DOE's Nanoscale Science Research Centers

The cornerstone of the BES effort in nanoscience is the development and operation of five new Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs) to support the synthesis, processing, fabrication, and analysis of materials at the nanoscale.

These NSRCs are designed to be the Nation's premier user centers for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale, serving as the basis for a national program that encompasses new science, new tools, and new computing capabilities. Together, the Centers provide a gateway to existing major BES user facilities for X-ray, neutron, and electron scattering.

Each Center will be housed in a new laboratory building near one or more existing BES facilities for X-ray, neutron, or electron scattering. These new buildings will contain: clean rooms; laboratories for nanofabrication; one-of-a-kind signature instruments; and other instruments (e.g., nanopatterning tools and research-grade probe microscopes) not generally available except at major user facilities.

The other four NSRCs are:

• The Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York
  
  
• The Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico
  
  
• The Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois
  
  
• The Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California