Fusionopolis, a research and development complex developed by the Singaporean government, has opened its doors to Seiko Instruments Inc. and a dozen other Japanese, U.S. and European companies following the completion of its first phase of construction.

The island nation's government seeks to use the 30-hectare center, which will be developed in six phases, to attract foreign businesses with cutting-edge technologies. It expects to house R&D facilities for a broad spectrum of industries ranging from engineering, chemicals and environmental sciences to information communications and media.

The 13 tenants include Nitto Denko Corp. Panasonic Corp. Vestas Wind Systems A/S, a Danish manufacturer of wind turbines; U.S. video game developer Electronic Arts Inc.; and Thales Group, a French supplier of defense and electronic devices. It is also home to Agency for Science, Technology and Research institutions dedicated to studying materials as well as ultrasmall electronic and other technologies.

In all, 800 researchers and engineers will be working at the two high-rise buildings that have been completed.

Bringing leading-edge technology firms from around the world and national R&D institutes under one roof will foster interaction among researchers from a wide range of fields and help create an R&D center with strong global influence, says Lim Chuan Poh, the agency's chairman.

The facility's second phase of construction is expected to be finished in 2011 or 2012. With a large cleanroom, it will house semiconductor and nanotechnology research centers.

Chubais Offers Cheap Nanotech Loans in Russia

The Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (RUSNANO) was founded under Federal Law No.139-FZ dated July 19, 2007 for «implementation of the government policy in the sphere of nanotechnologies, innovation infrastructure development in the sphere of nanotechnologies, implementation of projects on creating perspective nanotechnologies and nanoindustry». The Corporation resolves this objective acting as a co-investor in nanotechnological projects with a significant economic or social impact. The Corporation’s financial involvement at early stages of projects reduces risks of its partners – private investors. The Corporation participates in establishment of the nanotechnological infrastructure, such as centers for collective use, business-incubators and early-stage investment funds. RUSNANO chooses the first-priority directions in investment based on long-term development forecasts (foresights) developed by the leading Russian and world experts. In 2007 the Government of the Russian Federation allocated 130 billion rubles for the Corporation’s activity. The management bodies are the Supervisory Council, Board of Directors and Director General. RUSNANO Director General is Anatoly Chubais.

Russian Business Consulting (RBC) is the general information partner of the first Nanotechnology International Forum.

In times of crisis, nanotechnology is a safe place to invest, State Nanotechnology Corporation chief Anatoly Chubais said as he courted investors with offers of cheap state loans and other perks.

The Nanotechnology Corporation, or Rosnano, will offer loans of up to 10 years with interest rates starting at 8 percent, Chubais announced at the opening of the First International Forum on Nanotechnology.

The money will be extended to Russian and foreign investors with the view that they will hold controlling stakes in projects, but Rosnano is ready to fund up to 90 percent of each project, Chubais said.

"We are offering absolutely unique conditions for both Russian and foreign investors, whom we will treat equally," he said.

He said Rosnano was willing to provide legal and tax services as well as scientific expertise to investors and was ready to exit a project as soon as "it gets on the rails and starts to bring in a profit."

Chubais' enthusiasm grew visibly as he spoke to an audience of Russian billionaires, foreign government officials and other investors.

"We will defend you from bureaucracy and corruption and will promote your product," Chubais said. "The only condition that you'll have to meet is to produce your nanotechnology product in Russia."

The government has earmarked 130 billion rubles ($4.65 billion) for Rosnano, which it created last year to attract private investment to nanotechnology and raise the technological level of domestic production.

Chubais said that he planned to more than double the initial 130 billion rubles over the next eight years. "We will make 240 [billion] of the 130 billion that we now have by managing investments efficiently," he said. "As soon as we make a return, we will invest again."

Chubais said last month that Rosnano was "in a sweet spot" because it had no debts, loans or any other financial obligations.

His speech was warmly welcomed by some investors. "Nanotechnology will help us get out of the crisis by making our products cheaper and more efficient," Severstal chief executive Alexei Mordashov told a panel at the forum.

