3
The Research Program
The CNST’s research program is composed of three groups that make up the NanoLab: the EPG, the ERG, and the NRG.
ELECTRON PHYSICS GROUP
Introduction
The research effort in the EPG is largely unchanged since the 2011 NRC assessment.1 The group performs five well-defined projects: scanning probe microscopy; nanomagnetic imaging; nanomagnet dynamics; theory, modeling, and simulation; and novel ion sources. These activities are supported by a team comprising eight researchers with expertise in electronics, equipment design, and information technology. The EPG focuses on the development of enabling metrological tools and fundamental research in the field of nanoscale electronics.
Assessment of Technical Programs
Accomplishments
The research effort in scanning probe microscopy involves unique instrument design and is among the best in its field. Driven by the necessity to understand the low-temperature physics of quantum, strongly correlated, and low-dimensional materials, comparable tools to those at NIST have been developed worldwide. The set of tools developed at NIST, however, offers noise performance that is orders of magnitude above these competing efforts. This performance is enabled by the unique instrument design and low-noise facility developed by NIST. This tool set also allows a broad spectrum of physical studies, enabled by independent control of the (vector) magnetic field, gate bias, and probe bias.
The seamless integration between the imaging facility and the in situ sample preparation enables the study of a broad range of functional materials beyond the classical cleavable samples, such as graphene, high-temperature superconductors, or layered correlated oxides. The scientific output made possible by these unique instruments is extremely impressive. It has enabled multiple collaborative works published in top scientific journals, and several notable results are, potentially, of textbook quality. The EPG has a measured and consistent plan for future instrument development that incorporates force-based detection. This may facilitate collaborations in unexplored areas of fundamental physics research.
The research in nanomagnetic imaging and nanomagnet dynamics is equally impressive. One project leader is a pioneer in scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis (SEMPA), and another leads a commendable program in diamond nitrogen-vacancy center (N-V center) magnetometry and magneto-optical measurements. This combination of techniques is unique to NIST and provides the
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1 NRC, An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology: Fiscal Year 2011, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
NIST community with a special set of tools for probing static and dynamic domain structures. The team focused on theory provides the necessary theoretical support to enable a smooth transition from measurement results to domain-specific knowledge.
The effort that is focused on the development of novel ion sources for ion-beam-based fabrication and imaging requires a long-term dedicated effort. The effort contributes to the development of the next generation of imaging and fabrication capabilities for fundamental and applied science. There has been a successful transition of some developed technologies to commercial settings.
Research efforts in the EPG have focused on quantum and low dimensional systems, nanomagnetic phenomena, and ion beam science. These efforts match with the NIST strengths in nanoscale measurement device fabrication; characterization and metrology; broad magnetic device-based metrology; and the emerging area of functional ionic devices, including energy research and neuromorphic computing.
Opportunities and Challenges
Questions remain regarding CNST’s strategic priorities with respect to the EPG. The set of tools and skills developed in the EPG seems to be less suited to the stated goal of neuromorphic device development (which includes building test circuits in the NanoFab and developing new microspecies to measure them) than to areas such as the fundamental physics of quantum systems or quantum computing. The EPG and CNST need to consider how best to position its work on neuromorphic versus neuronal architectures and approaches to information processing. The information-processing domain represents an emergent opportunity and encompasses more biomimetic and hybrid transdisciplinary approaches that transcend any single team’s scope.
The research efforts in the EPG provide significant unexploited opportunities for growth. The output of the group has been fairly constant over the past decade, owing to the numerous opportunities forged by the need for high-resolution and high-veracity imaging, metrology, and atomic manipulation. Opportunities have also been driven by the fact that semiconductor technology crossed below the 10 nm threshold. There is potential for rapid growth in the emergence of quantum computing and other single-atom devices as well as magnetoelectronic and spintronic devices.
Portfolio of Scientific Expertise
The staffing and composition of the EPG is largely unchanged since the NRC 2011 assessment.2 EPG research encompasses scanning-probe microscopy; nanomagnetic imaging and dynamics; theory, modeling, and simulation; and laser manipulation of atoms. The EPG conducts a wide range of cross-disciplinary research that focuses on developing innovative measurement capabilities for nanotechnology, with an emphasis on future electronics applications. The research conducted by this group is uniformly of a very high standard. The EPG is developing impressive measurement tools and methods.
Adequacy of Facilities, Equipment, and Human Resources
Accomplishments
The EPG consists of 17 scientific staff (5 project leaders, 9 postdoctoral researchers, 1 staff scientist, and 2 students). It also has 8 support staff (2 in electronics, 2 in instrumentation, and 4 in information technology). Although the support staff is attached to the EPG, they provide support for all of
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2 NRC, An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, 2011, p. 11.
the CNST research groups. Senior staff of the EPG have been in place for several years. The integration of postdoctoral researchers into projects is smooth, and there appears to be collaboration and communication across research areas and across groups. The input of the support staff is very important to these efforts, given the fact that much of the equipment is home-built. Staffing is uniformly adequate across areas.
The unique modifications being developed to support CNST’s world-leading scanning-probe microscopy research will combine a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) with an atomic force microscope (AFM) at cryogenic temperatures (10 mK) and a range of ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) sample-preparation chambers.
The EPG has also developed superb tools that support research on nanomagnetism, including imaging using SEMPA, measurements of magnetic dynamics, and new work on magneto-optical ferromagnetic resonance. The group continues to work on the development of new ion sources for focused ion beams to improve imaging, nanoscale milling, circuit editing, and nanoscale implantation.
Opportunities and Challenges
EPG’s ultralow-temperature scanning tunneling microscope (ULT-STM) represents a unique measurement and integrated sample and tip preparation infrastructure that needs to be funded for continued success. The fundamental research in this area needs to continue, along with work that enables further enhancements of this multimodal measurement tool.
Dissemination of Outputs
Accomplishments
Based on information provided by NIST along with Web of Science searches, the EPG’s five project leaders published more than 50 papers between 2012 and 2015. Many of these papers involved more than one project leader along with postdoctoral researchers. These papers—approximately one-fifth of the total CNST publications for that period—were often published in excellent journals such as Physical Review Letters and Applied Physics Letters. These papers are also highly cited by their peers.
Opportunities and Challenges
While the papers published by the EPG are excellent, it is expected that a group of this size, with the remarkable experimental capability available to them, would have many opportunities to exploit this capability and publish much more. While maintaining quality is of central importance, there is room for a more aggressive approach to publishing. In particular, EPG collaborations outside of NIST are overwhelmingly academic, and there is opportunity to reach into the commercial community for collaborations as well.
Furthermore, given its collective creativity, infrastructure, and resources, the EPG could increase its output of foundational publications that further enhance the basic understanding of innovative single and multimodal nanoscale measurement methods and tools beyond current capabilities.
The EPG could also beneficially increase its emphasis on collaborative engagements with external users; there currently appear to be few collaborations and weak linkages with industrial users. Workshops that bring together scientific leaders and identify potential options that enable future strategic measurement challenges may help to catalyze the next generation of scientific inquiry. The EPG also does not appear to be particularly active in external professional society activities in a significant way. This includes conference organization, editorships, or society governance. While EPG staff members have
received significant DOC recognition, it appears that the group has not received society awards and other peer recognition for their work to the extent that they could. Greatly increasing the investment in external professional activities would enhance the recognition and impact of the investigators and of the CNST.
ENERGY RESEARCH GROUP
Introduction
The mission of the ERG was stated as follows:
Working with facility users, develop new measurement methods in the areas of energy generation, conversion and storage, focusing on correlation of atomic and nanoscale structural and morphological properties of materials and devices with functional performance.3
The ERG aims to accomplish this mission through addressing the
unmet needs of users focusing on cross-cutting measurement challenges brought forward by energy materials and devices and leveraging broader CNST and NIST expertise. Use novel fabrication methods to enable new measurements.4
The evaluative comments and suggestions from the 2011 NRC assessment are presented below. It is particularly noteworthy that the comments made 5 years ago remain very relevant today, and little or no progress in the suggested directions was apparent from the documents, presentations, and discussions associated with the current assessment.
The ERG is still very young. It is too early to judge the quality of the staff with accuracy, and it is even somewhat difficult to gauge the alignment of the work with the mission of the group and the mission of the CNST, as many laboratories are still under development. Over the next 2 years, the group needs to establish greater coherence, accompanied by the development of a stronger connection between nanoscale measurements and important problems in energy. The ERG is still in the process of growth and stabilization. The following are suggestions for the ERG as it moves forward:
- Over the next 2 years, it should establish greater coherence, accompanied by the development of a stronger connection between nanoscale measurements and important problems in energy.
- Although the new laboratories are outstanding, most of the equipment is commercial or modified-commercial. As the group continues to mature, it should aspire to the design and fabrication of some noncommercial equipment to address the frontier of nanoscale measurements connected to energy.
