Facilities Description
This program will be carried out in its entirety at The Center for Nanotechnology and
Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University. The Nanotech Center is a stand alone,
environmentally controlled cluster of research and support laboratories adjacent to the Wake
Forest Reynolda Campus. The Center is comprised of a fully equipped wet chemistry labs,
nanomaterials growth and processing labs, an optics and device characterization facility, a
microscopy facility and a thin films and coatings processing lab.
The synthesis laboratories of the Nanotech Center are equipped for the synthesis and
characterization of conjugated polymers systems, the synthesis and characterization of nanophase
materials, and the synthesis and characterization of nanoparticle conjugates. Full a full suite of
characterization capabilities for the thermodynamic, morphological, and electrical properties of
polymers including thin film conductivity and optical characterization is available in the facility.
Specifically, microwave reactors, TGA, DSC, Flash Chromotography, glancing x-ray diffraction,
HPLC, GPC, absorption, luminescence, van der Pauws, time of flight, characterization is
available.
A yellow light, class 1000 clean room facility is available
at the Nanotech Center, equipped with gloveboxes that have
evaporators, spinners, and ovens built inside to allow for
complete device construction. A lifetime and performance
testbed with noise characterization capabilities is maintained
for OLED work. Also available are a set of fiber draw
towers, automated draw blades, two sputter deposition
systems, and alpha steppers for thin film processing of 3D
structures. The facility meets most industrial standards for
device characterization and testing and is state of the art.
The device characterization suite includes a second Class A certified AM1.5g standard, a
variable angle Am1.5g standard, calibrated EQE system, thermoelectric power and transport
system, along with a wide variety of optical capabilities. Raman spectroscopy, spectroscopic
ellipsometry and reflectometry and near field microscopy are available in this lab. These facilities
will soon be enhanced with the addition of an outdoor testing facility for solar panels.
The Nanotech Center’s microscopy facility can provide a wide range of characterization
techniques for imaging nano-phase composite materials. We maintain a JEOL 6335 F, field
emission SEM with 1.5 nm resolution, a refurbished Philips CM 30 high resolution TEM (0.24
nm resolution) with scanning nanoprobe EDS capabilities, and a JEOL1200 EX medium
resolution machine. We also have a JEOL 5200 AFM, and a RHK VT-STM. This facility has a
technical staff member to aid in microscopy studies.
WFU’s time resolved spectroscopy lab, under the direction of Prof. Richard Williams, is a
state of the art facility with several fast sources (sub-picosecond), YAG, and doubling/tripling
crystals, along with a wide variety of fast detection capabilities, streak cameras etc. Complete
characterization of excitonic dynamics and energy transfer mechanisms for bulk heterojunction
systems is available. This facility has a technical staff member to aid in use of fast spectroscopic
techniques.
The facilities of the Center are available to all affiliate members without charge with the
exception of the microscopy facility. The user fees for the microscopy facility are around
$50/hour but are flexible and depend on the instrument used. Currently the facility has a user
based of 12 faculty. To see more: www.wfu.edu/nanotech.