Nanomaterial depositions and characterizations facilities

The Nanomaterial Depositions and Characterizations team at the NRC's Nanotechnology Research Centre maintains many facilities that are generally available to both internal and external users, including cleanroom space, specialized deposition equipment, and a large suite of nanomaterial characterization equipment.

Why work with us

The Nanotechnology Research Centre is the go-to place in Canada for translating inorganic nanomaterial depositions into solutions for Canada's current and future technological challenges.

Facility characteristics

Depositions

Dry depositions
- Class 10000 and 1000 cleanroom space for the deposition of nanomaterials and their integration into functional prototypes and devices
- Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) for conformal carbon nanotube, semiconductor nanowire, and dielectric films
- Atomic layer deposition (ALD) for conformal, ultrathin dielectric and metal films
- Electron beam evaporation
- Rapid thermal annealer
- Photo-lithography
- Device fabrication support equipment

Wet depositions
- Wet chemistry facility for chemical deposition of inorganic nanomaterials by hydrothermal, sol-gel, and electrochemical methods
- Spray coater
- Electro-spinning stations.

Characterizations

Electron microscopy
- Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) for high-resolution characterization of nanomaterials
- Environmental scanning electron microscope

X-Ray analysis
- X-ray diffractometer
- Small-angle x-ray scattering with grazing incidence capabilities
- In-situ characterization capabilities

Optical spectroscopy
- Raman microscope
- Fourier transform infrared microscope
- Ultraviolet-Vvsible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) with integrating sphere
- Fluorimeter
- Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission
- Dynamic light scattering (DLS)

Thermal/mechanical
- Thermal gravimetric analyser (TGA)
- Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC)
- Rheometer
- Universal mechanical testing station
- Oxygen transmission rate