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Hub Overview
North Carolina's Research Triangle ties three major universities into one nanotechnology network. NC State, Duke, and UNC-Chapel Hill jointly run the Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network, a National Science Foundation site that opens their fabrication and characterization labs to outside academic and industrial users. The region's distinctive edge is breadth: alongside conventional electronics and photonics, it is unusually strong in soft and biological nanomaterials, including textiles, agricultural and plant materials, and environmental nanotechnology, reflecting the state's textile and agricultural base.
The three campuses sit close together around Research Triangle Park, the large research campus that gives the region its name and hosts corporate and government labs alongside the universities. For a visitor or company, the draw is the shared network: one point of access reaches nine fabrication and characterization facilities across the three institutions. Strengths run through nanomedicine, flexible and wide-bandgap electronics, and the soft materials work that sets the Triangle apart.
Research Map
Locations of nanotechnology research labs and companies across the Research Triangle NC area. Click any marker for the institution’s profile and to find hotels nearby.
Research lab
Company
Key Institutions
North Carolina State University
8 nano groups
Duke University
6 nano groups
Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering
5 nano groups
Wake Forest University
2 nano groups
Carolina Institute for Nanomedicine
1 nano group
University of North Carolina
1 nano group
North Carolina Biotechnology Center
1 nano group
Research Triangle Institute
1 nano group
Research Labs & Groups
The following nanotechnology research groups and labs are based in the Research Triangle NC area.
Chapel Hill
Lab
Chapel Hill
Carolina Institute for NanoMedicine (CINM) was established in 2010 as an umbrella program to support multidisciplinary nanotechnology research among investigators from variety of backgrounds including College of Arts & Sciences, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and UNC School of Medicine. The goal of CINM is to improve human health by enhancing the scientific knowledge as well as the transition of basic research discoveries into clinical trials. CINM harbors two centers: The Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (C-CCNE) and The Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery (CNDD)
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University
Chapel Hill
The center's efforts are aimed at improving health by enhancing the efficacy and safety of new drugs and imaging agents through the discovery and application of innovative methods of drug delivery.
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Durham
University
Durham
The mission of the Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics is to continue to advance the basic understanding of electromagnetic metamaterials, exploring their capabilities and limitations across the electromagnetic spectrum. They want to develop fabrication techniques for metamaterials that may operate in various environments, with a particular emphasis on structures designed for terahertz, telecommunications and optical wavelengths.
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University
Durham
The Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT) is dedicated to elucidating the relationship between a vast array of nanomaterials ? from natural, to manufactured, to those produced incidentally by human activities - and their potential environmental exposure, biological effects, and ecological consequences. Headquartered at Duke University, CEINT is a collaboration between Duke, Carnegie Mellon University, Howard University, and Virginia Tech and investigators from the University of Kentucky and Stanford University.
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University
Durham
Research topics are: Nanotubes and Nanowires; Cryogenic scanning microscopy; Self-assembled DNA templates; Nanocrystal Single-Electron Transistor
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University
Durham
The Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering aims to help turn North Carolina into a photon forest where research and development in photonics can create the kind of technological advance and economic growth found in California's Silicon Valley.
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University
Durham
The graduate program is designed to address the need for an interdisciplinary graduate education at Duke in Nanoscience that extends beyond the traditional disciplines and skills that are taught within any existing department.
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University
Durham
The Liu Laboratory at Duke University pursues research in the field of nanomaterials, synthesizing and studying materials with size of nanometers.
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Greensboro
University
Greensboro
The Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (JSNN) has been formed through a collaboration between North Carolina A&T State University and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. JSNN's research and educational programs focus on the emerging areas of nanoscience and nanoengineering. The strengths of the two universities in the basic sciences and in engineering make them ideal partners for this new, interdisciplinary school.
