The Minnesota Nano Center (MNC)
The Characterization Facility (CharFac)
Sputtering Systems
Shamrock
Shamrock is a special type of sputtering machine that can be used to deposit high quality films. It has 6 S-Guns, an ion milling source, and can handle wafers larger than 4”.
MBE
It is a homemade modified MBE system that is converted to a sputtering system. It has 8 sputtering guns and the sample can be heated above 600 °C during growth.
Facing Target System
Thin films are fabricated in a facing target sputtering system. Currently, Fe16N2 thin films grown on this system can be used as potential magnetic writing head and patterned into spintronic devices. Target usage efficiency is high and sputtering rate is stable. It can realize sputtering function with less radiation damage to the sample.
Nanoparticle Systems
Biosensing
Scienion S5 Spotting System
- Cell transfection arrays
- Accurate dilution series and addition of tiny aliquots
- Printing chemical libraries
- Spotting onto disc format (round targets) and customized targets
- Assay development and screening assays
- Microarray-based analysis
- The system has accurate control of the drop position and can dispense volumes of 100-400 pL per droplet and is automatically controlled.
a. GMR chip before printing
b. Spots of water, each containing several 400pL droplets
c. Spotting system complete with rebot, pumps, nozzles, cameras, and computer station
Testing
High Frequency MR Probe Station
Magnetic fields can be generated up to 4kOe and can be applied in-plane or out-of-plane. A coplanar board is used to provide the AC magnetic field. A pulse generator can be used for generating pulsed fields and a function generator with a 20GHz bandwidth is sused as the source for the dynamic magnetic field. A 26GHz bandwith spectrum analyzer is used for frequency domain spin torque oscillator characterization and a storage scope with a 20GHz bandwidth is used for real time measurements with a rate of 50Gs/S.
High Field MR Probe Station