Onexim Group president Mikhail Prokhorov praised Chubais' terms. "The crisis is not a pretext to stop investing in innovation," Prokhorov said. "Catalysts were developed in the United States during the Great Depression, and synthetic fibers were developed in Japan during its 1990s financial crisis."

Prokhorov and Chubais signed an agreement with the director of the Urals Optical and Mechanical Plant, Sergei Maksin, to produce 120 million LED lamps at the plant annually. Under the terms of the 3.35 billion ruble project, Rosnano will invest 1.7 billion rubles for a 17 percent stake, the plant will invest some 620 million rubles for a 33 percent stake and Onexim will invest 840.5 million rubles and control 50 percent together with the scientists who developed the project. The project is expected to become profitable by 2011 and earn a profit of up to 6 billion rubles annually by 2013.

Chubais said the LED lamps, for use in home and office displays as well as in cell phones, would eventually account for around 1 percent of the Russian market and consume seven times less energy than an ordinary electric lamp.

Prokhorov told the forum's newspaper published Wednesday that he was ready to invest "hundreds of millions" into nanotechnology. "We have no problems with finance. We have problems finding quality projects," Prokhorov said on the sidelines of the forum.

Foreign guests were also positive, but cautious. "What Mr. Chubais said is very attractive," said Finnish Deputy Employment and Economy Minister Mikko Alkio, who signed a cooperation agreement with Rosnano. "However, what we really need to invest in Russian nanotechnology is an open market for innovation, which has still to be developed in the country."

Alkio said Finnish firms were interested in investing in energy and telecommunications nanotechnology in Russia.

Chubais said Rosnano would invest 20 billion rubles in 20 projects in the next three months.

Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, who oversees technology in the government, told the forum that the state would invest $10 billion in nanotechnology in the midterm, half of which would be invested by Rosnano. Ivanov assured journalists on the sidelines of the forum that the crisis would not affect Rosnano's activities.

Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina predicted that investment into nanotechnology would nearly triple over the next decade, with more than half of the money coming from private investors.

Green Earth Nano Science, Inc. Expands Operation in India with Permaweld Pvt Ltd

Green Earth Nano Science, Inc., (GENS) a nanotechnology solutions provider and a global supplier and licensor of proprietary photocatalyst* technology, recently signed an Exclusive Master Distributor license agreement with Permaweld Pvt Ltd; India's leading "specialty maintenance product supplier" with two decades of vertical focus on New technologies and now Green Technology products that help "industry extend the maintenance interval by overcoming specific maintenance problems with their superior technology products".

Green Earth Nano Science, Inc. is a Canadian corporation finalist in 2008 Green Log Award with Head Office located in Toronto Canada. GENS is one of the first of a new class of companies specialized as independent licensor-distributors of "green" nanotechnology based products and commercialization of new sustainable environmental technologies.

Gens Nano coatings are 100% Green products and their series of photocatalyst coatings transform any treated surface into an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, mold free surface. The coating also helps reduce pollution and improve air quality environment, protect building interior or exterior from environmental contamination. These hygienic coatings are formulated to incorporate light activated Nano Titanium Dioxide (TiO2), which helps to deactivate bio-contamination and neutralize pollutants. Gens Nano coatings are easy to apply, they dry at room temperature and are designed for a variety of applications and substrates. GENS products and services are branded and marketed under registered brand "Gens Nano."

Universities of Leeds Announce Nanotechnology Partnership

The University of Leeds has signed a Research Agreement with King Saud University in Saudi Arabia to develop collaborations in nanoscience, technology and engineering with the King Abdullah Institute of Nanotechnology.

This new collaboration will develop joint PhD projects, funded research and enterprise activities in medicine and health, biology, chemical manufacturing, electronics and other sectors. The program is administered through the University of Leeds NanoManufacturing Institute and will provide new funding for PhD research and collaborative exchanges.

The Nanomanufacturing Institute was established by the University of Leeds in 2005 with the vision of becoming Europe's leading academic centre for nanomanufacturing research for consumer and related products. It draws upon the University's large nanotechnology base in science, medicine and engineering.

