Center for Micro- and Nanotechnology (CMNT)

Small Footprints, Huge Impacts

The Center for Micro- and Nanotechnology (CMNT) is a collaborative space for materials research, device fabrication, and system integration. Key advancements over the last four decades in micro- and nanotechnology have enabled revolutionary growth in microelectronics, microsensors, and biomedical devices in the commercial arena. The CMNT has been a leader in fueling this commercial growth while simultaneously customizing technologies for unique, non-commercial applications that are mission-specific to LLNL and DOE.

Our work supports national security missions from homeland security to biomedical research. Recently, LLNL researchers from across the Lab have developed a cutting-edge tool that uses electrochemistry to convert supercritical CO₂ into commodity chemicals—a step forward in reducing our global carbon footprint.

CMNT Capabilities

The CMNT includes characterization and biosafety laboratories, a clean room, world-leading capabilities in additive biomanufacturing, and a unique biomedical device foundry with a dedicated toolset for microfabricating human-use implantable medical devices. In addition, we possess state-of-the-art processing capabilities, including plasma and wet etching, thin-film deposition, micro- and nanolithography, packaging, and metrology. And, as our name suggests, we fabricate field-ready devices at meso-, micro-, and nanoscales.

Our Microfabricated Materials Are Also Used In...

Electronics and semiconductors—some of which have medical uses, like electrodes implanted in the brain to regulate seizures
Photonics (the science of light waves)—to manipulate light in lasers or xrays that give us insight into how bodies, materials, and weapons work
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) that involve microscopic electronics and moving parts—these are largely used in sensors that detect and communicate information about different environments or environmental conditions

See CMNT fact sheet