The expanded Robert H. Lurie Nanofabrication Facility is expected to change the high-tech landscape in southeastern Michigan and the region. The Board of Regents approved the naming of the facility at its March 20 meeting.
Construction is complete on the $40 million, 37,000-square-foot addition to the current nanofabrication facility. The expansion was funded in part by a gift from Ann Lurie, wife of the late Robert Lurie, a Chicago-based real estate investor who earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the College of Engineering.
“The University of Michigan is dedicated to the economic growth and stability of our region, and the addition of the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility builds on that commitment,” said President Mary Sue Coleman. “It is a stunning and important component of the University’s research and development initiatives in the world of nanotechnology.”
During the past five years, the facility has contributed an estimated $500 million to the state’s economy. Small and large companies as well as other universities utilize it for research and development. The addition, which includes 4,500 square feet of clean room space for microsystems and nanotechnology and 2,800 square feet for wet chemistry, will only increase that dollar figure, lab directors say.
“In the past, the capabilities of the LNF have helped us keep many of our graduates here in southeastern Michigan, but with this addition, the lab will not only keep them but draw additional people to the area. It will be a magnet that has the potential to really change the high-tech landscape here,” said Joseph Giachino, director of external programs at the Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems (WIMS), which accounts for about half of the research done at the lab.
In 2007 38 percent of the lab users were from outside the University. More than 20 small and large companies utilized the space. So did 13 other higher-education institutions, including Princeton University, Cornell University, Ohio State University, Case Western Reserve University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
A 2007 study of WIMS by SRI estimated that the center had a $256.4 million impact on the state from 2000-07. In the past 10 years, 11 companies have spun off from WIMS research and development efforts. Those numbers don’t include other solid-state electronics, chemistry and biomedical research that has taken place in this facility.
Better cochlear implants, smart biomedical sensors, energy-efficient solid-state lighting, ultra low-power integrated computer circuits and quantum-dot lasers are some of the results of past work in the LNF. The new addition will allow much smaller features on a greater number of devices constructed from a broader range of materials. The smallest features attainable on silicon circuits in the existing lab measure 2-3 microns using optical lithography. The new lab, using electron-beam lithography, will enable circuit features below 0.2 microns. A micron is one-millionth of a meter.
The expansion also means more space for wet chemistry. Many such experiments simply weren’t allowed before because of contamination risks. Trace amounts of salt, for example, can ruin integrated circuits in production.
“In terms of quality, our expanded lab will be the best there is in academia in this region of the United States,” said David Munson, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering. “We are grateful to Ann Lurie for helping to make this a reality. Her philanthropic support of the University over the past 15 years has changed the campus intellectually and physically.”
Several researchers already have started using the renovated section of the LNF, but an additional $20 million in equipment will be installed during the next few years before the renovation is complete. The facility will be dedicated April 11.
