View source for Organization:Molecular Foundry

[[Image:Molecular Foundry Berkeley.jpg|thumbnail|200px|The Molecular Foundry building in Berkeley, California]]

The '''Molecular Foundry''' is a nanoscience user facility located at the [[Organization:Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory|Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] in Berkeley, California, and is one of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. 

==Overview==
The Molecular Foundry was founded in 2003. The building was completed on March 24, 2006. The current director, Kristin Persson, was appointed in 2020, following permanent directors Jeff Neaton (2013-2019), Omar Yaghi (2012-2013) and [[Biography:Carolyn Bertozzi|Carolyn Bertozzi]] (2006-2010).

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{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}. Proposals for user projects are aimed to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in the areas of [[Physics:Materials science|materials science]], [[Physics:Physics|physics]], [[Electrical engineering|electrical engineering]], [[Earth:Environmental engineering|environmental engineering]], [[Biology:Biology|biology]] and [[Chemistry:Chemistry|chemistry]].

==Facilities==
[[File:Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (52230758982).jpg|thumb|The Molecular Foundry and surrounding buildings]]
The foundry includes these seven facilities:
* '''Imaging and Manipulation of Nanostructures''', led by Facility Director Alex Weber-Bargioni and was founded by Miquel Salmeron. 
** Characterization and manipulation of nanostructures—from "hard" to very "soft" matter—combining [[Physics:Electron microscopy|electron microscopy]], optical microscopy and [[Physics:Scanning probe microscopy|scanning probe microscopy]].
* '''Nanofabrication''' - The nanofabrication facility is led by Facility Director Adam Schwartzberg and was founded by Jeff Bokor. 
** Advanced lithography and thin-film processing emphasizing integration with chemical and biological nanosystems and the development of nanoscale [[Engineering:Electronics|electronic]], [[Physics:Magnetic|magnetic]] and photonic devices.
* '''Theory of Nanostructured Materials''', led by Facility Director David Prendergast and was founded by [[Biography:Steven Gwon Sheng Louie|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 [[Physics:Spectroscopy|spectroscopy]] at hybrid nanoscale interfaces.
* '''Inorganic Nanostructures''', led by Facility Director Jeff Urban and was founded by A. Paul Alivisatos.
** The science of [[Physics:Semiconductor|semiconductor]], carbon and hybrid nanostructures—including design and synthesis of nanocrystals, nanowires and [[Physics:Carbon nanotube|nanotubes]]—and study of their electronic applications.
* '''Biological Nanostructures''', Led by Facility Director Corie Ralston and was founded by Carolyn R. Bertozzi.
** New materials based on the [[Biology:Self-assembly|self-assembly]] of biopolymers and bio-inspired polymers, new probes for bio-imaging and [[Biology:Synthetic biology|synthetic biology]] techniques to re-engineer organisms and create hybrid biomolecules to interface with devices.
* '''Organic and Macromolecular Synthesis''', led by Facility Director Yi Liu and was founded by [[Biography:Jean Fréchet|Jean Fréchet]].
** Studies of "soft" materials—including synthesis of organic molecules, macromolecules, [[Chemistry:Polymers|polymers]] and their assemblies, with access to functional systems, photoactive, organic-inorganic hybrid and porous materials.
* '''National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM)''', led by Facility Director Andy Minor. NCEM was founded in 1983 as an independent DOE user facility and merged with the Molecular Foundry in 2014.
** Use and development of an array of electron microscopes, offering capabilities for materials characterization at high resolution.

== User Program ==
The Molecular Foundry has a user program that gives access to the center's staff and equipment to external researchers who intend to publish their results<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://foundry.lbl.gov/users/index.html|title=Molecular Foundry|website=foundry.lbl.gov|access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref>{{third-party inline|date=December 2023}}. The program is open to scientists from academia, industry, and research institutes. The application process for the user program involves submitting a peer-reviewed proposal.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]]
[[Category:United States Department of Energy national laboratories]]
[[Category:University and college laboratories in the United States]]

{{Sourceattribution|Molecular Foundry}}