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www.us- tech.com


December, 2019


University of Michigan’s Ultra-Low Vibration Lab Facilitates Nanoengineering Discoveries


By Steve Varma, Operations Manager, Minus K Technology, Inc. T


he University of Michigan’s ultra-low vibration lab (ULVL) has already accomplished two


major scientific milestones since its opening in 2014: measuring heat fluxes at the nanoscale and estab- lishing that LEDs can be used to cool electronic devices. Supporting these discoveries


are ULVL’s negative-stiffness vibra- tion isolation platforms, designed by Minus K Technology, which have enabled record low vibration levels in all ULVL chambers ranging from VC-K to VC-M at frequencies above 2.5 Hz. The ULVL is a part of the new


Center of Excellence in Nano Mechanical Science and Engineering (NAMSE) — a recent addition to the G.G. Brown Laboratories on the North Campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Noel Perkins, former Associate


Chair for Facilities and Planning with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, describes this addition as a “building-within-a-building.” The nanoengineering lab, located on the


Ultra-low-vibration chamber at ULVL with mass foundation and RF shielding for the installation of a low-vibration table.


ground floor, contains eight ultra-low vibration chambers for nanoscale metrology, mechanical, temperature, and interference testing. The chambers are structurally


isolated from the balance of the building. Vibration isolation tables


are mounted on pillars that are part of an 8 ft (2.4m) thick seismic mass, which is isolated from the chamber floors. Even researchers’ footsteps will not disturb experiments. “With the emergence of nan- otechnology and nanoengineering of


the last two decades, a relatively small number of institutions and agencies have been able to construct facilities for ultra-sensitive measure- ments, and I know of none that are focused on the mission of a mechani- cal engineering department,” says Edgar Meyhofer, professor of mech - anical engineering and biomedical engineering at the university. Meyhofer, in conjunction with


Pramod Reddy, a professor of mech - anical engineering and materials sci- ence and engineering at


the


University of Michigan, have been col- laborating on nanoscale heat transfer, energy transduction and biomechan- ics research. Other researchers are utilizing the nanostructures lab to build artificial platelet cells for med- ical purposes and artificial neurons for advanced computers. While at the university’s micro-


dynamics lab, the tiniest forces are studied, utilizing computational mod- els that describe the mechanics of DNA and protein assemblies and the behavior of viruses.


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