Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM)

PREM Workshop – the hands-on learning experience. Cornell Professor Christopher Umbach with students.

The Objective of the NSU-PREM program is to enhance and promote diversity in materials research and education by the development of a formal, long-term, collaborative research and education partnership between Norfolk State University (NSU), one of the nation’s largest Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Cornell Center for Materials research (CCMR), one of Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC), as well as Birck Nanotechnology Center (BNC) and Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN) at Purdue University.

The central Research theme of the Partnership is mutual enhancement of (i) optical gain and other optical responses in dielectric media and (ii) surface plasmons (SPs) in metallic particles and aggregates. Compensation of loss in metal by optical gain in dielectric is further developed in application to low-loss Negative Index Materials (NIMs). An enhancement of effective absorption and stimulated emission cross sections by SPs is extended to the studies of lasers, in which active media are modified by metallic particles and aggregates. The studies of nonlinear optical phenomena enhanced by SPs include two-photon absorption and nonlinear magneto-optics. Theoretical modeling of electrodynamics of metamaterials and ab initio studies of new physical and chemical states of metal-dielectric interfaces support and guide all experimental efforts.

Summer research program at NSU CMR

The goal of the ambitious Education program of the Partnership is to establish a pipeline starting from attracting high school students from the underrepresented minority groups to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines (especially Materials Science), and finishing with preparation of the PhD candidates for careers in Materials Science in academia, industry, and government. The proposed effort involving development of educational materials, class-work, research training, and mentoring relies heavily on the exchange programs within the Partnership.

Partnership, Impact of PREM on Institutions

The researchers from Cornell University, Purdue University, and Norfolk State University (NSU) have unique unparalleled fields of expertise, which complement each other and enable the Partnership to address the most challenging task of modern photonic materials: exploration of nanoplasmonics without loss. The thrusts of research leadership include nanofabrication and nanophotonics at Cornell, negative index materials and computational nanotechnology at Purdue, random lasers at NSU, etc. Most of the research tasks are designed to be executed in a highly collaborative manner. Students and faculty researchers involved in the project are scheduled to visit labs of partner institutions to conduct experiments and discuss results. Cornell and Purdue teams help to “jump start” the new-born PhD program in Materials Science and enrich graduate and undergraduate curricula at NSU. Cornell and Purdue partners dedicate several slots in their summer research programs to NSU undergraduate students. The Partnership helps to strengthen the research and education at NSU and enhance the participants’ diversity at Cornell and Purdue.

New PREM opportunities

PREM Workshop – the hands-on learning experience. Cornell Professor Christopher Umbach with students.

The Partnership opens new opportunities to students via exchange research programs. As an example, Tracee Weaver, an NSU master’s student in the Materials Science program, will spend May and the summer at Cornell University. She is the first graduate student from NSU to travel to a partner institution to perform research, and work directly under the supervision of Prof. Emmanuel Giannelis. This cross-institutional advising will bring a new perspective to her training. Tracee has been recently accepted to the PhD in Materials Science and Engineering program at NSU.

In the Future, we envision the NSU Center for Materials Research (CMR), which hosts PREM, to become a world-leading institution in the areas of photonics and nanoplasmonics. We work towards advancing the CMR to become one of top five producers of African-American PhD graduates in Materials Science in the nation.

Selected publications:

1. M. A. Noginov, G. Zhu, M. Bahoura, J. Adegoke, C. E. Small, B. A. Ritzo, V. P. Drachev and V. M. Shalaev, “Enhancement of surface plasmons in an Ag aggregate by optical gain in a dielectric medium”, OPTICS LETTERS, Vol.31, No.20, 3022-24 (2006).
2. M. A. Noginov, G. Zhu, M. Bahoura, C. E. Small, C. Davison, J. Adegoke, V. P. Drachev, P. Nyga and V. M. Shalaev, “Enhancement of spontaneous and stimulated emission of a rhodamine 6G dye by an Ag aggregate”, PHYSICAL REVIEW B 74, 184-203 (2006).
3. N. Noginova, T. Weaver, M. King, A. B. Bourlinos, E. P. Giannelis and V. A. Atsarkin, “NMR and spin relaxation in systems with magnetic nanoparticles”, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 19, 076210 (2007).