Researchers at the International Institute for Nanotechnology and their partners in academia, industry, and national laboratories have access to excellent user facilities for characterization based on electron, ion, and photon radiation, as well as scanning probe techniques. Shared facilities are available for maintaining mechanical/electronic scattering and biophysics/biochemistry instrumentation. Some of the available facilities are listed below, including links to their sites.

The Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly was constructed on the Evanston campus in 2002 specifically to support nanotechnology research. Now called Ryan Hall, the facility was anchored by a $14 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services spearheaded by Professors Chad Mirkin and Mark Ratner, and is one of the first federally funded facilities of its kind in the United States. The 43,000 sq. ft. building houses state-of-the-art research, analytical and laser laboratories, and the main offices for the Institute.

The Institute is a partner with the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory. The CNM is a joint partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the State of Illinois, as part of DOE'S Nanoscale Science Research Center program. The CNM serves as a user-based center, providing tools and infrastructure for nanoscience and nanotechnology research. The CNM's mission includes supporting basic research and developing advanced instrumentation that will help generate new scientific insights and create new materials with novel properties.

The Institute has provided substantial support for capital equipment housed in the Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental (NUANCE ) Center. The NUANCE Center integrates three existing complementary instrumentation facilities at NU (NIFTI, EPIC, and Keck-II) under a unifed management umbrella and contiguous space.

The Nanoscale Integrated Fabrication, Testing and Instrumentation (NIFTI) facility in particular was created by the Institute with funding from the State of Illinois to provide state-of-the-art soft lithographic writing, imaging, and analysis capabilities. The facility offers hands-on training and is open to internal and external users, including industrial partners.

The Electron Probe Instrumentation Center (EPIC) houses one of the most complete arsenals of routine and state-of-the-art electron microscopes in the world. The Institute provided support for the acquisition of a TEM, FESEM, and FEG microscope housed in EPIC.

Keck Interdisciplinary Surface Science (Keck-II) Center was established in late 2001 through the support of W. M. Keck Foundation. Keck-II facilitates research, collaboration, education, and outreach in all science from soft biological matter to hard physical matter, specializing in surface analysis and nano-scale characterization. The Institute provided support for the acquisition of an IR Spectrometer and Raman instrument housed in Keck-II.

The Integrated Molecular Structure Education and Research Center (IMSERC) is a shared facility that provides localized instrumentation laboratories, expert staff, and access to training at nominal hourly rates for many different methods of molecular structure characterization. The Institute provided support for the acquisition of the Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer, Digital NMR, and X-ray Diffractometer housed in the IMSERC.

The J.B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility includes 10 standard X-ray generators, four rotating anode units, and a variety of goniometers. Also available are three small-angle units, an EXAFS unit, topographic units, and equipment for work with single crystals or powders (from 2 K to 2,500 K). These units are operated from one of the many microprocessors with UNIX-based Sun workstations, part of a time-share system in the laboratory. The laboratory staff is part of a Midwest team operating a beam line at Brookhaven National Laboratory's high-intensity synchrotron X-ray facility and part of a beam line sector at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

The Biological Imaging Facility (BIF) supports confocal, fluorescence, and transmission electron microscopy for analysis of research on the cellular level. The facility is organized so users can prepare samples, capture and analyze images, and create final presentations in one room, all with the support of hands-on staff to provide training and suggestions for greatest research success.

NUFAB is an advanced nanotechnology research facility that provides instrumentation for research in MEMs/NEMs, nano-bio, nano/microelectronics, and other related areas. A new clean room facility is currently under construction and will open in 2011.

The Center for Advanced Molecular Imaging facility provides researchers with access to all known imaging modalities as well as new imaging technologies developed within the center. The facility is focused on providing multi-modal analysis of biological systems from the single cell to the whole animal.