NSF ATE Center for Nanofabrication Education

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NSF ATE Center for Nanofabrication Education
The Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania
Commission for Community Colleges State System of
Higher Education State and Federal
Government Private Industry Local School
Districts
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Why Nanofabrication Education?

• Unique Features
• High surface to volume ratios
• Surface dominance of reactions and transport
• Emergence of quantum mechanical effects
• Dominance of physical optics
• Structural sizes of biological systems
• Unique bonding

• Broad Applications
• Nanobiotechnology
• Molecular electronics
• Nanowire synthesis
• Nanoscale modeling and simulation
• Colloidal systems and nanoparticles
• Nanomanufacturing
• MEMs and NEMs
• Nanoscale magnetics

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Center Themes

• Meeting the workforce needs of regional
  industries using micro- and nanotechnology
• Preparing students for lifelong careers in micro-
  and nanotechnology
• Creating nanotechnology education pathway for
  students
• Improving STEM (science, technology, education,
  and math) education at all levels

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Key Features of the Center

• Continuous state funding support since 1998
• Industry-led since inception
• Unique higher education partnership
• Capstone Semester offered continuously at Penn
  State
• Professional development
• Summer Nanotech Camps
• Learning Tools for Partners
• On-Line Education
• Educational pathways
• National leadership role

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Summary of Results

• Associate degree programs at every community
  college and six Penn State campuses (187 awarded)
• Baccalaureate programs at six State System
  universities and two Penn State campuses (15
  awarded)
• 626 educators and industry personnel completed
  three-day workshops
• 781 secondary students completed Nanotech Camps
• 344 students have completed the capstone semester
• 62 employed
• 50 in nanotechnology jobs in PA (38 PA
  companies)
• 12 in nanotechnology jobs in other states
• 40 in non-nanotechnology jobs in PA
• 36 continuing their education
• 2 seeking employment

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PA Nanotechnology Companies Employing Center
Graduates
Merck, Inc. NanoHorizons Philips Medical
Systems Plextronics Probes Unlimited Rhetech
Inc. Seagate Technologies SI International Spectru
m Technologies Textron Lycoming Transene,
Inc. Westfalia Technologies Xactix
II-IV Corporation Agere Alden Products Allied
Fueling Amedeo BioElectroSpec B.
Braun Cabot Centocor Correg Sensors DRS Laurel
Technologies Dana Corporation Doucette
Industries
Fairchild Semiconductors Fincor Automation First
Energy Gas Technologies, Inc. GlaxoSmithKline John
son Matthey Keystone Engineering Lockheed
Martin Lucent Technologies Lutron
Electronics Membrane Assays
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What Employers Saying About Center Program
Graduates

• We take these NMT people like that! Boom! Right
  off the top!
• Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, PA
• These NMT technicians have more processing
  experience, and they see the big semiconductor
  picture
• Fairchild Semiconductor, Mountaintop, PA
• We look for people whove gone through the NMT
  experience.
• Verimetra, Inc, Pittsburgh, PA
• The NMT students are getting a broad background.
  No one else seems to be doing this.
• Xactix, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
• In our environment, a person like this would be
  very, very good.
• National Institute of Standards and Technology,
  Gaithersburg, MD

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Formal Evaluation of the Center

• Center Industrial Advisory Board
• Meets twice annually to ensure that curriculum is
  designed to meet industry workforce development
  needs
• NSF National Visiting Committee
• Meets annually to provides general oversight and
  guidance on all aspects of Center operations
• Penn State College of Liberal Arts
• Responsible for formal evaluation of the Center,
  emphasizing strengths and weaknesses of the
  higher education partnership, and student
  outcomes
• Center Self Evaluation
• Regular surveys of current students and periodic
  interviews with industry employers of program
  graduates

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Industrial Advisory Board

• Agere Systems
• Air Products and Chemicals
• Crystalplex
• Fairchild Semiconductor
• Glaxo Smith Kline Ventures
• Greene-Tweed and Company
• Hanson Technologies
• Imiplex
• Johnson and Johnson

