It's entirely possible there are fields with needs I am unaware of or not considering, but your response is not compelling and sounds like hand-waiving. Exactly what equipment are you talking about?
I suspect you are likely grossly underestimating the available supplies at many research university in the US. For instance things like class 100 clean rooms are basic facilities. Many (and I want to say most) research universities also have partnerships with (if not ownership) of various specialized labs in the surrounding areas for more specific purposes. For instance the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab is managed by Caltech.
Realtime oscilloscope at least 4 channels > 50 GHz bandwidth $0.5M
(for some research you need >=12 channels so multiply that number)
Arbitrary waveform generator 4 channels > 45 GHz bandwidth $0.3M
(again you might need more than for channels)
RF amplifiers, electro-optic components etc. easily cost $2000-$5000 each and you need several (4-8 at least) of these. The RF cables and connectors/adapters easily cost several thousand $ each.
Fibre components, subsystem components (e.g. a WSS of which you will likely need 4 or so is $50k).
And I will certainly not let a student without training touch the sensitive high-speed RF equipment.
Regarding your comment on clean-room. For many fabrication purposes class 100 is not sufficient (also calling it basic facility is quite rich). And the equipment in is very expensive, LPCVD machines, E-beam, other lithography ... is $10sM. Most universities I'm aware of require fees (typically paid from grants) of $10sk per year to use the facilities (those are the reduced rates for university staff). The training/certification on the equipment typically takes about 1year.
Regarding JPL, yes it's managed by Caltech, what do you think NASA will say if Caltech professors will ask for a student to use the facilities to verify some
paper? Sure, lets delay the next Mars mission a year or so, to let some PhD students try stuff in the labs.
I think you seriously underestimate what the cost of using all that equipment is and how much training is involved to be allowed to use it.
You definitely don't want any
When I say a class 100 cleanroom is a 'basic' facility, I mean it's one you'll find at any decent research university in the US, and it is. If there's something that can be reasonably expected to be required for cutting edge research, you'll find it. As for lab access, my experience is in CS. I was granted access to a globally ranked supercomputing system paired alongside a paired largescale audio-visual facility. The only requirements for access were to be whitelisted (involved in research) and registered. After that of course you needed to slot/reserve time, but it was otherwise freely and unconditionally available.
It's difficult to really explain how much money is spent in top US universities. It's as if there's a fear that revenues might manage to exceed costs. But one of the practical benefits of this is that bleeding edge hardware and supplies, at costs far greater than anything you've listed, is widely and readily available.
I suspect you are likely grossly underestimating the available supplies at many research university in the US. For instance things like class 100 clean rooms are basic facilities. Many (and I want to say most) research universities also have partnerships with (if not ownership) of various specialized labs in the surrounding areas for more specific purposes. For instance the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab is managed by Caltech.