Surface plasmons – collective oscillations of free charges – on metal surfaces have resulted in demonstrations of enhanced optical transmission, collimation of light through a subwavelength aperture, negative permeability and refraction at visible wavelengths, and second-harmonic generation. The structures that display these plasmonic phenomena typically consist of ordered arrays of particles or holes with sizes of the order of 100 nm. At the NU-MRSEC, a new nanofabrication technique based on soft interference lithography was used to manufacture multiscale arrays of nanoparticles and nanoholes with unexpected optical properties.
December 19, 2008 :: Northwestern University
Multiscale Patterning of Plasmonic Metamaterials [Research]
December 19, 2008 :: Northwestern University
Atomic Force Photovoltaic Microscopy [Research]
Organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) hold promise for a variety of applications requiring alternative energy generation. Through a collaboration between Northwestern University MRSEC IRG 4 and Wright Patterson Air Force Base, a new strategy for characterizing the electrical and optical performance of operating OPVs has recently been developed. Atomic force photovoltaic microscopy allows the photocurrent response […]
December 19, 2008 :: Northwestern University
The Art of Science and the Science of Art [Research] [Education]
A partnership between the NU-MRSEC and the Art Institute of Chicago provides fertile ground for curriculum development. Lisa Backus, a high school chemistry teacher and participant in the Center’s 2006 Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program was inspired by her summer research project working on conservation science problems of Ancient Chinese jades and Winslow Homer […]
November 20, 2008 :: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A step toward developing better fuel cells for electric cars and more [Research]
Reseachers in IRG-I of the MIT MRSEC have used a new technique called aberration-corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy to take the first images of individual atoms on and near the surface of platinum and cobalt nanoparticles, which are key catalysts in the creation of eco-friendly energy storage.
October 27, 2008 :: Princeton University
Quantum Memory Preserves Coherence for over 1 Second in Silicon [Research]
Princeton researchers, in collaboration with a group at Oxford (initiated under the Oxford-Princeton Research Partnership) and at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab have shown that they can transfer a quantum state from an electron bound to a phosphorus donor atom in silicon, to the phosphorus nucleus, and then back to the electron.
September 30, 2008 :: University of California at Santa Barbara
Breaking Moore’s Law [Research]
The manufacture of smaller, faster and more efficient microelectronic components is a major scientific and technological challenge, driven in part by a constant need for smaller lithographically defined features and patterns.
