NANOFABRICATION AND MICROFLUIDICS CORE

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

C.4. THE CALTECH NANOFABRICATION FACILITIES (CORE #1) These facilities have three components. The Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI) nanofabrication facilities, the LSI expert facilities, and the Noyes Nanofabrication facility. These facilities support all of the nanofabrication aspects of the NSBCC, and the KNI and Noyes facilities are available for training Caltech, ISB, and UCLA NSBCC researchers. These are all new facilities, having been founded in 2003, and with certain components still under construction. The Noyes Nanofabrication component became operational in March 2003, The LSI expert facilities became operational during the period 2003-2004. The KNI Nanofabrication component became partially operational in 2004, and will continue to expand its capabilities through 2006, with the largest component becoming available in late 2005. The KNI and Noyes components will be, for the purposes of the NSBCC, operated under the guise of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI). The KNI was founded through a ~$25.4M grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore foundation. Those resources were used to support the renovation of existing space, the purchase of nanofabrication equipment to enable Caltech investigators to have access to state-of-the-art resources, and for a certain amount of technical support staff to operate the facilities. The KNI received its name when these facilities, already in their construction and, in some cases, operational stage, were endowed with a $7.5M grant from the Kavli Foundation to serve the purpose of facilities endowment. By 2007, when the endowment is fully vested, it will amount to approximately $375 K per year in direct costs is available for the operation and activities of the KNI. This entire facility, including the endowment, thus provides significant leverage to the NSBCC. The NSBCC, as one of the first large projects at Caltech that will require significant nanofabrication user facilities, user training, and requires the participant of cross-disciplinary researchers, will have priority.