Work has been underway on the new ICN2 Nanofabrication Facility since last October. This week it opened its doors to the first internal users.
Last October 2017 work began on the ICN2’s very own cleanroom-type facility for the fabrication and testing of nanodevices under environmentally controlled conditions. Funded by the ERDF-funded project CENano Tech and the institute’s Severo Ochoa award, the aim of the Nanofabrication Facility is to provide internal and external research scientists an experimental space for prototype development and testing. The facility will be fully installed by the end of the year, but this week saw the first users suit up and try out the new equipment.
Primarily aimed at research groups, the facility follows the philosophy of the ICN2’s Research Support Division as a whole: to serve as a meeting point for scientists from different disciplines and a catalyst for the mutual sharing and exchange of knowledge, approaches and processes. With work led by Severo Ochoa research engineer, Dr Raúl Pérez Rodríguez, this facility constitutes a significant addition to the ICN2 scientific infrastructure, especially in light of its renewed goals to bring more of its technologies closer to market.
The CENanoTech project (ref.: 2015 FEDER/S-16) was funded through the call for the development of R&D infrastructures launched by the Regional Ministry of Economy and Knowledge of the Generalitat de Catalunya using funding received from the European Regional Development Fund. Funds were also allocated from the ICN2 Severo Ochoa Programme 2014-2018 granted by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness.