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Major Research Facilities

The strength of the Physics Department is complemented by eight major research facilities:

These facilities all function as National Research Centers, federally funded and shared, not only within the department and Cornell, but also by scientists from around the world. As such, Cornell students have access not only to excellent equipment but also to the rich network of scientists using it. The facilities are all conveniently located on campus—even the half-mile-long synchrotron ring is located on campus in a tunnel 15 meters below the varsity track and soccer fields.

cesr.jpgCornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR) and CLEO Detector
The CESR accelerator collides circulating beams of electrons and positrons (anti-electrons) with energies between 3 and 11 GeV. For particle physicists, these collisions provide an exquisitely clean and copious source of charm quarks. Detected in the CLEO detector, the decays of these quarks reveal the weak interactions of the charm quark and test the predictions of lattice QCD. For accelerator physicists, CESR has been the site of numerous innovations, and it continues to serve as a powerful test bed for ideas that critical to the success of the future energy frontier electron accelerator known as the International Linear Collider. Both CESR and CHESS are located in Wilson Laboratory on the East end of Campus. These, and other Wilson Laboratory activities are part of the Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education (CLASSE). Visit the CESR website. Visit the CLEO website.

chess.jpgCornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS)
The Cornell Electron Storage Ring used for high-energy particle experiments is also a major research tool for condensed matter physics because it produces synchrotron x-ray radiation. CHESS, the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source provides high-intensity x-rays to both a national user community and researchers at Cornell for use in determining the structure and dynamics of materials in a wide range of scientific fields. X-ray diffraction is used to understand the growth modes of metal thin- films used for making electronic devices, the defects in protein crystals, the motion of charge-density waves in quasi-1-dimensional metals, and the dynamics by which polymer materials self-assemble into controlled structures. New regimes of study are opening up with the development of high-speed area detectors for measuring time-dependent phenomena with x-rays, as well as entirely new sources of more brilliant x-rays. As indicated in the CESR description above, CHESS is part of CLASSE. Visit the CHESS website.

classe.jpgCornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education (CLASSE)
The Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education provides facilities for experimental particle physics and accelerator physics. These facilities include clean rooms and cryogenic facilities for the fabrication and operation of superconducting RF cavities, and Auger spectrometers, SIMS facilities, a scanning electron microscope and chemistry facilities. There are facilities for computing and for software development for large, widely distributed, data sets such as those anticipated at the energy-frontier LHC particle accelerator, electronic design and fabrication, and facilities for the construction and handling of large-scale scientific devices. Read a news article about the formation of CLASSE.

ccmr.jpgCornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR)
The Center for Materials Research is an interdisciplinary center that provides support and facilities for experimental and theoretical studies of materials, as well as educational programs in materials science. Its technical operations laboratory is equipped with thin film deposition equipment (e-beam, laser ablation, etc.); STM/AFM microscopes; materials for growing crystals; and optical/infrared spectrometers. The center also has an Ion Beam Analytical Facility, X-Ray Diffraction Facility, UHV STEM Laboratory, Polymer Characterization Facility, Materials Facilities and a Research Computing Facility. Visit the CCMR website.

cns.jpgCornell Center for Nanoscale Systems in Information Technologies (CNS)
The CNS supports interdisciplinary research thrusts in the areas of silicon and carbon nanoelectronics, nanomagnetics, nanophotonics, and nanocharacterization and nanoprocessing. The Center supports a shared facility for high-speed and high-frequency electrical and optical measurements. Visit the CNS website.

nbtc.jpgNanobiotechnology Center (NBTC)
NBTC is a highly interdisciplinary NSF-funded center featuring close collaboration between life scientists, physical scientists, and engineers, exploring the emerging area of scientific and technological opportunity that integrates nano/microfabrication and biosystems to the benefit of both. Visit the NBTC website.

cnf.jpgCornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility (CNF)
CNF is a national center for fabrication of micro- and nanostructures for applications throughout all of science and engineering. Here, physicists, engineers, and expert technicians make devices of metals, semiconductors, and insulators of dimensions measured in nanometers. Fabrication techniques include the most advanced methods of thin film processing, electron beam and optical lithography, etching, film deposition, and characterization. The recently-constructed Duffield Hall supports research and instruction in electronic and photonic devices, micro-electro-mechanical devices, advanced materials processing, and biotechnology devices. Visit the CNF website.

ctc.jpgCornell University Center for Advanced Computing (CAC)
The Cornell Center for Advanced Computing helps physics faculty and graduate student researchers accelerate scientific discoveries with high-performance computing, application, and data storage solutions. Another Cornell resource that facilitates cross-disciplinary work, CAC plays an important role in the simulations of complex materials, relativistic quantum field theories, black holes and galaxy formation, and high-energy particle accelerators. Visit the Cornell CAC website.

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