- Long-range strategic planning for the group was not apparent and needs to be discussed more explicitly during the next assessment.
- The CNST should continue the effort to mature the focus and stature of the newer research groups, especially the ERG. This effort would include more strategic planning and the identification of research issues of central importance to the energy landscape in the United States.5
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3 N. Zhitenev, CNST, NIST, “Energy Research Group Overview,” presentation to the panel, Gaithersburg, Md., May 2, 2016.
4 Ibid.
5 NRC, An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, 2011, p. 17.
Assessment of Technical Programs
Accomplishments
The ERG has been actively working on a few research topics. The group has been collaborating with researchers from academia, and these collaborations have been very fruitful because the expertise and facilities at the CNST are unique and most universities do not have such facilities. Two examples are their collaborative papers on fuel cell materials and lithium-ion batteries. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) contributions by the ERG researchers have been important to the effort to explain the fundamental properties of oxygen ion conductors (solid oxide fuel cells) and the intercalation properties of certain oxides (lithium ion batteries). Noteworthy accomplishments include the three-dimensional re-construction of a fuel cell cathode using focused ion beams and tomographic microscopy and work on optical probing of cadmium telluride (CdTe), published in ACS Nano.6 By probing the structure of solar cells at relatively large depths, the latter provides important insights that are not possible by typical surface characterization methods.
Opportunities and Challenges
There are several other current energy topics that can utilize the ERG expertise. For example, virtually all electrochemical devices with solid-state materials are based on nanostructured materials (polymer electrolyte membrane [PEM] fuel cells, super-capacitors, etc.). ERG researchers need to be proactive in communicating their expertise and the availability of their facilities to researchers from other organizations, especially academia. Examples include the design and synthesis of core-shell catalysts for PEM fuel cells and nanostructured composite electrodes for solid-oxide fuel cells.
There is some question about the title and charge of the ERG. The intent of the CNST to establish a group with a specific focus on the important aspects of energy technology associated with the NIST charge is commendable. The charge and scope of the ERG, however, is not entirely clear in the context of the total field of science and technology associated with energy in the United States and the context of the other agencies and organizations charged with various responsibilities in that technical area. The scope defined by the Workshop on Nanoscale Measurement Challenges for Energy Applications,7 the Grand Challenges for Advanced Photovoltaic Technologies and Measurement,8 and by the “input/requests from industry,”9 listing “General Electric, Applied Materials, Northrop Grumman, Dow Chemical, QD Vision, Amprius, Clevious, Nantero, CuPont, Intel, etc.”10 was not specifically defined by the background material provided during the review.
Additionally, as a group focused on photovoltaics, ion transport, and solid-liquid interfaces, the ERG needs to be able to clearly differentiate itself from other very significant energy research efforts at many universities, national laboratories, and industry. For instance, how does the current effort in photovoltaics compare to the many photovoltaics efforts across the globe? What is the compelling reason for NIST to be a player in this already crowded field? The ERG has insufficient critical mass to make real and substantial impact in the range of energy topics covered.
The ERG has very good scientific expertise, facilities, and equipment. As currently constituted, the ERG efforts are focused and motivated by energy needs, including energy generation, conversion, and storage, to elucidate the role of atomic and nanoscale structure and morphology in the performance of
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6 M.S. LeiteM. Abashin, H.J. Lezec, A. Gianfrancesco, A.A. Talin, and N.B. Zhitenev, “Nanoscale imaging of photocurrent and efficiency in CdTe solar cells,” ACS Nano 8(11):11883-11890, 2014.
7 Zhitenev, “Energy Research Group Overview,” 2016.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
devices and materials. The ERG has successfully developed several techniques for imaging and measurements and have effectively used both in situ and ex situ measurements. In essence, it is characterizing nanomaterials and structures using multimodal techniques. The ERG is, however, below critical mass to make a significant impact on a sustained basis. The techniques that are currently being developed by the ERG are motivated by energy, yet they are relevant to a wide range of technologies. As such, the group may be missing significant opportunities to address issues associated with other economic sectors.
The exclusive focus on energy may not be appropriate given the range of related research topics and proposed future initiatives.
Long-range strategic planning for the group was not clearly articulated, nor was it apparent in discussions. The ERG needs to develop a strategic plan to outline intended directions for the coming year and into the following 5 years.