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University
Greensboro
The Master of Science in Nanoengineering degree program is a research Master's degree, featuring coursework involving engineering at the nanoscale. It is designed for students with a strong background in engineering who seek additional, specialized training in order to find industrial or government positions in fields that utilize nanotechnology. Qualified applicants will have an engineering degree and as a minimum, will have completed mathematics courses through differential equations.
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University
Greensboro
The 33-hour, non-thesis MS in nanoscience follows the Professional Master of Science degree model, featuring course work in nanosciences and business and an internship to provide practical experience. It is designed for students with strong backgrounds in technical fields who seek additional specialized training to qualify them for positions in companies that work in the field of nanotechnology.
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University
Greensboro
The Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering has been approved it?s Ph.D. in Nanoengineering by the UNC-GA. Program details to come stay tuned.
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University
Greensboro
The Ph.D. in nanoscience requires a minimum of 60 hours and is designed to prepare students to take positions in industrial, governmental, or academic research settings by providing a solid background in nanoscience theory and experimental techniques through course work and dissertation research. Advanced elective courses in nanoscience areas ensure students will have substantial depth of understanding in their area of interest and enable them to effectively carry out advanced nanoscience research.
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Raleigh
University
Raleigh
The Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF) is the primary shared materials-characterization facility at NC State University. It supports scanning and transmission electron microscopy, focused ion beam, X-ray scattering and spectroscopy, surface analysis, scanning probe microscopy, and nanoindentation, and is a core facility of the Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network.
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University
Raleigh
The Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST) is an NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center headquartered at NC State University. It uses nanotechnology-enabled energy harvesting, ultra-low-power electronics, and sensors to create battery-free, body-powered wearable health and environmental monitoring systems.
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University
Raleigh
The Biopolymer Engineering and Nanotechnology Laboratory, led by Professor Thom LaBean in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University, designs self-assembling molecular materials using DNA and proteins as programmable building blocks. The group investigates biomimetic nanofabrication and bionanotechnology tools for nanomedicine, molecular materials, and nanoelectronics.
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University
Raleigh
The degree program will hold classes on campus, but will also be the first master's degree program in nanoengineering that is offered via online distance education - making the program available to students who are already in the workforce. The program will also offer concentrations in biomedical science in nanoengineering, materials science in nanoengineering, and nanoelectronics and nanophotonics.
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University
Raleigh
The NC State Nanofabrication Facility (NNF) is a shared class-100/class-1000 cleanroom providing micro- and nanofabrication capabilities including photolithography, electron-beam lithography, etching, atomic layer deposition, and metallization. It serves academic, government, and industry users and is a core facility of the Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network.
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University
Raleigh
The Nanoscience and Quantum Engineering Research Laboratory at NC State University works on nano- and quantum-scale materials and devices. Its research spans the growth, fabrication, modeling, and characterization of quantum and nano- to microscale structures and devices.
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University
Raleigh
The Nanoscience, Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Research group, led by Professor Jagdish Narayan in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at NC State University, pioneers laser and non-equilibrium processing of nanomaterials. The group developed domain-matching epitaxy and new phases of matter such as Q-carbon and Q-BN, with applications in energy, electronics, quantum devices, and information storage.
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University
Raleigh
The Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network (RTNN) is an NSF National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure site headquartered at NC State University. It provides shared access to nanotechnology fabrication and characterization facilities and expertise across NC State, Duke University, and UNC-Chapel Hill, along with education, workforce training, and outreach programs.
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Research Triangle Park
Lab
Research Triangle Park
The world's first government-sponsored organization dedicated to developing the biotechnology industry (including bionanotechnology). The center's mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina through support of biotechnology research, business and education statewide.
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Lab
Research Triangle Park
RTI International is one of the world's leading research institutes, dedicated to improving the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. Research at RTI includes nanofibers, nanomembranes and other nanomaterials and naotechnology applications.
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Winston-Salem
University
Winston-Salem
NanoteQ at Wake Forest University is a nano and quantum technologies research center focused on frontier technologies, shared facilities, advanced materials, quantum systems, sensors, computing, and interdisciplinary innovation.
