Cleanroom Facilities

The Rice NanoFabrication Facility (RNF), Houston’s first “cleanroom” dedicated solely for academic research and education, is located in the Abercrombie Engineering Laboratory on the Rice campus. This user facility provides Rice researchers with access to a variety of new tools for fabrication and characterization of materials requiring an environment free of the possibility of contamination from dust or particles in the atmosphere. The state-of-the-art facility allows researchers to manufacture and test nanoscale devices and materials that are no wider than a few atoms or molecules. In addition to research, the facility supports education, giving graduate students a chance to train in cleanroom procedures. 

The shared cleanroom complements the existing suite of instruments managed and operated under the auspices of the Shared Equipment Authority (SEA). For more information regarding the SEA’s user policies and application process, or for more general information about the Nanofabrication Facility Cleanroom Class 100/1000 as well as other facilities and instrumentation offered, please visit www.sea.rice.edu.