grants totaling $124,916. 

This is just one of several ways in which IMR suports materials-allied research at The Ohio State University.  Learn more about IMR’s Research Enhancement Program at http://imr.osu.edu/programs/

                                                                                         Construction in front of Dreese Lab between the Northwest parking garage may be inconvenient for pedestrians for a few days. However, with the recent addition of the Veeco 930 Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) to SEAL, and an eye on future growth of SEAL and the Dreese Lab Cleanroom, the project became essential.  The current system features underground delivery of the liquid nitrogen, which makes maintenance and additional cunstruction relatively complex, involving removing sidewalk and digging to work with the pipe. This construction serves as scheduled maintenance to a 20 year old system while also supplying a new and more efficient vacuum jacketed liquid nitrogen pipe for safe nitrogen delivery.

Ohio State’s first Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) system to focus on the important field of wide bandgap nitride materials was installed earlier this week, adding new major materials capability to OSU’s already strong materials facility infrastructure. These semiconductor materials have wide technological applications including next-generation solid state lighting, solar power, high data-rate communications, and energy-efficient electric transportation systems. This state-of-the-art system allows nanometer-scale control of III-Nitride semiconductor crystal structures, enabling OSU researchers from several departments, including ECE, MSE, Physics, and ME to make scientific discoveries and invent new technology based on III-Nitride semiconductors.

This new instrument was procured by Professors Siddharth Rajan and Roberto Myers, two new Assistant Professors with joint appointments in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, with resources provided by both departments and the Institute for Materials Research.

Professors Myers and Rajan were brought to OSU in Autumn 2008 as part of IMR’s signature research thrusts in the areas of “Energy for Materials” and “Electronic Materials,” core topics in which IMR has invested by creating and funding teams leading to large interdisciplinary research programs. Support for these areas also comes from the Targeted Investment in Excellence (TIE) program in Advanced Materials and a collaboration with the TIE on Energy – Center for Energy, Sustainability and the Environment.
The III-nitride MBE system is the fourth MBE system at OSU, and is located within the Electrical and Computer Engineering department’s Semiconductor Epitaxy and Analysis Lab (http://www.ece.osu.edu/oepv/mbe.html), the primary center for MBE research, development and services at Ohio State.

For more details on the capabilities and uses of this new instrument, contact Siddharth Rajan (rajan@ece.osu.edu), Roberto Myers (myers.1079@osu.edu) or the SEAL lab manager, Mark Brenner (brennerm@ece.osu.edu).

OSU’s first metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system was delivered to Nanotech West Laboratory today. This $1.75 million, 3×2 close coupled showerhead (CCS) system from Aixtron, Inc. is a centerpiece of the OSU site of the Wright Center for Photovoltaic Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC), headed by Dr. Bob Davis and administered by The OSU Institute for Materials Research. As with all Nanotech facilities, the MOCVD system will be openly accessible to researchers at OSU, industry and government laboratories.

The MOCVD system enables epitaxial growth of III-V compound semiconductors and nanostructures based on arsenides, phosphides, antimonides and dilute nitrides. While a primary application of the system is for advanced solar cell research and development, the system is designed to equally support OSU’s optoelectronic and electronic materials and devices community. With the addition of this MOCVD tool, Nanotech West Laboratory adds to its wide array of state of the art process tools to create a unique facility open to OSU’s entire materials community. The installation process of the MOCVD system is on schedule, with an expected availability to the general community of June 2009.

For further inquiries about the new MOCVD capabilities, please contact IMR Member of Technical Staff, Dr. John Carlin at carlin.9@osu.edu.

The OSU Nanotech West Laboratory (NTW) has installed and completed qualification of a new Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) system in the NTW cleanroom that is now available for general use. Purchased by the Ohio Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC), the Picosun SUNALE™ R-150B ALD system provides a new synthesis capability for conformal thin film coatings of a variety of oxides, nitrides, sulfides and pure metals for passivation, optical coatings, metal electrodes, high-k dielectrics, etc. The SUNALE™ ALD system can use liquid, solid and gaseous precursors and can deposit on samples up to 150mm in diameter and in excess of 1 inch thick with excellent thickness uniformity with a 1σ variation of less than 1% demonstrated over a 150mm substrate.

The ALD system currently has standard processes for the deposition of Al2O3 and Ta2O5. Additional qualified processes to deposit materials such as ZnO, TiO2 and HfO2 are currently being developed and will soon be added to the set of standard ALD materials. However, as the ALD technique is designed to deposit a wide range of materials that depends upon availability of chemical precursors, users with interests outside the standard materials set are strongly encouraged to test additional precursors with the assistance of NTW and IMR staff.

