Center For Nanoscale Science and Engineering

Director's Message

Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering
Robert C. Haddon
haddon@ucr.edu

In this century, nanotechnology will not only change the way that science and engineering are practiced, but will vastly improve the quality of life for all by bringing about revolutionary advances in electronics, computing, communications, engineering materials and medicine. It is therefore essential that UCR establish a pre-eminent position in a broad swath of nanotechnologies.

The Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) was established to achieve this vision by crossing the border of two colleges - the Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE) and the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS), together with strong ties to the Division of Biomedical Sciences. The Center brings together scientists from the disciplines of chemistry, physics, biology, engineering and medicine.

Initially the Center is focusing on carbon, silicon and biology as these three areas already make compelling arguments for the power of the nanoscale world, and because these areas fall within the existing expertise of the campus. The case for nanotechnology is often made by reference to biology, where processing is frequently carried out at the level of individual molecules on the nanometer length scale. This thrust for CNSE is predicated on the idea that biology is the theater in which nanotechnology will have its first successful applications. This follows from the fact that biology is the premier example of nanoscale science and engineering, and also because biology is currently the most important driver of the research enterprise.

The semiconductor industry currently leads the nanotechnology effort in the arena of engineered devices that are constructed in a top-down manner with exquisite precision, whereas carbon is the basis of life and is able to self-assemble amazing structures, again on the nanometer length scale. Carbon is also the most versatile of all elements, and offers many new opportunities for devices, such as those currently being constructed from carbon nanotubes and molecule-based materials. Thus there is a strong effort in new devices, sensors, nanoelectronics and new paradigms for computing, such as spintronics.

Center for Nanoscale Innovation for Defense (CNID)
For some time, there has been a technological and economic impetus to shrink devices to the nanoscale, producing, higher information densities, increased computational power and faster transmission of information. State-of-the-art technologies for rapid access memory, computation and information propagation are already utilizing critical features at the nanometer scale; however, the twin demands of structural and functional perfection at the nanoscale, with integration into systems of increasing complexity, mandates alternative materials and technological solutions. Through an integrated and comprehensive program, CNID will develop the fundamental science and technology that underlies dramatically new approaches to information processing and transmission. This will be achieved by developing the control of charge, spin and light in nanoscale architectures to create a new set of electronic, photonic, spintronic and mechanical devices and systems. CNID researchers will also develop a palette of fabrication tools, many of which will involve solid state, chemical, and biological pathways, templates and precursors. A unifying theme of the research program will be the understanding and control of nanometer-scale systems for advanced technology. The Center will in addition establish a pipeline for these rapidly evolving areas between the defense and commercial industries and the university research community.

CNID is a collaborative partnership between UCSB, UCLA and UCR that builds on existing interactions and will focus our cooperative research in new directions. The three University of California campuses will serve as the hub of a national center, facilitating the exchange of new ideas, scientific discoveries, and demonstration technologies with industrial partners that play important roles in national defense. It will form an important component of the California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI) and its associated DARPA research programs, in which the State of California and the federal government are investing considerable funds to establish the infrastructure and essential research activities for a long-range, far-reaching program in nanosystems science and technology.

Outreach and Technology Transfer
The Center offers unique opportunities for graduate student researchers to gain industrial research experience through collaborative projects and summer internships, both within the Center and through industrial and university partners. In particular, we have joined with the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and North Dakota State University in promoting exchange programs in nanotechnology that span the country. Furthermore, the Center acts as a conduit through which industrial partners can recruit highly trained students in the areas of nanoscale science and engineering, and encourages students to obtain contact with real world research and development in the private sector.

The Center specifically encourages technology transfer and the formation of start-up companies that make use of the intellectual capital from research conducted under CNSE and CNID sponsorship.

Facilities
The Center currently has facilities in the Colleges of Engineering and Science and is in the process of constructing a Semiconductor Processing and Nanofabrication Center, which will provide clean room and semiconductor processing facilites for micro- and nano-device fabrication. Its design allows for the manipulation of nonstandard materials such as organic and biological molecules and their interface to devices.


