Founded in 1989 as a lab unit of the College of Engineering, MNTL has grown to become one of the nation’s largest and most sophisticated university-based facilities for semiconductor, nanotechnology, and biotechnology research. It contains over 8,000 square feet of class 100 and class 1000 cleanroom laboratory space and state-of-the-art, ultra-high-speed optical, electrical device, and circuit measurements equipment. MNTL is a user facility that is available for use by university and industrial personnel from across the U.S., and our faculty, researchers, and students collaborate with educational institutions and industries around the world.
Our researchers are part of an historic semiconductor legacy that began with engineering giants John Bardeen, Nick Holonyak Jr., and Chih-Tang Sah, whose groundbreaking work helped launch and advance the modern information technology revolution. Microtechnology and nanotechnology manipulate and measure matter on atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scales.
Today, we work on research that impacts everything from mobile point-of-care medical devices to advancements in transistor laser technology, bio bots to engineered tissue, semiconductor materials to flexible optics, and the Internet of Things. The interdisciplinary focus at MNTL raises the potential of every person engaged in research here, enabling us to create great science with high intensity and society-changing direction. Join us as we create the future! Read our stories and share your own research highlights and achievements.