Portfolio of Scientific Expertise
Accomplishments
ERG researchers have been active in publishing in good-quality topical journals such as Solid State Ionics and some high-impact journals such as Nanoscale, Nano Letters and ACS Nano. They have facilities and expertise for probing at the nanoscale as well as, simultaneously, at the microscale in a chemically reacting system (e.g., growth of carbon nanotubes). This allows them to obtain information about structure at the nano level—without causing variances due to the probing itself—while, at the same time, obtaining relevant information about reaction mechanisms and kinetics. Many ERG researchers have been publishing in high-quality journals, and their work is well cited. Several ERG researchers have cumulative citations exceeding 5,000, and a few have in excess of 10,000 citations. This is a good indicator of scientific expertise as recognized by their peers.
Opportunities and Challenges
The CNST microscopy facilities are unique, and the high-temperature capability with variable atmosphere capability is also distinctive. ERG personnel are well qualified and active, with a good record of publications and involvement in the technical community. They are highly qualified to take advantage of the resources available; however, the group is small (six total) and highly specialized on an individual basis. Opportunities for growing the group in more general directions need to be considered.
The new nanobiomedical area that is being incubated within the ERG includes the recent recruitment of a project leader whose expertise is in nanofabrication and biological science.11 While the nanobiomedical area is a growth area in research, it is unclear if it should become a part of the ERG. The connection to this area seems tenuous.
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11 Some of the areas of nanobiomedical research that this project leader and the ERG are focusing on include: developing new measurements that bridge nano/micro length scales; incorporating sensors and actuators; and detecting and quantifying the integration and disintegration of materials at biotic and abiotic interfaces (V. Szalai, CNST, NIST, “Nanobiomed: A New Strategic Direction for the CNST,” presentation to the panel, Gaithersburg, Md., May 2, 2016).
Adequacy of Facilities, Equipment, and Human Resources
Accomplishments
The facilities appear to be appropriate for the small group with a focused scope of activity and, overall, appear to be excellent. In operando measurements are very difficult to make, and enabling equipment is not readily available to the public user. The CNST can play an important role in making equipment available. Morphology-specific measurement, especially for nonequilibrium processes, is also greatly needed by the user community, and the ERG seems to be supporting developments in that area.
Opportunities and Challenges
The CNST and the ERG have recently invested in a suite of soft materials tools that provide an exciting range of new opportunities related to soft materials fabrication. With the introduction of a soft lithography polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) bench, a microfluidic inspection station, dynamic light scattering (DLS) instrumentation, and cryoTEM capability, the ERG has an opportunity to expand its role. The Washington, D.C., area is home to many small companies, government laboratories, and universities that may provide a host of new and exciting opportunities and challenges.
In particular, nanobiomedicine is one growth area that has been developed by CNST researchers and led by the ERG. The group will be challenged to provide a critical mass of expertise to attract a new user base and grow this potentially significant high-impact area. To be successful, the proposed new initiative in nanobiomedicine needs sufficient critical mass to make an impact.
The nanobiomedical area can gain from the development of measurement tools to view nanoscale events in real time and in three dimensions, without loss of macroscale information. A new hire in August 2016, and a new activity related to a “body-on-a-chip” platform with integrated nanosensors to measure physiological responses of tissues will be initiated. This represents an exciting opportunity that may lead to significant national and global impact.
As a user facility open to soft materials efforts, the ERG could be in a position to develop new measurements that bridge nano- and micro-length scales; incorporate sensors and actuators for optical, mechanical, and electrical interrogation; detect and quantify the integration and disintegration of materials at the biotic and abiotic interface; print or pattern in or on flexible, stretchable substrates other than PDMS; create nanosensors in a specific shape or position in or on a larger probe; and produce curved surfaces, curved patterns, or smooth gradients of materials.
The ERG needs to move far beyond the energy sector to contribute real and significant science and technology and to make economic impact in other sectors.
Dissemination of Outputs
Accomplishments
The ERG, which consists of 6 project leaders and 14 postdoctoral researchers, has been active in scholarly work; however, a list of the papers published since the 2011 NRC assessment12 was not provided during the review. Also, since the CNST is a user facility, the accomplishments of the ERG, as well as the CNST as a whole, need to include publications generated by external users. Since such a list was missing in the materials provided during the review, it was difficult to assess productivity. According to the material provided, the number of researchers in all areas, including energy research, participating in
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12 NRC, An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, 2011.
activities that use the CNST facilities has increased from 192 in FY 2007 to 1,885 in FY2013. It would be important to know the corresponding increase in total publications, including those using CNST facilities, over the same period. The ERG has been actively engaged in the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) and NIST initiatives, including the NNI Signature Initiative on Nanotechnology for Solar Energy Collection and Conversion and several of NIST’s Innovation In Measurement Science programs. CNST staff are interacting with several industrial organizations, including General Electric, Applied Materials, Northrop Grumman, Dow Chemical, QD Vision, DuPont, and Intel, among others. This is a good user base foundation.
Opportunities and Challenges
Research being conducted at the ERG is of high quality. The researchers are encouraged to enhance collaborations with external users. Opportunities exist for increasing the use of the CNST by external users. Since it was stated during the assessment that, to date, only one user proposal has, on the basis of poor technical merit, been turned down, it would appear that there is scope for increasing the user base. Increased collaborations should result in increased numbers of publications by CNST scientists and increased visability of ERG researchers, which would raise the reputation and profile of the CNST as a whole and the ERG in particular. Enhanced collaborations will also lead to greater use of this outstanding national resource.
CNST staff publications since 2012 were identified during the review; however, the ERG did not provide a summary list of its specific output. This is a regrettable missed opportunity, because several of the publications from ERG members are of excellent quality and published in excellent journals.
Especially notable work includes the in situ analysis of battery materials with a specific focus on solid-liquid interface chemistry incorporating six-dimensional super-resolution microscopy. More specific annotation of the output to the community of that and other work would have been welcome during the review. The research in chemical imaging is good but not superb. The ERG does not have sufficient critical mass to make significant advances in a sustainable way. There are many opportunities to tie imaging with theory, which would have major impact, but those efforts need to be well integrated.
NANOFABRICATION RESEARCH GROUP
Introduction
The NRG has a stated mission of “working with facility users, develop new measurement methods to enable the development and effective industrial-scale use of nanomanufacturing and nanofabrication processes.”13 The group has grown slightly since the 2011 NRC assessment;14 it currently consists of 8 project leaders, 3 staff scientists, a process engineer, and 17 postdoctoral researchers, with expertise that includes electron microscopy and nano-electromechanical systems.
The NRG has demonstrated scientific productivity, expressed eagerness to work with users, and uses the resources available in an effective manner. However, the scientific activities under way seem uncorrelated, making it difficult to identify the essence of the group. The NRG, and the CNST, can do a better job in formulating and articulating its core mission.
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13 NIST, CNST, 2015 Strategic Plan, v.1.5, Gaithersburg, Md., August 31, 2015.
14 NRC, An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, 2011.
Assessment of Technical Programs
The NRG is involved in a wide array of projects. The independent researchers are very strong in their areas. Google Scholar profiles reveal that the five senior project leaders each have an h-index above 35 and more than 4,000 citations, which is one measure of visibility. From the project descriptions that were presented during the review, it was clear that they make effective use of the state-of-the-art nanofabrication facilities.
The project on super-resolution fluorescence microscopy for materials science exhibits exceptional real space resolution that is ideal for soft materials. The study focus is on the emission lifetime of molecules, which are sensitive to the local environment providing a sixth dimension of imaging. The project uses in situ/operando microscopy at the atomic scale. Although specific applications were not provided, possible applications for this research include studies of polymers, composites, and catalysis.
Another project, which is supported by theory, is the one-of-a-kind environmental TEM for dynamic and spectroscopic analysis of nanomaterials at the atomic scale. Work on this project is in an early stage of development.
The project on nanoplasmonic optomechanics is an exciting and unique approach to the use of plasmons. The project exhibits capability for both actuation and sensing of motion at unprecedented levels. It also has a capability for both electronic direct current (DC) and optical alternating current (AC) operation and has the potential to demonstrate faster and denser spatial light modulators.
The work on motion detection and calibration for MEMS and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) is an impressive demonstration of capability. Going forward, a comparison to existing technologies commercially available (PolyTec) would be useful.
The project on advancing nanoparticle manufacturing exhibits a good understanding of the challenges currently limiting the manufacturing of nanoparticles. The project staff is working with experts from industrial, governmental, and academic sectors to address technical challenges. While not explicitly mentioned, the expectation is that pharmaceutical companies would be particularly interested in this capability.
The Nanolithography Toolbox represents the development of an extremely valuable tool for computer-aided designing (CAD-ing) and layout of complex lithography patterns used in the micro- and nanofabrication of a wide variety of devices (in particular photonic devices, where smooth curves are key for low loss). The toolbox is filling an important need of the nanofabrication community, and it is enhancing the CNST user experience.