New Lab at Rutgers, State University of New Jersey

A new particle characterization and rheology laboratory is being installed at the Center for Ceramic Research (CCR) at Rutgers (State University of New Jersey), as part of a collaborative project between the university and Malvern Instruments. Malvern is providing a suite of state-of-the-art instrumentation that will be used by researchers from the CCR, other university departments and partnership universities (Penn State and New Mexico) to continue the exploration of the links between rheology and particle characteristics. The new facility will be managed by Professor Richard Haber, director of the CCR.

The 500 square foot laboratory will contain rotational and capillary rheometers - the Gemini and RH 2000 respectively. These will be complemented by a Zetasizer Nano S for nanoparticle characterization, and a Mastersizer 2000 for laser diffraction-based particle size measurement in the range 0.02-2000 microns. All of these state-of-the art instruments are manufactured by Malvern Instruments.

Malvern Instruments provides a range of complementary materials characterization tools that deliver inter-related measurements reflecting the complexities of particulates and disperse systems, nanomaterials and macromolecules. Analytical instruments from Malvern are used in the characterization of a wide variety of materials, from industrial bulk powders to the latest nanomaterials and delicate macromolecules.

Particle size distribution, particle shape information, zeta potential, molecular weight, chemical composition, and bulk materials properties can all be determined with instruments from the Malvern range. The company’s laboratory, at-line, on-line and in-line solutions are proven in sectors as diverse as cement production and pharmaceutical drug discovery.

Headquartered in Malvern, UK, Malvern Instruments has subsidiary organizations in all major European markets, North America, China, Korea and Japan, a joint venture in India, a global distributor network and applications laboratories around the world.

New Nanochemistry Laboratory at University of Strasbourg, France in the Institut de Science et d'Ingenierie Supramoleculaires (ISIS)

The new Nanochemistry Laboratory is located at the Institut de Science et d'Ingenierie Supramoleculaires (ISIS) of the University of Strasbourg, France and will be headed by Dr. Nina Matoussevitch, an experienced Nanochemist. Dr. Matoussevitch's lab will work closely with Strem's US facility and Prof. Dr. Helmut Boennemann, Strem's nanoconsultant. The goal of the new facility will be to serve R&D groups worldwide with custom-made nanostructured materials.

Strem Chemicals Expands Nanomaterials Initiative

Strem's nanomaterials manufacturing activities began in 2004 when it licensed technology developed by Prof. Dr. Boennemann at the Max-Planck Institute in Germany. This technology allowed for the manufacture of a variety of metal-based nanoparticles including colloids and magnetic fluids.

Strem's product offering now includes nanoparticles of many transition metals, precious metals as well as metal oxides, mixed-metal oxides and magnetic fluids. These are provided in a number of different shapes, such as gold nanospheres and gold nanorods and with a variety of surface coatings. Nanoparticle sizes range from 1nm gold which has been shown to be toxic to cancer cells, to 90nm. Nanocatalysts are also available.

Nanotechnology Expands in Brazil with Government Backing

Brazilian ministry for Science and Technology announced investment of over 200 million euro in 101 national institutes for science and technology, including 7 in nanotechnology. NanoforumEULA's recent fact finding mission on Nanotechnology in Brazil identified excellent cooperation opportunities between European and Brazilian nanotechnology networks.

In Brazil, dedicated Nanotechnology research networks have been funded by the Brazilian government and Worldbank since 2001 under a number of subsequent calls for proposals. This has led to the building up of human resources and research infrastructure in a number of different fields including Microsystems and nanoelectronics, and nanomaterials. In the coming years, the Brazilian government intends to fund a number of nanotechnology research institutes. A call for proposal for National Science and Technology Institutes under the PACTI I program has closed 18 September and selected networks are expected to start beginning of 2009. The call included for the first time the topics of Nanotoxicology and of communicating nanoscience by nanoscientists. Until now, the network on Nanotechnology, Society and Environment RENANOSOMA has been active in research on social aspects of nanotechnology and in public engagement with nanotechnology. This network consists of social and human scientists. There is apparently limited cooperation between the natural science and technology networks on nanotechnology and RENANOSOMA.

A number of new research laboratories for nanotechnology are currently under construction. These investments in new research infrastructure are funded by the Brazilian government (MCT) but also by industry. Especially Petrobras is a major investor in research infrastructure on university campuses, e.g. investing R$12 (~€4) million in a building on the campus of PUC-Rio.

