Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology

Executive director Arthur Carty, PhD, FRSC, OC
Managing director Alain Francq, MBA
Affiliation University of Waterloo
Location Waterloo, Ontario

The Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) is located at the University of Waterloo and is co-located with the Institute for Quantum Computing in The Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC). WIN is headed by Dr. Arthur Carty, former National Research Council President and National Science Advisor.

The Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology comprises faculty from eight different departments in the faculties of Science and Engineering.

Major research facilities

The Quantum-Nano centre is the site of a community laboratory for nano-metrology and nano-fabrication. Construction began on 9 June 2008 and is expected to be completed 21 September 2012. The 160 million dollar, 284,000-square-foot (26,400 m2) facility will be the home to a 17,000-square-foot (1,600 m2) laboratory.

Funding

Capital funding for construction of the QNC was made possible by major gifts and awards from multiple sources including a 101 million dollar donation from Ophelia and Mike Lazaridis (co-CEO of Research in Motion and Chancellor of the University of Waterloo). Government funding includes 17.9 million dollars from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) which has been matched by the Province of Ontario.[1] In addition, an anonymous donor has provided an endowment of 29 million dollars for 3 endowed chairs and 42 Graduate Nanofellowships.[1]

Laboratories

Giga to Nano Electronics Laboratory

G2N is a fabrication laboratory that integrates a range of thin-film manufacturing, assembly, testing, and characterization equipment to create electronic systems in the very large (a few billion pixels) and very small (a few nanometres) size range.[2]

WATLab

WATlab is a nano-materials metrology research facility, equipped with surface and nano-materials research tools for exploring areas of nanotechnology and nano-scale sciences.[3]

Advanced Micro-Nano Lab

The Advanced Micro-Nano Lab will address the following device technologies.[4]

  1. Micro/Nanoelectromechanical Systems (MEMS/NEMS): micro-optics, electromechanical wireless components, and biomedical & microfluidics devices.
  2. Carbon Nanotube devices, eventually targeting biomedical applications.

Research interests

Nano-engineered materials

Research in nano-engineered materials includes many departments and Faculties at Waterloo. Researchers in chemistry, chemical engineering, mechanical and mechatronics engineering, and electrical and computer engineering are collaborating on modeling, design, fabrication, processing, characterization and analysis of nano-scale properties of materials, structures, devices and systems. This development will be further driven by the need to address a critical issue also faced in the integration of nano-scale devices: the interface between nano-structured materials and the macroscopic world.

Nano-engineered materials projects

Nano-electronics design and fabrication

Developing techniques to integrate NEMS/CMOS (nano electro mechanical systems/complementary metal oxide semiconductor) to develop manipulators with atomic precision in all three dimensions with on-chip control. Example applications include: scanning probe microscopy, atomic force microscopy, nano-materials characterization and atomic resolution imaging with the objective of developing technologies for precision nano-scale assembly and manufacturing.

Nano-fabrication projects

Nano-instrumentation

Techniques to fabricate new instrumentation to characterize critical parameters such as size, composition, stiffness, surface characteristics, dopant concentration, magnetic coercivity, and other properties of particular interest to the nano scale. Due to their small size, nano-systems are extremely challenging to assemble, and yet precise control of their parameters is often critical to their performance. A related goal is to cause a paradigm shift in classical chemical measurements (in which samples are brought to the lab for analysis) by developing wireless, energy-efficient mobile nano-instruments that allow users to bring the lab to the sample. Examples of "the lab" include nano-instruments of all types and two examples of "the sample" include the environment or a patient. The metrology arm of the new labs will be used to study measurements at the nano-scale, to develop new and unique nano-scale measuring instruments, and to calibrate such instruments. It will also address associated challenges involved in fabricating, integrating and packaging instruments at the nano-scale.

Nano-scale metrology projects

Nano–biosystems

Nano–bio is a field that includes both the use of nanotechnology in biological and agrifood systems and use of biological or biomimetic techniques in nanotechnology. Nanobiotechnology shows a tremendous promise of improving the quality of life. For example, nanovehicles might deliver drugs directly to targeted cells, nanomembranes may be used for development of cheap, effective water purification systems, or nanochips that interface neurons with electronics may become common place. NEMS (nano-electromechanical systems) might use sensors and physical controls to stabilize individuals with heart, kidney or liver disease. As nanotechnology researchers strive to create self-assembling devices, they are beginning to exploit natural self-assemblers: proteins, DNA and viruses. Examples also include development of food quality monitoring sensors and microfluidic biosensor components.Nanoscale imaging of biological systems helps to understand the nanoscale structure–function relationship of materials and in evaluating the food quality–function information. Characterization of nanoscale fragments of biomaterials such as DNA, proteins, chromosomes, plant cells, bacteria, starch granules and anti-allergens are extremely important.

Nano–bio projects

[6]

Collaborations and partnerships

Nanotechnology research at Waterloo has national and international scope through collaboration and partnerships with:

References

  1. 1 2 University of Waterloo Quantum-Nano Fact Sheet
  2. to Nano Electronics Laboratory
  3. WATLab
  4. Advanced Micro/Nano-Devices Lab
  5. Neethirajan, S., M.S. Freund, C. Shafai, D.S. Jayas and D.J. Thomson. 2009. Development of CO2 sensor for agri-food industry (US Provisional Patent US2009-61/238,91).
  6. Ontario's World-Class Quantum-Nanotechnology Research Centre at the University of Waterloo, Alain Francq, University of Waterloo
  7. The Complete Specturm of Nanotechnology Education, Research, Facilities and Partnerships for a World Class Nanotechnology Centre, Power Point, Alain Francq, University of Waterloo

External links

Coordinates: 43°28′17″N 80°32′31″W / 43.4715°N 80.5420°W / 43.4715; -80.5420

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