The most powerful combination of low temperature scientific equipment in Canada is assembled in Sherbrooke. The research team dedicated to experimental studies of Exotic Materials with Anisotropic Character (MECA) is interested in three classes of so-called exotic materials: superconductors, organic conductors and spin-chain compounds. The team has not only a variety of advanced and complementary experimental techniques, but also powerful crystallogenesis facilities.

The Atomic Force Microscopy facility at McGill University is among the most comprehensive in the world. More than 12 different AFM systems are available, allowing samples to be processed under a wide range of conditions and temperatures.

Commercial and custom-built instruments are available to operate in ambient, 50mK – 800K, liquid, electrolyte or ultra-high vacuum environments. Several systems are combined with powerful optical microscopy platforms adapted to cell imaging.

Other systems combine surface treatment for the deposition of molecules and metals with a UHV 20-800K AFM / STM / SEM analysis system. Our expertise extends to all AFM operating modes; it is also possible to modify or manufacture custom instruments and components.

LASM This infrastructure brings together techniques for structural and chemical analysis and compositional mapping of surfaces (XPS and TOF-SIMS). Advanced analytical techniques for chemical and morphological characterization of surfaces and interfaces of materials such as semiconductors, metals, dielectrics, composites, functional coatings, thin films, catalysts, biological tissues and polymers are routinely used by more than 90 users from 30 research groups; and 8 companies (50% of the user fees come from the industrial community). This facility will become, within 4 years, one of the world’s centres for the study of surfaces thanks to the integration of new equipment obtained at the last FCI round.

Since January 2001, the Materials Characterization Laboratory (LCM) offers Quebec researchers an instrumental infrastructure as well as technical support provided by research professionals. Among the different techniques offered at the LCM for the analysis and characterization of nanostructured materials, we find : 1) Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM Dimension 3100 (Digital Instruments) , AFM Enviroscope (Digital Instruments)) and ThermoMicroscopes’ AFM AutoProbeResearch CP; 2) Brewster Angle Microscopy/Ellipsometric Imaging BAM/I-Elli2000 (Nanofilm); 3) Surface Plasmon Resonance Refractometry (SPR) SR 7000 (Reichert Inc. ) with the microfluidic system; 4) M-2000V spectroscopic ellipsometry (J.A. Woollam Co); 5) Infrared spectroscopy (FTS7000 FTIR Spectrometer, Digilab FTS-7000 IR Microscope); 6) Raman microspectrometry (Renishaw 3000 and Raman Microspectrometer (Renishaw InVia) ) and 7) Optical spectroscopy (Absorption ranging from UV to IR and continuous wave, excitation and time resolved photoluminescence).
The expertise and know-how developed make this infrastructure a Quebec hub for the characterization of nano-structured and soft materials. These facilities are used by more than 90 researchers from over 40 research groups. Our facilities are open to academic and industrial researchers for a very affordable fee.

The infrastructure is specialized in low and medium energy ion implantation, structural and elemental analysis of materials and radioisotope activation. The expertise developed benefits more than 55 users from 12 research groups and 3 companies. This infrastructure is the only one in Canada to offer access to ion beams with a full range of energies between 10keV and 40MeV and enjoys worldwide recognition in analytical techniques.

The expertise developed on functional coatings and optical filters has led to the creation of a centre specialized in optical, mechanical and tribological characterization of thin films. Research is focused on thin film growth control and surface and interface engineering, as well as a metrology of coating properties for applications in optics, photonics, optoelectronics, aerospace, biomedical, automotive, consumer products and other fields.

These groups of researchers, from IBM, MIT and RQMP, are collaborating to build and develop a sector of the APS located in Illinois. The APS, a third generation synchrotron, is currently the best source of X-rays, required for diffraction analysis. The privileged access to such an intense light source allows the group to pursue original projects including:
1) X-ray diffraction studies of confined and disordered materials;
2) studies of kinetic phase transitions by time-resolved X-ray diffraction;
3) dynamic studies of spectroscopic fluctuations of X-ray intensity.

GMS carries out fundamental and applied research in the areas of microelectronics, nanoelectronics and optoelectronics. Application areas include microelectronics circuits and components, telecommunications, sensors, and the biomedical sector. The cleanrooms are located in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Faculty of Applied Sciences of the Université de Sherbrooke. This M3.5 (Class 100) facility includes a wide range of state-of-the-art facilities for the fabrication of micro- and nanostructures and electronic or photonic integrated circuits.

The LMF is a cleanroom infrastructure allowing academic and industrial researchers to use micromachining techniques in cleanrooms classified at 1000 particles/ft3. The LMF is part of the Thin Film Physics and Technology Research Group (GCM). This research centre brings together laboratories of the University of Montreal and the École Polytechnique dedicated to the study of the physics and technology of thin films, surfaces and interfaces. The main research areas of the GCM are oriented towards microelectronics and nanoelectronics, photonics and optoelectronics, sensors and actuators as well as functional coatings and surfaces.

MicroFab The Nanotools Microfabrication laboratory facilities are open to a range of multidisciplinary research projects covering the fields of physics, chemistry, life sciences and engineering. The state-of-the-art instrumentation can accommodate a wide variety of substrates and dimensions and is fully compatible with the 150mm wafer, allowing for prototyping and small-scale production. All components of this infrastructure are available to academic and industrial users.

RQMP researchers benefit from the computing infrastructures installed in several university institutions and grouped under the banner of Calcul Québec (http://www.calculquebec.ca). This grouping offers a computing environment that allows them to carry out research projects of international calibre, financed by accredited granting agencies while promoting scientific excellence and innovation. Calcul Québec also offers researchers the services of analysts specialized in scientific computing, as well as training in high-performance computing. The researchers of the cluster work in a wide range of scientific disciplines and fields, both in basic and applied sciences: astrophysics, physics and chemistry of materials, nanosciences, bioinformatics, medicine and genomics, mechanical and aeronautical engineering, biomedical engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, management and optimization of transportation and telecommunication networks, environmental and atmospheric sciences, etc.