EBL at OSU: A "fundamental building block"
 |
Until January, Ohio nanotechnologists who needed access to cutting-edge electron beam lithography tools had to travel out of state.
If they didn't get the results they were looking for, they returned to Ohio out of both time and money.
It was such a hassle, Professor Paul Berger says, that some companies simply gave up on potentially profitable projects: "One mistake and your whole week's work is ruined."
Now, there's a better way: the Nanoscale Patterning Center in the basement of Dreese Laboratories, where students, industrial scientists and academic researchers can use Ohio's only top-tier electron beam lithography system (EBL).
 |
The tool uses a beam of electrons to turn computer drawings into microscopic patterns--a technique useful to everyone from industrial scientists looking to create "high-speed niche electronics" to medical researchers studying how viruses attach to cells, says Aimee Bross, Ohio State's EBL engineer.
"Whatever people think up, we've been working on," Bross says.
Berger calls the tool "a fundamental building block. The only common denominator is that you're trying to manipulate matter at the nanometer scale."
EBL's of this caliber are rare; there are only eight to 10 publicly accessible systems in the nation, and those are mostly clustered around the east and west coasts, Berger says.
Unlike most EBL labs, Ohio State's doesn't get money from the National Science Foundation, which requires federally-funded labs to reveal their findings to the public. The Ohio Board of Regents helped pay for the tool, so industries using Ohio State's EBL won't have to worry that competitors are checking up on their work.
Ohio State offers two ways to access the EBL. Scientists can pay Ohio State to operate the tool for them, or, if they plan on using it frequently, they can complete training and learn to operate it themselves.
To schedule lab time, contact Bross at 292-2753.
Related links:
Department of electrical and computer engineering.
Read about Professor Berger's research projects.
Ohio State's Office of Research.
(text/images: University Marketing Communications)
