Shared Facilities Overview

The Wisconsin MRSEC has developed an effective facilities philosophy that includes creation of new capabilities where needed, and continued improvement of existing facilities.  The facilities are professionally maintained and made accessible to all users on campus, industry and other research groups across the country.

Our aims are to:

1) provide new capabilities that enable outstanding research within the center

2) offer accessibility to internal and external users (enabled by our Industrial Consortium and our leading role in the Materials Facilities Research Network-MRFN)

3) leverage center resources so as to increase their impact on local infrastructure for materials research.

The Wisconsin MRSEC provides full or partial support for a variety of instruments in the Wisconsin Centers for Nanoscale Technology.  A particular focus is on facilities for characterization of nanoscale materials, as well as characterization equipment for larger length scales.  The instruments are available to on-campus, and in most cases, off campus users.  Access and charges are determined by the management policy of each individual facility.

For more information, follow the links below:

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Nanoscale Imaging and Analysis Center (NIAC)

The Nanoscale Imaging and Analysis Center (NIAC) is a shared resource
research facility with instrumentation for characterization of organic
and inorganic materials using high end electron microscopy and microanalysis techniques.

The Nanoscale Imaging and Analysis Center is equipped with approximately 40 instruments for sample preparation, electron and light microscopy, atomic resolution microscopy, spectroscopy, x-ray analysis
and surface analysis.

The NIAC is located in the basement of the Materials Science and Engineering Building and the 8th floor of the Engineering Research Building. Click here for more information on the NIAC.

Soft Materials Characterization Laboratory (SMCL)

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The Soft Materials Characterization Laboratory (SMCL) is a shared resource research facility for analysis and characterization of synthetic
polymers, soft materials and polymer devices.

The Soft Materials Characterization Laboratory is equipped with approxiately 50 instruments for spectroscopy, mechanical and thermal
analysis, chromatography and preparation of soft materials.

The SMCL is located in the basement of Engineering Hall. Click here for more information on the SMCL.

Nanoscale Fabrication Center (NFC)

The Nanoscale Fabrication Center (NFC) is a shared resource research
facility with instrumentation for nanofabrication technologies, products
and innovations.

The Nanoscale Fabrication Center is equipped with over 70 instruments in a 10,000 square ft cleanroom environment that provides access to processes for deposition, etching, patterning and packaging of electronic and other materials.

The NFC is located on the 3rd floor of the Engineering Centers Building.  Click here for more information on the NFC.

Materials Research Facilities Network (MRFN)

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As founding members of the MRFN, we have extended this impact and accessibility via UW-developed software (WiRemote) that enables remote access to instrumentation for education and research. Major instruments in the MSC are now on-line to four Wisconsin educational sites (including technical colleges) and our partners at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez (UPRM). This capability, which we will expand to all MFRN members, is routinely used for education of students and gives researchers access to equipment not available at less-privileged institutions. In addition, we have placed some of our computational sites at UC Santa Barbara and at the UPRM, thereby translating the UW’s recognized leadership in computer resource management to new sites currently under development. Click here for more information on MRFN.