Accessible Innovation
The Singh Center is centered around four major research facilities, all featuring state-of-the-art equipment for nanoscale characterization, measurement, and fabrication: the Quattrone Nanofabrication Facility, the Nanoscale Characterization Facility, the Scanning and Local Probe Facility, and the Material Property Measurement Facility.
The following connected sections comprise the major components of the building:
- A 10,000 square-foot next-generation Cleanroom Facility for micro/nanofabrication, including tooling for nanoscale and soft materials integration and a novel nano/bio bay serves as the home of the Quattrone Nanofabrication Facility.
- A 10,000 square-foot advanced underground facility designed for temperature stability and excellent isolation from vibrational, acoustic, and electromagnetic noise serves as home of both the Nanoscale Characterization Facility and the NBIC Scanning and Local Probe Facility.
- A Property Measurement Facility provides state-of-the-art measurement capabilities in magnetometry, optics, electrical and thermal transport.
- 18,000 net square feet of space for other shared facilities and general laboratories housed in an adjoining three story structure; a glass-enclosed galleria with views into the cleanroom; conference rooms; and a forum for meetings.
The building houses a large suite of high-performance equipment for nanotechnology research, including electron and scanning probe microscopy, cleanroom tools, electron beam lithography, and several materials synthesis and characterization instruments.
The multi-user facilities are vital to the research and educational programs at Penn and are leveraged by partner institutions and local industry within the Mid-Atlantic region. Unifying these central resources fosters the exchange of scientific ideas and the development of nanoscale science and technology, brings together crosscutting capabilities and the staffing to support these tools, and provides the modern infrastructure necessary to establish a regional center for nanotechnology.
