UMD MRSEC has developed an exciting nanoscience demonstration known as the Giant Buckyball. The Giant C60, along with the smaller C20, has been used in a variety of venues including museums such as the Smithsonian Spark!Lab in Washington, DC and Port Discovery Children’s Museum in Baltimore, MD; summer camps; an
To fully understand the behavior of graphene's electrons, Georgia Tech and NIST scientists employ the extremes of ultra-low temperature and large magnetic field. In a new ultra-low temperature scanning tunneling microscope (ULT-STM) constructe
Scalable templated growth of graphene nanoribbons on SiC: Direct nanoribbon growth avoids the need for damaging post-processing.
The race to build smaller and more efficient computer chips and batteries faces major challenges in materials organization. Current smart phones, for example, are based upon layered (“2-D”) materials, but nanoscale designs that utilize 3-D architecture are envisioned. To access this third dimension in materials organization, scientists must find ways to direct the flow of atoms before lock
Realizing the full potential of nanodevices will require the ability to place individual elements that are much smaller than the width of a human hair in precise, 3-D configurations. We have developed new materials that allow us to use light and/or electric fields to position individual micro- or nanostructures in precise locations in three dimensions and then to lock them into place using sho
A new class of materials shows great promise for next generation electronics applications. Topological insulators have been heralded for unique properties that may prove crucial to the successful development of devices in the emerging fields of spintronics and quantum computing.
Graphene, a single atom-thin sheet of carbon, can be used to make ultra-fast electronics. Researchers at the University of Maryland Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) are collaborating with the U.S.
Sub-nanometer probes of surfaces provide important information about chemical and physical properties of materials at atomic level. Microwave microscopy (left) is used to study materials properties at GHz (109 sec-1). This is the frequency range relevant for computers and cell phones, for which the materials are being explored.