Many groups are already cooperating nationally as well as internationally. Learning how to do technology transfer and spin-out high tech companies has a high priority among researchers. The research activities in Brazil are well-coordinated by the Brazilian government in a strategic plan. The amount of funding is naturally relatively low compared to Europe or the USA, which calls for focusing the research activities in Brazil on national priorities. A national IPR strategy is starting. UNICAMP owns most patents followed by PETROBRAS.

Industrial Interest in Nanotechnology in Brazil

Nanotechnology R&D in Federal Universities is funded by special sectorial funds, to which companies in that particular sector are obliged to contribute. On top of this, PETROBRAS is investing directly into enlarging its own research centre CENPES in Rio de Janeiro and a new building on the campus of the PUC in Rio. They also invest in research projects involving academic researchers. Nanotechnology is included in PETROBRAS work on sustainable energy, sensors and catalysis. Some agrifood sectors like the citrus fruit and sugar cane sector are also innovative and invest in relevant research to improve the quality of their products. The agribusiness research centre EMBRAPA is a key player in nanotechnology (instrumentation, toxicology and agrifood applications), working with academic research groups as well as companies. EMBRAER, the aerospace research centre, INMETRO (metrology), INPA (Amazon research) and CETENE (North East) are also cooperating in nanotechnology research.

Estimates of the numbers of companies active in nanotechnology in Brazil vary between 30 and 40. According to a Swiss survey, most of these are very small spin-offs. Brazilian local companies are mostly interested in cost reduction. Only companies exporting to Europe and the U.S. are interested in added value. (Györvary, CSEM). During the fact finding mission, 8 spin-offs, 12 established Brazilian companies and 5 foreign companies were referred to.

Spin-offs: Gaviasensor (PUC), Nanobionics (CCS-UNICAMP), Supranano (USP), Perinova (USP), DSD (UFMG), NANUM (UFMG), Ponto Quantico (PQS&D Ltda, UFPE), LUMITEC (USP, RENAMI).

Established Brazilian companies: Petrobras (energy), Boticario, Natura (cosmetics), Novo Filme, D&L Welding Fumes, Braskem, GETEC, PADTEC, OXITENO, Santista Textil (textile), Digimed (analytics), and CERAMICA Sergipe S.A (ceramics).

Foreign companies (including with activities in Brazil): NovaLED (Dresden, Germany), FEI company (Netherlands), HP Brasil, BOSCH Brasil and CSEM Brasil.

Calit2’s Nano3 Lab Brings Cutting-Edge Cleanroom Facilities to San Diego

Researchers at UC San Diego's Nano3 Lab are out to prove that nanostructures — objects one million times smaller than the diameter of a human hair — can have a giant impact on science, technology, medicine and the economy.

Despite its popularity among both UCSD scientists and industry researchers, the university's Nanofabrication Cleanroom Facility (better known as Nano3) remains a well-kept secret within the San Diego community. The lab, which is based in the UCSD division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), has been in operation since May 2006 and currently serves more than 60 research groups from seven academic departments on the UC San Diego campus, including the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), Bioengineering, Physics, Chemistry and Biochemistry, as well as the Jacobs School of Engineering's new Department of NanoEngineering, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the UCSD School of Medicine.

Nano3 derives its name from three emerging research areas: nanoengineering, nanoscience, and nanomedicine. "Our name suggests that we intend to bring scientists, engineers and medical doctors together to promote interdisciplinary research," remarks Yuhwa Lo, professor of electrical and computer engineering and the faculty director of the facility. "Researchers from these disciplines are collaborating in biomedical research, energy research, and so on. Even the physicians from the Department of Surgery have worked with engineers to develop new surgical tools using the Nano3 facility.

The Labs have more than 20 active industrial companies that use the facility, including some large, publically traded companies. They also have a lot of users from very small companies, and many of them could not afford to build their own clean rooms. “In this respect we are truly helping them develop their technologies and contributing to the economy of California." Adds professor Lo: "We have also helped high-tech startup companies prove their concepts and develop prototypes, which has helped them acquire and secure the next round of funding. Companies also use Nano3 to produce research results and prototypes to meet milestones of multimillion dollar contracts."