The project on nanophotonic device development for metrology represents state-of-the-art nanophotonic devices applied to the development of chip-scale atomic clocks and optical frequency combs. This project is an excellent example of how CNST capabilities and scientists can enable NIST-wide projects.
The project on metamaterials represents promising early work on plasmonics and metamaterials. The NRG was a clear leader early in this area, although this leadership role has waned over the past few years. It would be useful for this project to identify new research directions or new collaborative opportunities inside and out of NIST.
For the project on high-speed manufacturing measurements, there was a lack of clarity about the relationship of this research to nanoscience and nanotechnology. Additionally, the impact of this work was not clearly explained. While there appears to be an attempt to be customer-focused, the choice of this project does not seem to be a good match with the staff’s strengths.
Portfolio of Scientific Expertise
Opportunities and Challenges
The diversity and quality of user-driven research projects under development in the NRG demonstrates the excellent scientific and technical expertise this group provides. The NRG has a challenge, however, because it is difficult to align the existing research activities with the mission. It is not known how much flexibility the NRG has to define its mission, but the current disconnection makes it difficult to assess the programs relative to the mission. If the flexibility exists, given its research strengths, a mission such as the following might provide the necessary alignment: developing tools for characterization of nanomaterials and using nanofabrication to develop new measurement and metrology tools. If it does not have the flexibility to redefine its mission, then the harder job of aligning the research projects to the mission needs to be addressed in the next strategic plan.
The SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis within the CNST 2015 Strategic Plan was generally insightful, but had a couple of gaps. First, there is an issue with the definition of “research participants” that makes it challenging to get a clear view of the true NanoFab user base. While the information that was provided in response to questions regarding facility usage was illuminating, those data did not support the statement in the CNST 2015 Strategic Plan that “by any measure the Nanofabrication facility is a success; its utilization continues to grow with each year.”15 Furthermore, it was learned during the review that the NanoFab is well below capacity; however, the 2015 Strategic Plan identifies a different weakness that seems to be contradictory: “technical support services have not kept up with the general growth in CNST and may need a new management model.”16 Understanding the costs, technical staffing needs, and user capacity needs to be a top priority. In particular, the NRG could be more aggressively looking for opportunities for growth in its users aligned with the research activities that are identified in its strategic plan. In addition to the financial benefits, an increased user base from industry will both enhance the impact of the NRG and serve as a source of new and challenging problems.
The strategic plan could be strengthened by identifying meaningful metrics and plans to track those metrics. The tracking of those metrics will be invaluable information for the next assessment panel.
Adequacy of Facilities, Equipment, and Human Resources
Accomplishments
The NRG is making great use of the NanoFab for the fabrication of its MEMS, NEMS, and nanophotonics devices. It is constantly evaluating the tool set, balancing the need for exploratory research and the need for process consistency to test designs. It has done a good job of keeping the tools up to date, sometimes by developing relationships with its tool vendors. For example, it has teamed up to develop the next-generation focused ion beam with FEI. Two capabilities that stand out are the environmental TEM and the Nanolithography Toolbox, a very useful design tool that could have impact beyond the CNST and its users. Additionally, the NRG is doing an excellent job of hiring nanofabrication experts to aid both facility users and CNST staff.
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15 NIST CNST, 2015 Strategic Plan, 2015.
16 Ibid.
Dissemination of Outputs
Accomplishments
As already noted, many of the individual researchers in the NRG have good outside recognition of the quality of their work, as evidenced by their citations and name recognition. The group members mentioned that they are looking for a way to disseminate the processing recipes for their technical advances, including, for instance, processing recipes for the gap-plasmon resonator. This activity is a very useful service.
Opportunities and Challenges
In line with the its mission, the NRG needs to spend more time “taking the pulse” of the community through strategically placing talks at conferences, organizing workshops and conference sessions, and society service. It will take focus and energy to engage industry. Industry, academic, and government consortia are one means. A very successful consortium in the photonics space is the Microphotonics Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which sponsors a road-mapping activity and has spring and fall meetings. The NRG could create a similarly vibrant community building on its strengths in NEMS, precision measurements, and/or atomic scale microscopy.
A list was provided of conference presentations given by NRG members over their careers. Although this list is quite long, the conference attendance seems to be somewhat random, and there was no mention of this in the CNST 2015 Strategic Plan.17 One way that the NRG (and the CNST) could increase its visibility is by being strategic with respect to conference attendance by identifying a few of the key conferences and having a large presence at these as opposed to small (and possibly) overlooked attendance at a much larger number of conferences. This strategy might also result in increased user interest.
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17 Ibid.
