Research at Risk: Nanoscale facility in funding limbo

Greg Fuchs, Ph.D. '07, probably would not be where he is now - working on the cutting edge of quantum and magnetism science - without having logged countless hours in a "bunny" suit at the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility(CNF).

That suit - a white, full-body protective garment that prevents contamination in cleanrooms - is as much a staple of CNF as the state-of-the-art tools and processes that helped Fuchs establish his research career as a graduate student 20 years ago.

"It really was formative in terms of how I think about doing science and engineering. What can we create in the cleanroom that will help us answer our questions? Because now I know how to do that, and I know it can be done in CNF," said Fuchs, the James R. Meehl Professor of Applied and Engineering Physics in Cornell Engineering. "I could make some big thing, or I could make some really little thing. And the little thing almost always works better."

Since its founding in 1977, CNF has enabled scientists and engineers from academia and industry to conduct groundbreaking micro- and nanoscale research that has touched on everything from cancer research to advanced microelectronics and quantum computing technologies. And CNF has done so with continuous support from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Approximately 27% of CNF's operation budget comes from the NSF and a matching grant from New York State.

But in September, a five-year $7.5 million grant through the NSF-supported National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) network ended. For reasons that remain murky, the user facility has yet to hear from the NSF about future funding.

For researchers like Fuchs, the loss of that support would be a huge setback.

"Resources would shrink. It would become more expensive for us to work. And we could accomplish far less," said Fuchs, noting that the facility also has a critical educational function for his students. "Almost everyone in my group spends some time in CNF. It's kind of core training."

The suspension of funding would also have economic consequences. Over the last ten years with the NSF support, more than 190 different companies have used the facility for substantial research, development and prototyping. Dozens of companies have leveraged CNF's tools and processes - which include electron beam lithography, materials deposition and dry etching - as well as staff expertise to launch their startup ventures, with roughly two new companies emerging every year.

"CNF supports both fundamental research as well as applied research. A lot of early technology development costs a lot of money, and usually it's too much risk for venture capital to take that on," said Judy Cha, the Lester B. Knight Director of the CNF and professor of materials science and engineering in Cornell Engineering. "Startup companies need advanced experimental tools that range between $100,000 and $1 million to be able to develop their prototypes. CNF is a one-stop shop where they can go from the beginning to the end of prototyping development."

In addition to boosting product commercialization, CNF is training the next generation of engineers in the semiconductor and burgeoning quantum industries, both at Cornell and beyond. The facility offers education and outreach programs that have reached more than 36,000 individuals through NYS BOCES, 4-H, and other regional and national organizations over the last decade. This summer, CNF rolled out a free virtual-reality moduleto attract young students in microchip fabrication, an effort that will bolster the semiconductor workforce, which is lagging in the U.S.

CNF has been a vital technological and training resource for the Cornell research community, across a range of disciplines. Roughly a quarter of all engineering faculty depend on CNF. In the last year and a half, 563 researchers have used the facility. A number of CNF-assisted startup companies, such as Gallox Semiconductorsand OWiC Technologies, grew out of Cornell labs.

The success of these projects pay dividends for the government and the taxpayers.

"The NSF actually looked at what is the return on the federal dollar in supporting shared facilities," Cha said. "The return was more than 10-fold. Any support in early product development and basic science, at the end, is translated to commercial products that help us, the taxpayers."

For now, CNF remains in a kind of institutional limbo. Future planning is on hold. New equipment purchases and replacements are paused. Uncertainty abounds.

"We're in somewhat of a frozen state and waiting. And, of course, that delays a lot of decisions that have to be made," Cha said.

Should the funding not resume, CNF will have two options: User fees will have to be increased substantially, or the facility will be forced to reduce the services and capabilities it offers. The latter, Cha said, would adversely affect Cornell researchers and their competitiveness in the research landscape, as well as the local economy, as startup companies that rely on CNF could see their product development stymied.

There is a bitter irony in the prospect of CNF losing federal support, according to Fuchs, whose own researchin quantum sensing exemplifies the strategic aims of the National Quantum Initiative, which was an act of Congress signed into law in December 2018 by President Donald Trump.

"The National Quantum Initiative lives on top of the nanofabrication and nanocharacterization infrastructure in the U.S. And so if, for instance, CNF were to lose funding, that would be a dramatic blow to the Cornell quantum efforts and regional quantum efforts, because they're built on the ability to make things in the cleanroom," Fuchs said. "Even though quantum doesn't necessarily sound like nanofabrication, in fact, it relies on it, so it's a really important connection to keep that nanofabrication going."

User facilities such as CNF ultimately have a collective benefit that isn't always recognized: They democratize science.

"If I think of something that I want to do, I know that I have CNF at my fingertips, but even if I live somewhere else, I can still come to CNF and do it," Fuchs said. "Once those opportunities disappear, I don't have any other options. I could never afford to have my own CNF. So having a shared user facility makes all kinds of things possible in a very economical way. It's actually money very well spent."