60NANB24D178↗

PURPOSE: THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON (UW) PROPOSES TO ACQUIRE AN X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY (XPS) INSTRUMENT TO QUANTIFY SURFACE ELEMENTS OF SAMPLES AND A FOCUSED ION BEAM (FIB) INSTRUMENT FOR SITE-SPECIFIC IMAGING AND ETCHING OF SAMPLES. THESE PROPOSED INSTRUMENTS, WHEN INTEGRATED INTO THE UNIVERSITY'S MOLECULAR ANALYSIS FACILITY (MAF), A FEE FOR SERVICE ANALYTICAL FACILITY AT THE UW, WILL ACCELERATE RESEARCH IN THE U.S. SUPPORTING QUANTUM COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, CLEAN ENERGY, SEMICONDUCTOR MICROELECTRONICS, AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES FOR WHICH ANALYSIS OF MATERIAL SURFACE PROPERTIES ARE VITAL. THE BENEFIT OF THESE TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE AVAILABLE TO THE UNIVERSITY, OTHER INSTITUTIONS ACROSS WASHINGTON INCLUDING UNIVERSITIES AND START-UP COMPANIES, IN ADDITION TO WELL-ESTABLISHED LARGER COMPANIES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST U.S.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE PROJECT NARRATIVE OF THE PROPOSAL PROVIDES CLEAR AND SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE USE OF THE TOOLS BEING PROPOSED, SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF ADVANTAGES OF THE INSTRUMENTS, DETAILS CONCERNING THE SPECIFICATIONS AND METHODOLOGY FOR DETERMINING THE BEST-VALUE PURCHASES AND BUDGETS, HOW THE TOOLS WILL BE INSTALLED AND MAINTAINED FOR BEST USE, OUTREACH TO USERS AND FOR EDUCATION TO AMPLIFY THE BENEFIT OF THE TOOLS AND THEIR INTEGRATION IN THE MAF, AND EXPECTED IMPACTS AND METRICS FOR THE PROJECT'S SUCCESS. FROM THIS INFORMATION, THE SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT ARE CLEAR.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE IMPACTS EXPECTED FROM FUNDING OF THIS PROPOSAL ARE WELL-EXPLAINED, INCLUDING METRICS FOR SUCCESS. THE MAF IS PART OF THE NORTHWEST NANOTECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE, THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST NODE OF AN NSF-FUNDED INFRASTRUCTURE CONNECTING WORLD-CLASS FACILITIES OF TWO MAJOR UNIVERSITIES IN WASHINGTON AND OREGON FOR USE BY STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND NONTRADITIONAL USERS IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN MATERIALS SCIENCE, CLEAN ENERGY (SUCH AS SOLAR CELLS AND BATTERIES), AND PHOTONIC AND QUANTUM DEVICES. WITHOUT THIS PROPOSAL'S FUNDING, THE BENEFIT TO RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT THAT THESE HIGH-END TOOLS WILL PROVIDE WOULD NOT BE AVAILABLE TO RESEARCHERS IN UNIVERSITIES AND COMPANIES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. IMPACTS INCLUDE A LARGE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF HIGHLY TRAINED USERS, WHICH WILL TRANSLATE INTO LOWERED POTENTIAL FOR ERRONEOUS ANALYSIS OF DATA AND GREATLY MULTIPLIED USER HOURS, SCIENTIFIC OUTCOMES AND IMPACT (COMPARED TO THE CURRENT SITUATION FOR WHICH ONLY A SMALL NUMBER OF MAF STAFF MUST OPERATE THE TOOLS DUE TO THEIR FRAGILITY). THE CURRENT FIB IS 25 YEARS OLD AND BADLY IN NEED OF UPGRADE, EXPRESSED BY NUMEROUS USERS IN THE REGION. A WEB-BASED ADMINISTRATIVE SOFTWARE WILL TRACK SCHEDULING, UPDATES, TRAINING, AND REPORTING, THEREBY PROVIDING AN EMPIRICAL MEANS FOR EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF THE NEW TOOLS' UPTIME, NUMBER OF NEW USERS TRAINED, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE USER BASE.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE MAF'S NEW X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY AND FOCUSED ION BEAM TOOLS AND THE PLANS FOR THEM IN THE REGIONAL FACILITY WILL PROVIDE ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES THAT FAR EXCEED THOSE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE, FURTHER TRAINING TO A LARGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS, POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS, AND OFFER SMALL AND LARGE COMPANIES REQUIRING PRECISION MATERIAL SURFACE ANALYSIS. THIS WILL IN TURN HELP PRODUCE HIGH-TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS THAT IMPROVE THE REGIONAL ECONOMY, ENABLE SKILLED JOB GROWTH, AND ATTRACT MORE BUSINESSES INTO OREGON AND THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

Project Grant (B) · National Institute of Standards and Technology · to University of Washington (UEI HD1WMN6945W6) · data as of 2026-09-30

Source: USAspending.gov prime award transactions and FSRS subaward reports, as loaded by SpendQuery (data as of 2026-09-30). Amounts are obligations (money committed), not outlays. The official record on USAspending.gov ↗