The primary research nanofabrication facility at USC the O’Brien Nanofabrication Laboratory, with an opening date in summer 2021. The laboratory is located in the basement of the Michelson Center for Convergent Biosciences (MCB), a $255M research-only complex whose construction was completed in fall 2017. Notably, the nanofabrication facility was programmed into the building since the building’s ideation. As a result, this ~10,000 sqft central-user facility meets the stringent specifications on the control of acoustics, cleanliness, electromagnetic interference (EMI), temperature stability, and environmental vibrations. MCB is located in the center of the USC campus and houses researchers from numerous disciplines (biology, chemistry, physics and several fields in engineering) as well as the Center for NanoImaging, a complementary core user facility.
The vision behind the design of the John O’Brien Nanofabrication Laboratory is to move beyond conventional silicon processing. The facility will contain lithography, characterization (surface, optical, electrical), imaging, and device integration resources. It will also contain multiple growth and deposition systems, allowing separate toolsets for conventional and unconventional material systems. Enabling interdisciplinary research with next generation nanomaterials will be a strong focus of the facility. This emphasis is unique among nanofabrication facilities and will enable researchers to translate novel materials into transformational devices for a wide range of applications.
Prior to the O’Brien facility, researchers at USC were supported by the W. M. Keck Foundation Photonics Center Cleanroom. Established in 1992, this core user facility was founded by a collective vision of advancing and transforming optical technologies.