Nano3 is the main facility of the San Diego Nanotechnology Infrastructure (SDNI), which is one of 16 nation-wide sites of the NSF supported National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) founded in 2015.

Nano3 provides advanced capabilities for fabrication and characterization in a state-of-the-art cleanroom opened in May 2006.

The name Nano3 reflects the synergetic nature of the facility, focusing on three fields of nanoscale research and development within the space - Nanoscience, Nanoengineering and Nanomedicine.

In addition to providing essential nanofabrication capabilities for research on electronic and optoelectronic materials and devices, the facility facilitates the pursuit of research in emerging, interdisciplinary, and rapidly growing fields such as biomedical and biochemical devices, heterogeneous integrated devices and circuits, and sensor technology.

Over the last few years, the high inflation has had significant impacts on Nano3 in many aspects. The costs of facility operations and instrument upkeep have increased substantially. After communications with many users, financial data analysis, and extensive discussions with the executive committee members, we finally came to the decision to adjust Nano3 user rates. While the rate adjustment is necessary for a sustainable operation, we have made our best efforts to keep our operation efficient and cost effective to minimize the financial burden to our users.

The new rates will be effective on 7/1/2024, as shown in the Nano3 Rates page. Notably, we have kept the rates for SEMs, FIB and TEM the same as before. The anticipated increase in revenue will offset the increased costs for consumables and equipment maintenance, and improve equipment and staffing, which, we believe, will ultimately benefit our users in the long run.

Email Nano3 Staff with a brief description of your processing goals and requirements at Nano3. We will respond to your inquiry and provide the next steps for staff-assisted services.

Nano3 has received approval from campus EH&S and converted the microfluidics lab (Atkinson 1414) into a Biosafety Level-2 laboratory. In addition to the existing tools that allow users to fabricate microfluidic devices on various materials such as PDMS, glass, PMMA, PC, COC/COP etc., the microfluidics lab is now also equipped with a biosafety cabinet, a fluorescence microscope, and a microfluidics workstation for fluidic pumping and microvalve control, as well as support tools like centrifuge, vortex mixer and pipettes. Users are allowed to work with BSL-2 human cells, BSL-2 bacteria and Fungi/Yeast and BSL-1 invertebrates. BSL-2 or higher viruses or viral vectors, or BSL-2+ or higher agents are prohibited in this space. Due to space limitations, currently the lab is not set up for cell culturing. Please discuss your projects with Dr. Zhicheng Long (z1long@ucsd.edu) before working with biohazardous materials in room 1414.