• Lockheed Martin
• Mineral Technologies
• PPG Industries
• Plextronics
• RJ Lee Group
• Schott Glass Technologies
• Seagate Technology
• Tyco Electronics
• Veeco
• Verimetra

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Capstone Semester

• 18-credit, hands-on experience offered
  continuously at Penn State site of the NNIN
• Emphasis on generic skills for any application of
  nanotechnology (or micro-technology)
• Courses are cross-listed in the catalogues of all
  partner institutions
• Support associate and baccalaureate programs at
  partner institutions

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Capstone Semester Courses (1)

• Materials, Safety, Health Issues, and Equipment
  Basic to Nanofabrication
• Provides an overview of basic nanofabrication
  processing and materials handling procedures with
  a focus on safety, environment, and health.
• Basic Nanofabrication Processes
• Provides an overview of the equipment and
  processes used to fabricate materials, devices,
  and structures at the nanoscale using top-down,
  bottom-up, and hybrid approaches.
• Materials Utilization in Nanofabrication
• Addresses materials preparation approaches
  including self-assembly, colloidal chemistry,
  catalytic nanowire and nanotube formation,
  thermal growth, physical vapor deposition, and
  chemical vapor deposition.

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Capstone Semester Courses (2)

• Lithography for Nanofabrication
• Covers all aspects of pattern transfer.
  Approaches covered include probe lithography,
  stamp lithography, nano-imprinting, e-beam
  lithography, and optical lithography.
• Materials Modification in Nanofabrication
• Covers materials modification from hydrophobicity
  and hydrophilicity to rapid thermal annealing,
  and examines the impact of such process on
  phenomena from wetting angles to overall
  electrical, mechanical, optical, and chemical
  properties.
• Characterization and Testing in Nanofabrication
• Addresses nanofabrication characterization and
  testing, emphasizing basic measurement approaches
  from optical microscopy to scanning probe
  microscopies and scanning electron microscopy.

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Summer Nanotech Camps for Secondary Students

• One-day and three-day summer Nanotech Camps
  offered since 1999
• 781 PA students have attend summer Nanotech Camps
  to date
• Special emphasis on students from disadvantaged
  minority communities

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Professional Development of Educators and
Industry Personnel

• 626 educators and industry representatives have
  attended 3-day workshops to date
• Nanotechnology experiment kits for use in
  secondary schools under development
• Nanotechnology being incorporated into
  pre-service science teacher education in PA

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2004 National ATE Center Planning Project

• Identify industry and education partners
  interested in micro- and nanofabrication
  technician education
• Identify micro- and nanofabrication user
  facilities for technician education
• Assess alternatives to the centralized facility
  approach to nanofabrication technician education.
• Assess the feasibility of a National Center for
  Nanofabrication Education.

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Planning Project Findings

• There is strong and growing interest among
  community colleges throughout the nation.
• Relatively few nanofabrication research
  facilities are available for technician training
• Alternatives to the centralized facility model
  should be a major thrust of any national effort
• Students must be provided with hands-on
  laboratory experiences
• Both nanotechnology degree programs, and
  incorporation of nanotechnology into STEM
  teaching and learning, are needed

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Some Interested Institutions

• Northeast WI Technical College, WI
• Oakton Community College, IL
• Ohlone College, CA
• Purdue University, IL
• San Jose State University, CA
• St. Louis Community College, MO
• St. Petersburg College, FL
• Sinclair Community College, OH
• Southeast Technical College, MN
• Triton College, IL
• Tulsa Community College, OK
• University of MA, Lowell, MA
• University of Minnesota, MN
• University of Wisconsin, WI
• Valencia Community College, FL
• West Point Academy, NY
• William Rainey Harper College, IL
• Youngstown State University, OH

• Baton Rouge Community College, LA
• Black Hawk College, IL
• College of Lake College, IL
• Columbus State Community College, OH
• Corning Community College, NY
• Dakota Community College, MN
• Delgado Community College, LA
• Diablo Valley College, CO
• Fox Valley Technical College, WI
• Hawkeye Community College, IA
• Lakeshore Technical College, WI
• Lansing Community College, MI
• Mid State Technical College, WI
• MN State Com. and Tech. College, MN
• Moraine Park Technical College, WI
• North Arkansas Collage, AR
• ND State College of Science, ND
• North Seattle Community College, WA

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2005 Regional Center Renewal With National Role

• Continue to offer the capstone semester,
  professional development workshops, and Nanotech
  Camps
• Assist community and technical colleges across
  the nation to develop nanotechnology education
  programs
• Incorporate nanotechnology into science,
  technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
  curriculum.
• Develop experiment kits and other learning tools
  for use in undergraduate and secondary classrooms
• Provide undergraduate and secondary classrooms
  on-line access to nanotechnology instrumentation
• Promote student pathways in nanotechnology from
  secondary through undergraduate, and graduate
  levels
• Promote public understanding of nanotechnology
  and its societal implications

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New Learning Tools

• Learning tools developed by Penn State in
  partnership with Pennsylvania community college,
  State System university, and secondary educators
• Five available nanotechnology learning tools
  require access to
• atomic force microscope
• florescence microscope
• current voltage characterization system
• optical microscopes and other instruments
• On-line access the new 1,000 square foot
  education cleanroomn at Penn State is available
  for institutions that do not have direct access
  to this equipment
• Necessary faculty professional development is
  provided by Penn State

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Learning Activity 1 Consumer Products Using
Nanotechnology

• Objective Introduce students to products
  currently on the market that use nanotechnology
• Students are introduced to the products through
  lecture and discussion and they are given the
  products to visually examine.
• After a group discussion, teams of students
  analyze the samples using characterization
  equipment to verify product claims and to
  determine what makes them nano.

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Learning Activity 2 Biomimetics Analysis

• Objective Introduce the students to the field
  of biomimetics and investigate the role that
  structures at the nano-scale play in natural
  phenomenon
• Students are introduced to the topic of
  biomimetics and to how nature uses the
  nano-scale.
• The students use nano-imaging techniques to
  visualize these phenomena.
• The introductory activity is delivered to the
  students through a fact sheet, and they are given
  specimens and samples to visually examine.
• Teams of students then analyze the samples using
  characterization equipment

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Learning Activity 3 Nanoparticle Synthesis and
Applications

• Objective Give an understanding of colloidal
  nanoparticle synthesis using wet chemistry
  methods and show applications of colloidal
  solutions.
• Students prepare a colloidal solution of metal
  nanoparticles using citrate reduction chemistry.
• By controlling the chemical reaction, different
  sized nanoparticles are created
• By engineering the size of the nanoparticles, the
  student has the ability to tailor the optical
  properties of the solution, which can be verified
  through spectrophotometer analysis, and
  correlated with size through AFM
  characterization.
• In advanced applications, the nanoparticles can
  be functionalized and used to demonstrate a
  nanoparticle-based chemical sensor in action.

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Learning Activity 4 Microfluidics Fabrication
and Applications

• Objective Fabricate a polymer channel device,
  examine in-channel flow properties, and use the
  device to mix chemicals using different flow
  mechanisms.
• The module is designed to help students gain an
  understanding of what properties and phenomena
  come into play in fluid flow in a channel as the
  channel size scale decreases.
• The concept of lab on a chip technology is also
  introduced and its coming importance to industry
  and medicine is discussed.
• Hydrostatic and electrokinetic flow mechanisms
  are explained and visualized by the students.
• Students fabricate their channel structures
  thereby learning elements of micro- and
  nanofabrication.

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Learning Activity 5 Self-Assembly

• Objective Use self-assembly to create patterned
  structures. Students learn the self-assembly
  procedure and are introduced to its potential for
  building devices.
• The module demonstrates the ability to
  pre-determine and control regions of surface
  reactivity using molecular films, which are
  nanometers thick.
• The module introduces stamping lithography and
  compares it to other methods of lithographic
  patterning.
• The Au patterns formed will be similar to
  microplates used in DNA and protein assays and
  detection.

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www.cneu.psu.edu