Center for Integrated
Nanotechnologies, 2004 Jump-Start User Program
The Center for Integrated
Nanotechnologies (CINT) is a Department of Energy, Basic Energy
Sciences Nanoscale Science Research Center (NSRC) jointly operated
by Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories. As part of
the National nanoscience infrastructure, CINT provides user
access to state-of-the-art equipment, facilities and personnel
for nanoscale science and engineering research. Prior to being
fully operational in 2006, CINT is operating in a “jumpstart” phase that enables some equipment, facilities and personnel
of the two sponsoring laboratories to be available to external
users through a proposal submission and peer review process.
There is no cost to users except for proprietary research.
User Facilities - Under
the jump-start program, the CINT user community will have access
to tools and capabilities that support CINT's overall focus
on nanoscience integration. Fabrication and synthesis capabilities
will allow the user to build and combine synthetic and biological
materials and structures across nano to micro length scales.
These capabilities include optical and E-beam lithography,
patterned semiconductor, oxide and metal deposition and etch,
MEMS, µfluidics, and photonic
lattice fabrication, self-assembled meso-porous silica, self-assembled
monolayer and LB films, semiconductor and metal quantum dots,
and protein synthesis. The set of available characterization
tools at jump-start include neutron diffraction, small-angle
scattering and reflectivity at LANSCE, short-pulse and high magnetic
field studies at NHMFL, low-temperature optical and electronic
transport measurements, time-resolved optical spectroscopy and
microscopy, scanning probe microscopy (AFM, STM, NSOM), and nanoindentation.
Users can also apply for access to computer workstations and
expertise in modeling that spans first-principles theory to continuum
modeling approaches.
Science Focus - Preference will be given to
proposals that will utilize CINT capabilities to address the
following challenges:
(1) Integration of top-down fabrication with bottom-up assembly
to create new classes of functional materials;
(2) Electronic energy transfer, charge transport, mechanical
force and fluidic transport across multiple length scales;
(3) Integration of biological and synthetic materials, and control
of the interface between biological and non-biological components.
General Users - The
scientific community is invited to apply for open, no cost, access
to CINT capabilities. Individual and team proposals from industry,
academia, and other laboratories are welcome. Specific instructions
for applicants, description of available resources, and key technical
contacts are available on the CINT website ( http://CINT.lanl.gov or http://CINT.sandia.gov ).
Proposals may request either short-term (few days) or long-term
(weeks to months) access to CINT capabilities. Collaborations
with CINT scientists at Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories
are encouraged. Through a separate process, proposals for proprietary
use of CINT resources (with full-cost recovery as required by
the DOE) will be considered. Foreign National researchers can
work at CINT if their visit is planned with sufficient lead-time
(see CINT website).
Submitting Proposals
Before submitting a proposal,
proposal authors must first view the Call
for Proposals document
and CINT
Capabilities List and identify the appropriate research
capability(s) related to their research. The proposal author
discusses their research with the appropriate CINT Contact(s)
and determines with the CINT Contact the relevance of the CINT
capability to their research needs. There is no limit to the
number of capabilities a user can access to do their research,
although each CINT Contact must be contacted for each identified
CINT Capability listed on the proposal.
Proposal
Review
The Proposal Review Committee (PRC) will use criteria endorsed
by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics to evaluate
user proposals. The principle criteria will be science quality,
followed by relevance to CINT themes and programs. Proposals for
proprietary use will follow a similar but separate process. PRC
members will provide a spread in scores between highest and lowest
rated proposals thereby providing the basis for CINT resource
allocation. The CINT Management Team will balance PRC recommendations
with available center resources to decide or award final user
access.
User
Modes
The CINT user program invites proposals for the external scientific
community, including:
