Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology

The Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology is a premier facility that integrates state-of-the-art nanotechnology equipment.

Designed by Weiss/Manfredi and due to open in 2013, the 78,000 gross square foot facility will house several multi-user experimental laboratories critical to advanced research and development in nanotechnology. The following connected sections comprise the major components of the building:

A 10,000 square-foot next-generation Cleanroom Facility for micro/nanofabrication, including tooling for nanoscale and soft materials integration and a novel nano/bio bay. This will serve as the new home of the Quattrone Nanofabrication Facility.
A 10,000 square-foot advanced underground facility designed for temperature stability and excellent isolation from vibrational, acoustic, and electromagnetic noise. This will serve as the new home of both the Nanoscale Characterization Facility and the NBIC Scanning and Local Probe Facility.
A Property Measurement Facility to provide state-of-the-art measurement capabilities in magnetometry, optics, electrical and thermal transport.
18,000 net square feet of space for other shared facilities and general laboratories housed in an adjoining three story structure; a glass-enclosed galleria with views into the cleanroom; conference rooms; and a forum for meetings.

The building houses a large existing suite of high-performance equipment for nanotechnology research, including electron and scanning probe microscopy, cleanroom tools, electron beam lithography, and several materials synthesis and characterization instruments. It also includes substantial space for new cutting-edge equipment such as the first aberration-corrected, energy-filtered microscope (ACEM) to be installed in the greater Philadelphia area.

The multi-user facilities are vital to the research and educational programs at Penn and are leveraged by partner institutions and local industry within the greater Philadelphia area. Unifying these central resources fosters the exchange of scientific ideas and the development of nanoscale science and technology, brings together crosscutting capabilities and the staffing to support these tools, and provides the modern infrastructure necessary to establish a regional center for nanotechnology.