Molecular Foundry
The Molecular Foundry is a nanoscience User Facility located at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, and is one of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. The Molecular Foundry provides users from around the world with access to cutting-edge nanoscience expertise and instrumentation in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.
Users of the Molecular Foundry are provided with free access to instruments, techniques and collaborators for nanoscience research that is in the public domain and intended for open publication. Proposals for user projects are solicited to promote interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists studying nanoscale phenomena in materials science, physics, electrical engineering, environmental engineering, biology and chemistry in six interdependent facilities:
Imaging and Manipulation of Nanostructures
Led by Facility Director Jim Schuck and was founded by Miquel Salmeron
- State-of-the-art characterization and manipulation of nanostructures—from “hard” to very “soft” matter—combining electron microscopy, optical microscopy and scanning probe microscopy.
Nanofabrication
The nanofabrication facility is led by Facility Director Stefano Cabrini and was founded by Jeff Bokor
- Advanced lithography and thin-film processing emphasizing integration with chemical and biological nanosystems and the development of nanoscale electronic, magnetic and photonic devices.
Theory of Nanostructured Materials
Led by Facility Director David Prendergast and was founded by Steven Louie
- Theoretical support to guide understanding of new principles, behavior and experiments—including electrical transport in nanoscale molecular junctions, self-assembly of biological nanostructures and computation of spectroscopy at hybrid nanoscale interfaces.
Inorganic Nanostructures
Led by Facility Director Jeff Urban and was founded by A. Paul Alivisatos
- The science of semiconductor, carbon and hybrid nanostructures—including design and synthesis of nanocrystals, nanowires and nanotubes—and study of their electronic applications.
Biological Nanostructures
Led by Facility Director Ron Zuckermann and was founded by Carolyn R. Bertozzi
- New materials based on the self-assembly of biopolymers and bio-inspired polymers, new probes for bio-imaging and synthetic biology techniques to re-engineer organisms and create hybrid biomolecules to interface with devices.
Organic and Macromolecular Synthesis
Led by Facility Director Frantisek Svec and was founded by Jean Fréchet
- Studies of “soft" materials—including synthesis of organic molecules, macromolecules, polymers and their assemblies, with access to functional systems, photoactive, organic-inorganic hybrid and porous materials.
The Molecular Foundry was founded in 2003. The building was completed on March 24, 2006 and received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold recognition from the US Green Building Council in 2007 for its optimization of energy usage. Jeff Neaton was appointed director of the Molecular Foundry in 2013.