Cornell already is a leader in probing the atomic and molecular structures of materials. Advances in nonlinear optical materials, for example, will lead to better information storage and faster optical communication links. In experiments around the world, potential uses of nanostructures are spreading beyond the concept of a semiconductor integrated circuit that provides the brains for everything from computers to cellular phones. Cornell's new facility will foster such research, coupled with educational opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students.
Among the fields to be addressed at Cornell's new Duffield Hall are:
·Education. It will serve as a new meeting ground for faculty and students from various disciplines, providing an ideal environment for multidisciplinary education. Graduate and undergraduate students will have hands-on experiences with the newest technology. Undergraduates will have increased opportunities to engage in research, as graduate students prepare for jobs in industry or academia.
·Electronic and Photonic Devices. One of the world's largest industries, electronics, is the driving force beyond control, computation and communications. New high-speed devices require synthesis and fabrication of new materials at dimensions as small as only 100 atoms wide. Magnetic and optical materials, vacuum microelectronics, large-area displays and information storage all are dependent on new materials. Sensors for use in biology and chemistry are expected, and the abililty to develop techniques for fabricating nanometer-sized components on a massively parallel scale will be required.
·Characterization and Diagnostics of Materials and Devices. Researchers must be able to view devices at the atomic dimension in order to produce them. Cornell already has a strong program in atomic-scale characterization, including scanning transmission electron microsocopy capable of detecting one atom in a column of 400. The new facility will allow increased sophistication of atomic-scale experiments.
·Microelectromechanical (MEM) Devices. Within the semiconductor industry, MEM devices may provide the lithographic and diagnostic instruments of the future -- advances that are critically needed if U.S. industry is to meet its goals and continue its growth. MEM technology also promises revolutionary sensors that can emulate eyes, ears, nose and tongue. This technology is evolving at a rapid rate and has the capability of providing major breakthroughs in applications as diverse as displays, data storage, biomedical prosthetics and drug delivery systems.
·Advanced Materials Processing. One way of synthesizing new materials for optical, electronic and biological devices is to begin from the bottom. Construction begins with the assembly of nanostructures from atomic and molecular building blocks. Cornell already has expertise in these areas and it is expected that this will expand as new faculty members are recruited. By an extension of existing molecular-beam and organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy, atomically smooth layers will be fabricated to provide materials with novel properties for various electronic and photonic applications.
·Biotechnology Devices. Developments in devices for diagnostic or prosthetic applications that can be expected from miniaturization in biotechnology and bioengineering are ultra-rapid gene sequencing, chemical sensing for drug delivery and patterned templates for controlled cellular growth. Critical to this research is an interactive facility with the proper environment.
Click here to read about the $20 million gift by alumnus David Duffield, head of PeopleSoft Inc.