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Director's Message Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering Robert C. Haddon haddon@ucr.edu In this century, nanotechnology will not only change the way that science and engineering are practiced, but will vastly improve the quality of life for all by bringing about revolutionary advances in electronics, computing, communications, engineering materials and medicine. It is therefore essential that UCR establish a pre-eminent position in a broad swath of nanotechnologies. The Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) was established to achieve this vision by crossing the border of two colleges - the Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE) and the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS), together with strong ties to the Division of Biomedical Sciences. The Center brings together scientists from the disciplines of chemistry, physics, biology, engineering and medicine. Initially the Center is focusing on carbon, silicon and biology as these three areas already make compelling arguments for the power of the nanoscale world, and because these areas fall within the existing expertise of the campus. The case for nanotechnology is often made by reference to biology, where processing is frequently carried out at the level of individual molecules on the nanometer length scale. This thrust for CNSE is predicated on the idea that biology is the theater in which nanotechnology will have its first successful applications. This follows from the fact that biology is the premier example of nanoscale science and engineering, and also because biology is currently the most important driver of the research enterprise. The semiconductor industry currently leads the nanotechnology effort in the arena of engineered devices that are constructed in a top-down manner with exquisite precision, whereas carbon is the basis of life and is able to self-assemble amazing structures, again on the nanometer length scale. Carbon is also the most versatile of all elements, and offers many new opportunities for devices, such as those currently being constructed from carbon nanotubes and molecule-based materials. Thus there is a strong effort in new devices, sensors, nanoelectronics and new paradigms for computing, such as spintronics. Center for Nanoscale Innovation for Defense (CNID) For some time, there has been a technological and economic impetus to shrink devices to the nanoscale, producing, higher information densities, increased computational power and faster transmission of information. State-of-the-art technologies for rapid access memory, computation and information propagation are already utilizing critical features at the nanometer scale; however, the twin demands of structural and functional perfection at the nanoscale, with integration into systems of increasing complexity, mandates alternative materials and technological solutions. Through an integrated and comprehensive program, CNID will develop the fundamental science and technology that underlies dramatically new approaches to information processing and transmission. This will be achieved by developing the control of charge, spin and light in nanoscale architectures to create a new set of electronic, photonic, spintronic and mechanical devices and systems. CNID researchers will also develop a palette of fabrication tools, many of which will involve solid state, chemical, and biological pathways, templates and precursors. A unifying theme of the research program will be the understanding and control of nanometer-scale systems for advanced technology. The Center will in addition establish a pipeline for these rapidly evolving areas between the defense and commercial industries and the university research community. CNID is a collaborative partnership between UCSB, UCLA and UCR that builds on existing interactions and will focus our cooperative research in new directions. The three University of California campuses will serve as the hub of a national center, facilitating the exchange of new ideas, scientific discoveries, and demonstration technologies with industrial partners that play important roles in national defense. It will form an important component of the California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI) and its associated DARPA research programs, in which the State of California and the federal government are investing considerable funds to establish the infrastructure and essential research activities for a long-range, far-reaching program in nanosystems science and technology. Outreach and Technology Transfer The Center offers unique opportunities for graduate student researchers to gain industrial research experience through collaborative projects and summer internships, both within the Center and through industrial and university partners. In particular, we have joined with the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and North Dakota State University in promoting exchange programs in nanotechnology that span the country. Furthermore, the Center acts as a conduit through which industrial partners can recruit highly trained students in the areas of nanoscale science and engineering, and encourages students to obtain contact with real world research and development in the private sector. The Center specifically encourages technology transfer and the formation of start-up companies that make use of the intellectual capital from research conducted under CNSE and CNID sponsorship. Facilities The Center currently has facilities in the Colleges of Engineering and Science and is in the process of constructing a Semiconductor Processing and Nanofabrication Center, which will provide clean room and semiconductor processing facilites for micro- and nano-device fabrication. Its design allows for the manipulation of nonstandard materials such as organic and biological molecules and their interface to devices.
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