Year-long renovations to the Nanotechnology Research & Teaching Facility at the University of Texas at Arlington have resulted in the addition of four major pieces of equipment that will greatly increase research capabilities. The equipment purchases are valued at more than $3.5 million and facility modifications are valued at more than $1 million. Three additional pieces of equipment have been purchased and will be installed during the 2005-06 academic year.

The major acquisitions ready for use include: • A Zeiss 1540XB three-gas Focused Ion Beam system with Electron Beam and Ion Beam Lithography and TEM sample preparation capabilities. This uniquely-configured and versatile research tool designs, generates, analyzes and characterizes patterns for future nano devices. • A Zeiss Supra 55VP Scanning Electron Microscope with EDAX Genesis 4000 Energy Dispersive Spectrometer, the latest in X-ray microanalysis, capable of viewing and manipulating sub-nanometer objects. It has been customized to also study MEMs and NEMs devices. • A Neocera Pulsed Laser Deposition System with an 18-inch turbo-pumped vacuum chamber and three-inch RF sputter gun capable of six-target pulsed laser deposition. • An RHK Ultra-high Vacuum Scanning Tunneling Microscope with Surface Preparation Chamber. In-situ deposition and etching gives this two-chamber UHV STM surface engineering and science capabilities.

Physical improvements included the addition of two wet chemical labs, two optoelectronics labs, a nano-giga electronic lab, a cryoelectronics lab, a nano-device lab and individual labs to accommodate the SEM, STM and E-Beam writer.

The equipment to be added includes two Deep Reactive Ion Etchers one for silicon compounds and one for III-V compounds such as Gallium Arsenide) and a Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition system with high-temperature capability.

Electrical Engineering Professor Zeynep Celik-Butler, director of the Nanotechnology Facility, believes these improvements will not only aid faculty and students at UTA but also encourage commercial researchers to use the facility.

Contact:
Roger Tuttle
Engineering Public Relations
817.272.3682
tuttle@uta.edu