To schedule training to use the ALD system or for further inquiries about the new ALD capabilities, please contact IMR Member of Technical Staff, Dr. John Carlin at carlin.9@osu.edu. For usage rates for the ALD system, go to “User Fees” at www.nanotech.osu.edu .

The Center for Electronic/Magnetic Nanoscale Composite Multifunctional Materials (ENCOMM) offers the IMR community access to a newly acquired FEI Helios NanoLab 600 Focused Ion Beam Mill/Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB/SEM) purchased with funds awarded through the Advanced Materials Targeted Investments in Excellence (TIE) program. The FIB has been commissioned and is available for use. Its capabilities include ion milling, high-resolution SEM, Pt deposition, e-beam lithography and X-ray microanalysis.

ENCOMM has a mission to create an environment in which multi-disciplinary teams can form and interact and to provide the infrastructure needed to conduct the research that will define this field. ENCOMM’s NanoSystems Laboratory (ENSL) offers a state-of-the-art facility to address cutting edge challenges in understanding and developing complex mulitcomponent materials. The facility features FEI Helios NanoLab 600 dual beam FIB/SEM with capabilities for e-beam lithography and X-ray microanalysis for materials characterization. Additional equipment available is a Langmuir-Blodgett trough, SQUID Magnetometer, Atomic Force Microscope, JEOL JSM-5400 Scanning Electron Microscope, and a photolithography lab. ENSL also includes 1500 ft2 of class 1000 clean room space.

The facility is open to both OSU and external users on a user fee basis. For further information, please visit the ENCOMM website or contact ENSL Manager Denis Pelekhov at dtt@mps.ohio-state.edu to arrange training for equipment use.

IMR announces the availability of new office space in its IMR West Campus office located in the Science Village building at 1318 Kinnear Road. IMR is making available over two dozen new office cubicles to IMR members and their research groups. These dedicated workspaces are fully-equipped cubicles with centralized printing, copying, fax and wireless internet services. The office suite also has a lounge area and a kitchen. We are pleased to offer these cubicles free of charge to IMR members and their staff and students on a first-come-first-served basis.

With the coming major equipment acquisitions added to the already significant facilities and resources available at Nanotech West Laboratory, this service is intended to further improve connectivity with West Campus research facilities. Office space at IMR West Campus is also available to industry users of Nanotech West equipment, on a monthly fee basis.

The suite is also the new home to two IMR Members of Technical Staff – Dr. John Carlin, a Research Scientist supporting PVIC and related research, and Senior Research Associate Aimee Bross, who continues to operate the Leica EBL system.

We invite you to tour the IMR West Campus office space and the laboratories available to OSU and industry researchers at Nanotech West. To inquire about availability of these dedicated workspaces or to schedule a tour, contact Layla Manganaro (manganaro.4@osu.edu or 247-4685).

To further improve connectivity between campus and Nanotech West Lab, the IMR also provides a free passenger shuttle with six round-trips each weekday. In the six months that IMR has offered this shuttle service, we’ve seen a significant demand with monthly ridership continuing to grow to over 120 passengers per month. We anticipate a marked increase in 2008 to coincide with the EBL system move and upcoming new equipment acquisitions at Nanotech West Laboratory.

Learn more about the IMR shuttle, the shuttle schedule, and Nanotech West Lab facilities.

IMR is pleased to welcome its second IMR Member of Technical Staff, Research Scientist Dr. John Carlin, to our community. John is no stranger to OSU as he is a 2001 PhD graduate who performed research on III-V compound semiconductor epitaxy and device processing during his graduate school days. From 2001-2004 he was a project manager and researcher at Amberwave Systems Corporation in charge of chemical vapor deposition for SiGe materials and strained Si devices. After a short stint in the research and development of gallium nitride (GaN) for light emitting diodes at Cree Inc., John became a Research Scientist in the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate at AFRL in Dayton, Ohio where he worked on wafer bonding, epitaxy and characterization of GaN and other III-V materials and continued to obtain significant experience in contract-oriented research.

We are delighted to have recruited John to IMR with his more than 10 years of very relevant experience. John will be in charge of the new III-V Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) laboratory and user facility that will be placed at Nanotech West Laboratory in 2008 as part of IMR’s Wright Center on Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (WCI-PVIC). Key among John’s roles as IMR’s newest member will be facilitating collaborations via the MOCVD and device fabrication labs, bringing new industrial users to our facilities, and creating research partnerships and third party funding opportunities. John will play a major role in the PVIC Wright Center by assisting Bob Davis regarding PVIC activities within Nanotech West.

John joins IMR Senior Research Associate Aimee Bross, who operates the electron beam lithography facility which is set to move to Nanotech West Laboratory, 1381 Kinnear Road. John’s office is located in the IMR Suite in room 218 at Nanotech West. He can be reached by phone at 292-6112 or by email at carlin.9@osu.edu.