Nanofabrication/characterization facilities enable research and development activities across a host of science and engineering disciplines. The collection of tools and supporting infrastructure necessary to construct, image, and measure micro- and nanoscale materials, devices, and systems is complex and expensive to establish, and it is costly to maintain and optimize. As a result, these facilities are typically operated in a shared-use mode. We discuss the key factors that must be considered to successfully create and sustain such facilities. These include the need for long-term vision and institutional commitment, and the hands-on involvement of managers in facility operations. We consider startup, operating, and recapitalization costs, together with algorithms for cost recovery and tool-time allocation. The acquisition of detailed and comprehensive project and tool-utilization data is essential for understanding and optimizing facility operations. Only such a data-driven decision-making approach can maximize facility impact on institutional goals. We illustrate these concepts using the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) NanoFab as our test case, but the methodologies and resources presented here should be useful to all those faced with this challenging task.
Keywords: cleanroom; cost-of-ownership; facility; nanofabrication; operation model; shared-use; utilization analysis.