The synthesis/fabrication core will provide custom chemistry and nanofabrication essential to the success of several research thrust areas. For example, coupling the specificity of monoclonal antibodies to nano dimension features on a sensor chip requires the development of chemical linkers with the requisite specificity. This requires combining the demands of the surface materials chemistry with protein chemistry to prepare linking agents of high purity and selectivity. Expertise in this core area is essential to a wide range of biomedical applications that require binding of enzymes, antibodies, or cells to micro or nanofabricated materials. In addition, the synthesis core will provide expertise in the construction of cationic core shell dendrimers in the 40 - 200 nm range. These nanoparticles will ultimately incorporate drug delivery, imaging, and cell-specific recognition capabilities, which are relavant to a broad range of therapeutic and diagnostic medical applications. Fabrication of nanotechnology devices will be performed at the nanofabrication core, which includes an 11,000 sq ft clean room. It will provide the critical infrastructure for the fabrication of microfluidic structures, and well-controlled, critically shaped, selectively modified micro- and nanostructures. The primary tools will be a complete set of lithographic techniques for compound semiconductor device fabrication, including contact aligners, and an i-line stepper for optical lithography, a JEOL JBX-5DII Electron Beam writer (soon to be augmented by a newer version JEOL e-beam writer). A full range of deposition and etching tools is also included, including the capability to etch very deep channels (~ 100 microns) into silicon and compound semiconductor substrates. For cost effective production, large areas of different chemically functionalized regions could be fabricated on chips through the use of 'chemical stamps', formed from silicon or silicon dioxide. A Nanonex 2000 Nanoimprinter in the facility will allow rapid imprinting of chemical or mechanical patterns onto surfaces as large as 8 inches in diameter. The fabrication core will provide the broad range of micro and nanofabrication, including microfludic interfaces, that are essential for the fabrication of a broad range of practical devices. Characterization and assessment of nanoscale devices will also be carried on within the core or through shared facilities (SEM, TEM, AFM, SIMS) available.
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