Center for Nanostructures

S a n ta C l a r a U n i v e r s i t y

Partners and Sponsors • John & Susan Ocampo

center for

• NASA

Nanostructures

• Department of Defense • Hitachi • Radiance Technologies • National University of Singapore • University of California • Stanford Nanofabrication Facility • Zhejiang University

For further information, contact: Cary Y. Yang, Director cyang@scu.edu Drazen Fabris, Associate Director dfabris@scu.edu

“ The Center for Nanostructures is a great place to expose students to cutting-edge science,

Center for Nanostructures Santa Clara University 500 El Camino Real Santa Clara, CA 95053 408-551-1712

www.scu.edu/cns

to educate them on how the science develops into new technologies, and to sharpen their analytical and hands-on

Cary Yang, Director

FPO

The Jesuit University in Silicon Valley

SCU OMC-7957A 5/10 1,500

skills in the process.”

Center for Nanostructures

Center for Nanostructures The Center for Nanostructures (CNS) pursues interdisciplinary research and education through partnerships with other universities, industry, and government. These efforts allow CNS to position Santa Clara University as a national center of innovation in nanostructures research. CNS brings together engineering and science faculty and students to collaborate on innovative research.

Research The Center for Nanostructures has received approximately $5 million in funding from government and industry sponsors for several research projects, with the objective of improving reliability and performance of electrical components in integrated circuits.

Projects focus on thermal interface materials for better heat dissipation and novel electrical interconnect materials for enhanced performance. Undergraduate and graduate students in CNS carry out experiments on materials synthesis, device fabrication, electrical characterization, and nanostructural analysis.

The CNS research environment allows continuous interaction among students, faculty, and visiting researchers.

Advancements at the Nanoscale Nanoscale science and technology is a new frontier in engineering dealing with the creation of functional materials, devices, and systems at a length scale of less than one hundred nanometer or one ten-thousandth of a millimeter, or about one thousand times thinner than a human hair.

Research in this rapidly growing field focuses on how the novel properties—physical, chemical, biological, electrical, magnetic, mechanical, and optical—of various nanomaterials can be exploited for a wide variety of applications. Demand for enhanced performance and increased reliability in electronic systems and advancements in bioengineering are fueling the enormous growth in this highly competitive field.

Carbon-based nanostructures for next-generation computer chip technology

The CNS facility consists of the Nanoelectronics Laboratory on campus and the Nanostructure Fabrication and Characterization Facility at nearby NASA Ames Research Center. The Nanoelectronics Laboratory houses state-of-the-art instrumentation in a class 100 clean room.

Education and Outreach

Major equipment in these two labs includes a high-resolution scanning electron microscope equipped with a nanomanipulator system, an electrical measurement system consisting of a wafer probe station and parameter and network analyzers, a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition system, a sputtering system, a thermal resistance measurement system, and an atomic force microscope.

The School of Engineering offers courses in nanoscale science and technology, nanomaterials, and nanoelectronics to support the CNS and other related programs.

Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition system

Nanoscale science and technology is a highly interdisciplinary field incorporating all biological and physical sciences and engineering. The Center is continually developing education programs and curricula at both undergraduate and graduate levels to complement its research activities, whereby pedagogy and knowledge creation are well integrated.

Recognizing and addressing the critical need for cultivating the next generation of engineers, CNS also sponsors summer fellowships for high school teachers under the Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education (IISME) Program.

The Center for Nanostructures regularly hosts local middle and high school students participating in various science and technology-related programs in Silicon Valley, introducing them to nanoscience and the exciting opportunities available in this field. CNS also regularly hosts seminars that attract individuals from industry and academia.