Columbia Nano Initiative

It’s time to bid a fond farewell to our cleanroom director, James Vichiconti! James is leaving Columbia to pursue new and exciting opportunities.

Thank you, James, for 10 years of cleanroom renovation, operation, tool installation, user meetings, safety drills, equipment training, and research projects.

We will miss you, but good luck and wish you all the best in your future endeavors!

Find out what is new in the Semiconductor Industry, nanotechnology, and workforce needs in New York State! Register today: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/event/register/427651
-----------------------------------------------------
On Friday, Sept 27th, RIT will host the New York State Nanotechnology Network (NNN) Symposium geared toward connecting NYS undergraduate and graduate students with our NYS industry partners for the purpose of learning about and discussing "Growing the Semiconductor Workforce." The day will include a morning session with student, government, and industry talks, and an afternoon Poster Session & Career Fair!

The goal of this Career Fair-themed symposium is to showcase the NYS student workforce talent pipeline and to bring together universities and industries to exchange information and to present technology research activities in and around NYS. Come and network with us. Find the great employees you were looking to hire -- or find your dream job!

This event also coincides with the IEEE EDS Activities in Western New York Conference, marking the 44th event!

STUDENTS: Plan to submit a nano-research-related abstract by August 21st to be part of this showcase for New York State students.
* Abstract submission website: https://www.cnf.cornell.edu/events/nys_nano/2024/abstracts

NYS COMPANIES: Become a symposium sponsor to participate in the symposium, student showcase, and Career Fair.
* Sponsor website: https://www.cnf.cornell.edu/events/nys_nano/2024/sponsorships

Meet Our Team! Nava Ariel-Sternberg, Senior Director of CNI Labs.

* When and why did you join the CNI labs team?
I joined CNI in 2015. The CNI lab facilities were undergoing renovations and had been functioning as separate entities until then. A crucial aspect of my mission was to unify the CNI labs into the cohesive professional organization it is today, with our exceptional and collaborative team.

* What drew you to the nanotechnology field in the first place?
I studied materials science, captivated by the prospect of creating new materials with customized properties. In nanotechnology, the ratio of surface area to volume is much greater than in bulk materials, leading to distinct behaviors in nanoscale materials. This opens the door to infinite possibilities for innovating new materials, devices, and applications.

* What's your favorite thing about your work?
The CNI labs team: the people themselves. They are the most valuable asset that makes CNI’s excellence and professionalism.

* What is the most exciting discovery you've seen come from the labs recently?
There are many, but taking part in some recent MRSEC activity, I got a chance to learn more about the exciting discovery of graphullerene, a breakthrough led by Dr. Elena Meirzadeh during her postdoctoral tenure in the Roy and Nuckolls groups. Graphullerene is a novel form of carbon, comprised of ‘superatomic’ graphene sheets of Buckyballs (60 carbon atoms in a soccer ball configuration) with unique properties. This significant research was published in Nature and largely conducted using the CNI lab facilities.

* Outside of the lab, what's your favorite hobby?
I like dancing. Nothing professional but when I get a chance I enjoy salsa, jazz, or Israeli folk dancing.

A few of us are swapping the Big Apple for Beantown this week! Say hi if you see us around .nano for this year's University/Government/Industry Micro/Nanotechnology (UGIM) Symposium.

We're hiring! Senior Staff Associate III - Cleanroom Director

The Columbia Nano Initiative (CNI) operates a cutting-edge nanofabrication clean room lab spanning 5,000 square feet, equipped with 40 advanced fabrication and metrology instruments.

Our facility serves over 200 active users from Columbia University and beyond, including researchers from other universities and private companies.

Learn more about the position and apply today! https://bit.ly/CNI-cleanroom-director

Meet Our Team! Youry Borisenkov, Clean Room Engineer and Process Expert

* When and why did you join the CNI labs team?
March 2019—Just before Covid in March 2019. I knew Nava from Tel Aviv University; she is a great manager to work with, and NYC is a great city to live in—it was a winning combination.

* What drew you to the nanotechnology field in the first place?
I was working on fabricating nanoscale sensors for my PhD research in Mechanical Engineering—in particular, turbulence research. The multidisciplinary environment of the clean room strongly attracted me, both intellectually and socially. You do work and see the result. That's very satisfying.

* What's your favorite machine?
I would choose the e-beam evaporator. You use a focused spot of electrons, generated from a current running through a tungsten conductor, to heat up a metal, vaporize it, and let it condense on a substrate. All of this happens under a well-controlled environment and shows me each time I use it how much such small particles can achieve if you focus all of them together.

* Most surprising thing you've seen come from CNI labs recently?
I like simple and elegant solutions. If you can make things simple, it means you really understand what you do. Therefore, I like the 2D material research taking place in Columbia.

2D means taking things to the basics: forcing atoms to stay together when that would not likely happen naturally. This type of research is typically application-driven, which drives the constant development of new 2D materials. I'm very excited by this. The 3D world is so complex for us to understand, so taking it down a notch holds great potential.

* Outside of the lab, what's your favorite thing about New York?
My favorite thing would be the Parks, and the overall community and mix of cultures.

Y'ellow! Here, superuser and Columbia graduate researcher Duncan Wisniewski takes on a golden glow to work in the photolithography hood (alongside Research Operations Manager Tyson Allen in the second photo).

