Welcome to the internet hub of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC). This website provides organized information and resources at the various MRSECs for the international scientific, industrial, and educational materials research and development communities.
In semiconductor nanocrystals, the physical effects of deliberately included impurities, called dopants, may depend on the dopant position with the crystal. To date, there has not been an effective technique to determine the location of individual dopant atoms in nanocrystals. IRG-4 researchers demonstrated that a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy can be used to reveal the position of such “invisible” dopants.
Conductive polymers, i.e. plastics, that conduct electricity, are important in science and technology as they offer the potential for cheap, flexible electronic devices. This work examines the mechanisms by which electrons are transported in such materials, a process that remains far from understood. One of the main results of the work is that the behavior of such materials, at very high densities of charge carriers, is radically different to simple expectations.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced awards for three Materials Interdisciplinary Research Teams (MIRT) and nine Centers of Excellence in Materials Research and Innovation, also known as Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC). The awards resulted from the 2011 Materials Research Centers and Teams competition (solicitation NSF 10-568).
Centers
of Excellence for Materials Research and Innovation (CEMRIs) provide
sustained support of interdisciplinary materials research and education
of the highest quality while addressing fundamental problems in science
and engineering. CEMRIs address research of a scope and complexity
requiring the advantages of scale and interdisciplinarity provided by a
campus-based research center.
In semiconductor nanocrystals, the physical effects of deliberately included impurities, called dopants, may depend on the dopant position with the crystal. To date, there has not been an effective technique to determine the location of individual dopant atoms in nanocrystals. IRG-4 researchers demonstrated that a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy can be used to reveal the position of such “invisible” dopants.