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University
Winston-Salem
An interdisciplinary group of scientists using the tools of nanotechnology to study biology at the smallest scale. The group's goals are to learn more about the basic functions and interactions of biological molecules and to use what they find to achieve new capabilities with biomedical implications. In pursuing this goal, they bring together aspects of physics, engineering, molecular biology, and many other disciplines.
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Nanotech Companies
Commercial nanotechnology companies based in the Research Triangle NC area.
Biomedical
Durham
Alpha Nano Tech is a contract research and manufacturing organization specializing in nanoparticle, lipid nanoparticle, and exosome characterization. The company provides analytical services and customizable extracellular vesicle and nanomedicine manufacturing for pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic clients.
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Materials
Durham
GOLeafe produces spherical graphene oxide, reduced graphene, boron doped graphene, phosphorus doped graphene as well nitrogen doped graphene through their innovative production process.
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Products
Durham
Phononic develops solid-state thermoelectric semiconductor chips and integrated cooling and heating products. Its devices replace mechanical compressors in applications spanning optoelectronics and data-center thermal management, cold-chain fulfillment, and other cooling systems.
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Products
Greensboro
The company's SensorMetric™ software packages help Sensory systems meet a breadth and depth of application challenges to include color measurement, nanometric measurement, primer measurement and L/O coating thickness measurement on a wide variety of metallic and non-metallic substrates.
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Products
Morrisville
Forge Battery is the North Carolina manufacturing arm of Forge Nano, producing high-energy lithium-ion cells at a Morrisville gigafactory. Its cells use Forge Nano Atomic Armor atomic layer deposition nanocoatings to increase energy density, safety, and cycle life for defense, aerospace, and specialty electric vehicle markets.
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Products
Morrisville
Develops a template manufacturing proces that utilizes technologies adopted from the microelectronics industry for the fabrication of engineered shape and size-specific nanomaterials.
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Products
Morrisville
Creates specimen supports for electron microscopy. The company's products enable the highest resolution of nanostructures in their native environments.
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Products
Raleigh
The company focuses on the commercialization of nanodiamond particles and their applications.
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Products
Raleigh
Smart Material Solutions develops Nanocoining, a rapid process that produces seamless cylindrical master molds for roll-to-roll nanoimprint lithography. The company supplies large-area nanopatterned molds and films for metamaterials, clean energy, and other scalable nanomanufacturing applications.
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Materials
Raleigh
Xanofi is a nanomaterials company that manufactures polymeric staple nanofibers using its liquid-based XanoShear shear-spinning process. The fibers disperse in water and integrate into existing production for filtration, medical, energy, and acoustic applications.
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Biomedical
Research Triangle Park
A biotechnology company engaged in the development and delivery of novel protein and cellular based therapies through design of proprietary Biological Nano Particles.
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Products
Sanford
SmartFlow Technologies develops patented high-solids tangential flow filtration systems, delivering customized separation solutions for renewable fuels, dairy, fermentation, pharmaceuticals, food processing, water recovery, and other industrial applications.
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Biomedical
Winston-Salem
Nanosoft Polymers supplies ready-to-use functional polymers and copolymers, including PLGA-PEG and lipid-PEG products, for nanoparticle drug and gene delivery. The company also offers custom polymer synthesis and nanoparticle fabrication for therapeutics, diagnostics, and devices.
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Materials
Yadkinville
A nanotechnology materials company focusing on the development and production of military and commercial products that have performance benefits through the incorporation of nanotechnology.
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Find Accommodation
Hotels & Accommodation in Research Triangle NC
Planning a lab visit, conference, or interview? Find hotels, apartments, and hostels near the area’s research institutions and nanotech companies.
Related Events
Check the Nanowerk event calendar for upcoming nanotechnology conferences and workshops in this area.