The Department has established a new NanoLab, with a variety of customer-designed and state-of-art thin film deposition and nanostructure fabrication facility. The fabrication facility includes the following:

E-beam evaporation/sputtering system: This costumer-designed growth system combines a four-pocket e-beam evaporator with two RF (radio-frequency) sputter guns. Four different materials can be put into the e-beam pockets. During the deposition, only one pocket is heated up by the e-beam source, while the positions of those pockets can change alternatively. The two sputter guns are responsible for depositing alloys and compound materials. This system is mainly used to fabricate aligned nanorod structures through a so-called glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique.

Pulsed laser deposition system: This is also a customer-designed growth chamber for YBCO thin film (high Tc superconductive material) and nanostructure growth. A high energy, pulsed laser beam (from a Nd:YAG laser) is focused onto a YBCO target inside the vacuum chamber, and ablates the target to form a plasma plume. The ablated material will deposit onto the collecting substrate. This system is used to make thin films, nanoparticles, and other nanostructures.

YBCO nanoparticles

Vapor transport nanostructure growth system: Sometime we also called it “nanowire cooker”. It is a homemade system for oxide nanowire growth with catalyst. It consists of a high temperature furnace, gas handling system, as well as a vacuum system.

ZnO nanowires

Electrospin system: This is a home-made system by an undergraduate student, Mr. Wade Bowie. It is used to fabricate polymer nanofibers, and some ceramic nanofibers through sol-gel technique. The picture shown below are nanofibers of SiO₂ during the fabrication process.

SiO₂ nanofibers

Physical property measurement system: This commercial system is used to characterize the electric conductivity of thin films and nanostructures. The lowest temperature it can reach is 1.8 K, with a 9 Tesla magnetic field.

Contact angle measurement system: This commercial system is used to characterize the interfacial property of a liquid and solid surface. A desired volume of liquid will be injected onto the solid surface one wants to study by a syringe pump. The shape of the liquid droplet on the surface is determined by the surface free energies of both the liquid and the solid surface. By measuring the shape of the droplet (mostly the contact angle), one can determine the interfacial energy between solid and the liquid.

Microfabrication at UGA

In year 2003, Drs. Guigen Zhang and Yiping Zhao have established the first nano/microfabrication lab at University of Georgia in Driftmier Engineering Center. The main objectives of this initiative is to develop a nano/micro fabrication lab at UGA to promote research and educational activities in the areas of nanotechnology, biomedical sciences and engineering, environmental and agricultural engineering, etc. The main functions of this lab include:

Fabrication of novel chemical and biological sensors
Development of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS), and bio-MEMS substrates and devices, including microfluidic systems, and bio-chips
Fabrication and characterization of nanostructures and nano-devices
Development of nano-electro-mechanical system (NEMS) and bio-NEMS devices
Training of graduate and undergraduate students in nano/micro fabrication

Currently we have the ability to perform the following processes: photoresist coating and developing, photolithography, metal thin film deposition, plasma etching, polymer thin film coating (Parylene), spin coating, film thickness measurement (profilimetry), atomic force microscopy, and electric testing. We welcome all the collaborations from the UGA communities.

Mask Aligner

Class 100 Cleanroom

Atomic Force Microscopy

Spin Coater

Plasma Etcher

Test Stage

Thermal Evaporator

Parylene Deposition System

High temperature furnace