Some research questions can only be answered once the right tools exist to study them.
Innovators often ask questions that established methods are just not good enough to answer. When pushing the boundaries of existing methods, their limitations become clear., Micro- and nanofabrication enable researchers to create new and more sophisticated systems that can be applied to answer these intractable questions.
Researchers use the extensive ANFF network to build tools and systems that create the conditions their questions require. The following examples show how this approach is being used across different fields of research.
Chips for Healthier Pregnancies: Preeclampsia is a severe pregnancy complication linked to placental dysfunction that affects up to 8% of pregnancies. Placental villi, essential for maternal–foetal exchange, are increasingly implicated but challenging to study over gestational timeframes with traditional culture methods. To overcome this hurdle, RMIT researchers led by Crispin Szydzik, with support from ANFF-VIC, have developed a microfluidic platform that sustains placental tissue long-term under controlled conditions. By simulating normal and pathological pregnancy environments, the system offers a physiologically relevant model to investigate the development of preeclampsia and evaluate potential therapeutic strategies.
Quantum Roundabout: Quantum devices need light sources that emit single photons, but making them efficient and chip-compatible is challenging. An Australian National University team led by Xiaoying Huang and supported by ANFF-ACT grew InAsP quantum dots (QDs) directly inside InP micro-ring resonators that trap and enhance light emitted by the QDs. By adjusting ring size and QD number, they coupled the emitted light to the cavity, producing fast and high-purity single-photon emission. This scalable bottom-up approach offers a powerful route to integrate quantum light sources directly onto photonic integrated circuit chips.
Hidden in Every Drop: Plastic pollution in oceans is a growing concern, with microplastics posing serious environmental risks. Understanding their sources and prevalence is vital to protect ecosystems and food chains. Flinders University’s Sophie Leterme, in collaboration with SARDI and EPA SA, studied microplastic accumulation in the Gulf of St Vincent. Using a confocal Raman microscope at ANFF-SA Flinders, her team quantified particles and identified polymer types. Findings of polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon, polyurethane and various copolymers confirm microplastic contamination in the Gulf and contribute to a growing polymer spectroscopy database for future research.
Staying Dry by Design: Griffith University’s Navid Kashaninejad is unlocking new ways to control how liquids move across microscopic surfaces, an advance with wide-reaching potential, from self-cleaning materials to medical devices. His SUMMIT Lab team explored how the shape and spacing of silicon carbide and silicon dioxide surface microstructures, fabricated at ANFF-QLD Griffith, could repel water and other liquids. These tiny ‘cap-like’ forms and their spacing had more impact on liquid behaviour than material type. The findings offer a fresh design strategy for creating surfaces that resist wetting, blending material science with microengineering innovation.
Seeing with Sound: As part of an ANFF-NSW RPF Kickstarter Project, University of Sydney researchers have developed Mini-Acoustic Force Spectroscopy (Mini-AFS), a compact system that uses acoustic waves to measure cellular interactions and responses to mechanical force. Built on a thin glass chip and requiring only microlitre-scale sample volumes, the device enables real-time, high-resolution imaging of cell behaviour under applied acoustic force. Featuring tuneable force delivery and cell-based calibration, Mini-AFS provides a simple and low-volume alternative to traditional force measurement tools and is designed to study interactions between cancer and immune system cells.
Geology Meets Photonics: Adelaide University’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing and its Earth Sciences Department are collaborating with Adelaide Microscopy to develop a doped glass reference material for in-situ mineral dating. Fabricated at ANFF-OptoFab Adelaide, the glass contains precise concentrations of 4 elements: K, Rb, Ca and Sr. This glass enables a new technique for simultaneous Rb-Sr and K-Ca isotope analysis by combining laser sampling with mass spectrometry. Measuring these two isotope systems together can determine igneous rock cooling ages and improve the understanding of changes that occur during early rock formation.
Each of these approaches extends beyond a single study. The systems can be adapted, refined and reused as research questions evolve. ANFF enables that continuity by supplying the right tools and expertise that generate innovation across new applications and transformative outcomes.
This article is republished with adaptation from the 2025 ANFF Casebook.
Posted 2 June 2026