Case in point: Xcom Wireless. Employees of the Los Angeles-based company have spent hours conducting research and development to improve its products, which are based around a microfabricated relay technology that is similar in appearance to the devices used to route high-power signals in automotive and industrial applications, but at one-quarter of a millimeter in length.

Xcom Wireless research executive Bahram Ghodsian says his company has benefited directly — and significantly — from the Calit2 facility. "The Nano3 Lab has provided us with an enormous advantage during our initial process development on our government-funded projects," the industry researcher enthuses. "It is a very well equipped and maintained micro/nano fabrication facility. However, what really impressed me is the extra effort the staff puts in when equipment breaks down. This ensures that down-time is kept to a bare minimum. In the most cases this has been no more than 24 hours.

"The Nano3 Lab can provide an environment for development of a prototype to prove a concept quickly, and with the vast number of metrological tools at its disposal, the root cause of different failure mechanisms can be identified and addressed properly," Ghodsian continues. "These would provide value to any local or non-local businesses. I anticipate we'll be using the Nano3 facility for all our government-funded projects' microfabrication requirements.

Explains Fruhberger: "We've certainly established ourselves both within UCSD and the local community. There used to be a smaller cleanroom facility on campus that had some level of fabrication capabilities, but that facility was regarded primarily as an electrical and computer engineering facility. The Nano3 lab is regarded as a true cross-campus resource. The machines in our lab are up and running over 95 percent of the time, and we've essentially tripled the average use of that previous facility over the short course of two years. This shows that there was a need on campus that Nano3 managed to tap into. I personally think that it helps that the facility is located at Calit2 because it helps to break down the barriers between departments."

Although similar nano facilities are well-established at Cornell University, Stanford University and UC Berkeley, Nano3 is beginning to distinguish itself through its focus on nanoimprint lithography, a means for rapidly replicating tiny nanodimensional devices for electrical, optical and biological applications.

The nanoimprint process is relatively simple in concept — it's essentially a mold-patterning process, which works much like a waffle iron.

"First you make a mold that has nanodimensional features etched into it," explains Fruhberger. "Then you take a wafer and coat it with soft polymer, push the mold into this polymer and allow the polymer to flow into the etched features. By using heat or ultraviolet light to cure and harden the polymer, it is possible to remove the mold and retain the nanoscale mold features on the wafer. This means we can rapidly reproduce devices at truly nanoscale dimensions. The mold can be used over and over again, with the imprinting process taking less than a minute."

Anyone entering the cleanrooms at Nano3 can witness the lab's philosophy of cross-collaboration in action: grad students in bioengineering work alongside corporate employees from private companies, sometimes accruing hundreds of hours per week in the lab. But then again, entering the cleanrooms is no simple matter - everyone who sets foot in the facility must first go through a stringent preparation in the "pregowning" area, which requires donning shoe-covers, a hairnet, a face mask, and gloves, which is followed by a further set of precautions in the "gowning" area, so that in the end, only the skin around the eyes is exposed to the air.

The gowning procedure can take 30 minutes for the novice, but just a couple of minutes for a veteran clean room user, Fruhberger says. Even after the researchers are decked out in their "bunny suits," a complex regulatory system within the 7,000-square-foot building controls air temperature, humidity, particle quantity, lighting and water flow.

"Ninety percent of the particles generated in cleanroom space are generated from people, from skin, hair and breath," says Fruhberger. "If you're trying to make a device with nano- or micron-sized features and a piece of dust — typically in the order of a few microns — settles onto it, it can destroy your device. So even though people compliment us on being a very clean lab, it's an ongoing battle. We want to make sure the users are maintaining a safe, clean environment so that everyone's processing can proceed, but we don't want to be overly restrictive or overbearing so people can't get their work done. Personally I think that's one of the biggest challenges — to walk that line properly."

"While we observe certain rules on permitting materials inside the facility, we are purposefully not very restrictive. We may not get the ultimate yield that you'd see in a more restrictive lab," he continues, "but the benefit is that we enable users all the way from biology to engineering and physics and chemistry to process devices. We are ultimately a research and not a small-scale manufacturing facility. Our researches demonstrate proof-of-concept for engineering applications, or build platforms to carry out research on fundamental phenomena in the physical sciences. Having all these various groups working together in a single space creates a level of communication and exchange that is hard to establish at a typical lab."

Researchers affiliated with the lab include Joseph Wang, who joined the faculty of nanoengineering this summer. Wang, who is consistently one of the world's most cited engineers and chemists, has moved his laboratory for nanobioelectronics into the second floor of Calit2's Atkinson Hall on the La Jolla campus, and has also installed equipment in the Nano3 facility.

Working in the field of nanophotonics are professors Shayan Mookherjea, Shaya Fainman (both from the ECE department) and Prab Bandaru of the MAE department.

"Nanophotonics is a hot area because it theoretically will enable communications on a computer chip by way of photons rather than electrons," says Fruhberger. "It can revolutionize computing because photons are much faster and do not generate as much heat."

Also from the ECE department are professors Edward Yu, Paul Yu and Deli Wang, who are working on a joint project in renewable energy to develop high-efficiency solar cells by incorporating semiconductor nanostructures. Also from ECE, Professor Gabriel Rebeiz develops radio-frequency MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) for telecommunications and wireless devices.

MAE Professor Sungho Jin uses the lab for his research in the field of nanomagnetics and nanomaterials fabrication.

"The other area I think could tremendously impact our lives is the utilization of nanotechnology for biomedical applications," adds Nano3 manager Fruhberger. "We have people working on developing nanoparticles for drug delivery, as well as developing devices that allow doctors to target cancers locally rather than throughout the whole body." One group of researchers making strides in the biomedical field includes professors Andrew Kummel and William Trogler of UCSD's Chemistry and Biochemistry department, as well as nanoengineering professor Sadik Esener, who is also the director of the NanoTumor Center at the Moores Cancer Center. The team is using the Nano3 facility to develop automated microscopy system to identify cancer cells in excised breast tumors during cancer surgery to reduce need for multiple breast surgeries.

UCSD physics professor Leonid Butov also uses the lab space to develop excitonic signal processing in semiconductor nanostructures to interface optical signal with electronic signal processing. Additionally, Physics Professor Ivan Schuller — one of the lab's founding faculty leaders — says his group is working on research in nanoscience for fundamental devices, superconductivity (specifically, a process known as "artificial pinning"), and sensors for explosives.

Concludes Lo: "It's the people who make a difference. Although we are comparatively small, we are fast growing. We have built up a world-class team of six staff — three of them with Ph.D.'s in chemistry, physics and engineering — and four students devoted to helping users in their research, pushing the frontiers of nanotechnology and sharing their knowhow and experience with users. Our staff work extra hard to not only keep the facility running and well-maintained, but also to work with the users on their toughest processing challenges. We have developed much closer relations with our users than other facilities do. I can hardly think of any university facilities with people of such quality, devotion and enthusiasm."

Vistect’s New Global Headquarters and Manufacturing Facility Opens

Vistec Lithography Inc. (Vistec), the Arsenal Business + Technology Partnership (Partnership), the College of Nanoscale Science + Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany, and the Watervliet Arsenal opened Vistec's new global headquarters and state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Watervliet.

Combined with its world-class research and development center located at the UAlbany NanoCollege, Vistec becomes the first high-tech equipment supplier to move its entire operation to New York's Capital Region.

In October 2006, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assemblyman Ron Canestrari (D- Cohoes) announced the Assembly was providing $30 million in funds it secured in the state budget toward the relocation of Vistec's global headquarters, research and development, manufacturing and business operations from Cambridge in the United Kingdom to the Arsenal Campus in Watervliet and CNSE's Albany NanoTech Complex. As part of the move, Vistec is expected to invest $125 million at the Arsenal Campus and UAlbany NanoCollege, with more than 130 high-technology jobs projected to be created over five years involving Vistec and its supplier network.

Vistec is leasing approximately 30,000 square feet of space in the Arsenal's Building 125, where it has transformed a former Arsenal machine shop into a leading-edge high-tech facility with cleanrooms, production space, and modern offices. Vistec, the Partnership and CNSE worked jointly with M+W Zander, a renowned global architecture, engineering and construction management firm with offices at the Arsenal, to renovate the space into cutting-edge facilities in support of Vistec's next-generation electron-beam lithography technology.

