$4.55M helps to establish nanofabrication centre

Boucherville, QC – Jacques Saada, Minister of Canada Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Francophonie, and Dr Pierre Coulombe, president of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), have announced a contribution of $4.55 million for a joint project by the Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance (CNBA) and NRC aimed at setting up a nanoimprint lithography prototyping facility. Canada Economic Development and the NRC are contributing $2.4 million and $2.15 million respectively to the project. Financial support from industry is in addition to the government contribution.

The funding will cover a portion of the new facility’s capital costs. The nanofabrication centre will be located in Boucherville at the NRC Industrial Materials Institute (NRC-IMI) adjacent to its existing NanoImprint Lithography (NIL) research facility. NRC’s contribution is aimed at upgrading its NIL research facility, which will develop new nanofabrication technologies to be used at the new centre.

“The field of nanotechnology is having an enormous impact on the development of technologies as diverse as electronic and photonic devices to biotechnology and clean energy production,” said Dr Coulombe. “This new complex will build upon NRC’s expertise in this vital field, and will support and accelerate the commercialization of leading-edge, Canadian nanotechnology research.”

Since its beginning in 2002, the CNBA has been a leading advocate in the establishment of a National Nanotechnology Initiative in Canada. This facility will demonstrate commercial viability for a new generation nanofabrication technology by offering prototyping services and low volume production runs for researchers, small companies, and multinationals involved in the development of next-generation applications such as biochips and solar cells.