Photolithography is a process of transferring a pattern onto a substrate using light-sensitive materials, which are called photoresists. The photoresists are sensitive to UV and lower visible range wavelengths, so we deploy yellow light to cut the wavelengths below ~500nm.

A little glitter to brighten a rainy day?

Here we see the reflection of a sample as it's being prepared for our transmission electron microscope (TEM)—tiny work that requires the help of a light microscope.

TEM samples have to be thin enough—just a few nanometers, in places—that an electron beam can pass through them onto the detector below, and the grid used is only about 3mm in diameter.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our annual Clean Room Users Meeting!

We welcomed over 200 users from around Columbia, including , , , , , @, and more, as well as a number of external users to the Clean Room last year, and we always look forward to seeing you all in Davis to share the latest news and updates about the facility.

If you want to learn how you can bunny-suit up and join us, please visit https://cni.columbia.edu/columbia-university-clean-room

Behind the Scenes: Clean Room Maintenance Week

While we maintain the equipment in the Clean Room regularly, the room itself also needs some regular TLC. So once a year, we shut things down and move things out to perform the building support that we can't get to when our users are present: tasks like cleaning those crucial exhaust systems and changing out filters in the ceiling.

The Clean Room will be in tip-top shape to welcome you back next week.

In this week's photo, we find PhD student Ted Chung using the glove box device fabrication station in the Shared Materials Characterization Lab (SMCL).

The nitrogen-filled glove box lets users like Ted work with materials that are sensitive to oxygen and humidity. Those black rubber gloves are attached to holes in the box—this way, users can work with their samples without taking them out. Here, Ted is using the autofinder, a microscope housed within the glove box, to help him manipulate flakes of 2D materials and place them on top of each other to fabricate devices.

📸: Tim Lee

When science becomes art...

Reem Alshanbari, a PhD Candidate in Electrical Engineering and CNI Labs user, shared this beautiful tidal wave, recorded by Electron Microscopy Labs Director Amir Zangiabadi under our Transmission Electron Microscope.

With the Kymissis lab and the support of the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, she is working to fabricate high-performance display transistors, using a metal with a thin ITO interlayer as a contact electrode to reduce the Schottky barrier height and improve charge transport.

Have you created your own nano-art in the labs lately? Let us know!

And check us out in a new story from CUIMC!

Freezing Time: A new device from Joachim Frank’s lab can capture life’s molecular machines in action, revealing mechanisms that last for just a fraction of a second.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3OLJenq

At CNI, we don't just push new frontiers—our technology also helps our users make sense of the past! Learn about our collaboration with Columbia University Libraries analyzing and reassembling a 15th-century booklet of liturgical music in a new feature in Columbia News: https://bit.ly/medieval-nano

In our photo of the week, a user prepares a sample to be coated with an evaporated metal in our Angstrom evaporator.

The sample is attached to the square-shaped sample holder using screws and clips. It will be loaded into the evaporator and the chamber will be pumped down. Inside, an electron beam will heat a crucible that contains the metal until it evaporates and coats the chamber.

📸 : Tim Lee

Meet Our Team! Amir Zangiabadi, Director of the Electron Microscopy (EM) Lab:

* When did you join the CNI labs team?
I joined in October 2017. Being passionate about the world of microscopy and microanalysis, I found this great opportunity to expand my knowledge and contributions to the field.

* What drew you to nanotechnology in the first place?
My passion started in the first semester of my undergrad studies at Sharif University in Tehran, Iran, when I had my first class called Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering.

I realized this is like an assortment of physics, chemistry, and mathematics, sprinkled with atoms and light particles on top.

* What’s been the most surprising thing you've seen under an EM?
The first time I imaged the atoms of the sample I made during my PhD studies at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio—I couldn't believe this was real. It took me a while to accept this is not computer-generated imagery (CGI).

It still makes me smile when I see and explain the atomic structure of samples to students.

* Outside of the lab, what's your favorite thing about New York?
I like that NYC has invested more recently in creating green paths for cyclists/runners. I am a relatively active rider/commuter and I love this about the city.

Also, the restaurant choice in NYC is endless. My wife and I try a new and different cuisine each week.

We spy...lab user Sunggun Simon Yoo working on the Ultra High Vacuum Angstrom Evaporator (+ Research Operations Manager Tyson Allen!)

The UHV Angstrom is used to coat samples with metals. Similar to classic evaporators, the UHV Angstrom uses a beam of electrons to heat metal pellets in a crucible after the chamber is pumped down, but it can reach lower pressures & higher vacuums.

It's a New Year, and there's a new instrument ready for you in the Shared Materials Characterization Lab: a Rigaku Oxford Diffraction XtaLAB Synergy-S Crystal X-ray Diffractometer!

The Synergy-S is a single-crystal X-ray diffraction system for molecular structure determination. It is equipped with dual high-brilliance PhotonJet-S microfocus sealed-tube x-ray sources with high precision multilayer mirror focusing optics for Cu and Mo radiation, a high-speed Kappa 4-circle goniometer with telescopic 2-theta arm, a HyPix-ARC 100° Curved Hybrid Photon Counting (HPC) Detector, and integrated CrysAlisPro software platform.

Contact us if you'd like to learn more, and we're looking forward to seeing some new molecules in 2024!