Vistec Lithography, Inc., together with Vistec Electron Beam GmbH in Germany (both formerly operating under Leica Microsystems), are noted for the production and development of advanced electron-beam lithography equipment on 200mm and 300mm platforms for applications at the nanoscale level. As one of the world's leading providers of electron-beam lithography systems critical to the future of nanotechnology, Vistec Electron Beam Lithography Group is targeting emerging business applications in nanotechnology, biomolecular, bioelectronics, next generation lithography mask-making, silicon direct-write (defense/aerospace), telecommunications, micro-optics and micromechanics markets, as well as industrial applications in electron-beam direct write and commercial mask writing.

The joint Vistec-CNSE Center for NanoScale Lithography, located at CNSE's Albany NanoTech, allows Vistec to conduct its most advanced research and development for electron beam lithography equipment in the interdisciplinary fields of nanotechnology in partnership with the faculty and students at the NanoCollege. This Center also provides a critical education and workforce training capability for the newly-created high-technology jobs located at the Arsenal.

Search for Neutrino in South Dakota Underground Laboratories

Madison-area residents and college students listened to a scientist describe how researchers would work at a place in South Dakota where most residents have never visited to look for elementary particles that no person will ever see.

Dr. Jose Alonso, director of the Sanford Underground Laboratory at the Homestake Mine, spoke at Dakota State University about the search for neutrinos that will take place at the old gold mine in Lead. He spoke to about 150 people in the auditorium at DSU's Technology Classroom Building.

Alonso explained how the search for neutrinos and understanding their characteristics have kept physicists and other scientists busy for almost 80 years. He also explained how researchers would use the deep shafts of the Homestake gold mine that extend about 380 miles to learn more about the subatomic particles.

Crews will need to remove about 1 million tons of rock from the mine for the midlevel Sanford Lab.

According to Alonso, the Black Hills mine will provide a laboratory for physicists, engineers, geoscientists, astrophysicists and biologists. In fact, some scientists have proposed an experiment that would involve drilling another 8,000 feet deeper into the Earth at the bottom of the mine.

Workers at the mine will create the deepest underground science laboratory in the world that will shield neutrino experiments from cosmic rays. The Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) will lie 8,000 feet below ground and consist of large laboratories, caverns and cleanrooms. However, pumps will have to move water out of the mine before work on the DUSEL can begin.

Before the DUSEL is built, scientists plan to conduct research at a midlevel Sanford Lab facility that lies 4,850 feet below ground in the Homestake mine.

The scientific community wants to learn more about neutrinos in the hope that they can use the particles to study nuclear reactions in the sun, obscured areas of the galaxy and supernova events.

Wolfgang Pauli, an Austrian-born physicist, proposed that neutrinos existed in 1930. Pauli was searching for an answer as to why, after a nuclear disintegration, the reactive material lost some energy and some of its movement.

To answer the question, Pauli proposed that new particles called neutrinos existed and they carried away some of the energy and momentum. He also believed that scientists would never find proof of the existence of neutrinos since they were almost impossible to observe.

Neutrinos exist as elementary particles at the subatomic level. It's believed that they can travel near the speed of light and have no electric charge. They can also pass without difficulty through matter, making them extremely difficult to detect.

Neutrinos are created from several sources: certain types of radioactive decay, nuclear reactions, fusion reactions that occur in the sun or when cosmic rays hit atoms. The sun provides a major source for neutrino production. In fact, scientists estimate that 100 billion solar neutrinos can pass through a person's thumbnail -- about 1 square centimeter -- each second.

Alonso told the DSU audience that the 8,000-foot level of the mine should have its water removed by 2010 and construction should start in 2012. Scientists may have the opportunity to start their experiments in the first DUSEL cavern by 2016.

McIlvaine Company,

Northfield, IL 60093-2743

Tel: 847-784-0012; Fax: 847-784-0061;

E-mail: editor@mcilvainecompany.com;

Web site: www.mcilvainecompany.com