Discovering the Future, Atom by Atom
About Our Building
“’Thinking,’ ‘Exchanging,’ and ‘Making’ necessary links in creating ground-breaking science inspired SmithGroup’s design for the Molecular Foundry in Berkeley, California. The architects tried to combine these aspirations with the aesthetics of this facility to mirror the advanced nature of the research happening within.”
Watch how form feeds function in this video from Smith Group Architects.
Read more about our building in the Architectural Record »
Organized into six interdependent research Facilities, The Molecular Foundry, along with Berkeley Lab's additional User programs and affiliated research laboratories, provide access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, scientific expertise and specialized techniques to help Users address the myriad of challenges in nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Foundry scientists' internal research converges around four research themes that reflect the expertise of the Foundry staff.
The themes are:
- Combinatorial Nanoscience – Using robotic synthesizers to generate and test large libraries of biological and inorganic nanostructures using highly automated, parallel processes. This allows researchers to rapidly test thousands of compounds for sought-after optical, electronic and thermal properties.
- Nanointerfaces – Engineering the mechanical and transport properties of hybrid nanomaterials (materials with differing properties, for example, inorganic nanomaterials and complex living organisms). This is accomplished through synthesis of heterostructures and interfaces, first-principles simulations, and characterization of function.
- Multimodal in situ Nanoimaging – Applying multiple imaging techniques—including scanned probe microscopy, nanophotoics and electron microscopy—to investigate dynamic nanoscale phenomena in liquid and vapor environments. There is a strong emphasis on soft materials.
- Single-digit Nanofabrication – Utilizing biological and organic templates, advanced lithographies and probe-based surface modification to fabricate nanoscale structures, features and spaces that measure less than 10 nanometers, i.e., in the single digits.
The research Facilities are housed in a in a six-story, 94,000 square-foot building equipped with advanced, sometimes one-of-a-kind instruments. It includes approximately 4,800 square feet of Class 100 cleanroom space, with a smaller Class 10 area for nanofabrication/lithography and clean measurement, and a 5,500 square-foot low vibration, low-electromagnetic-field laboratory housing state-of-the-art imaging and manipulation tools.
