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Program Highlights for year 2018

UW MRSEC Research Experience for Teachers Program Provides both Research and Cultural Literacy Experiences

Teachers from Wisconsin and Puerto Rico came together in Puerto Rico in July 2017 for the capstone week of their Research Experiences for Teachers Program.

An Ultrafast Camera for Transmission Electron Microscopy

Current TEM cameras acquire images in a few milliseconds. The new camera will ultimately acquire images in just 8 microseconds, which will enable researchers to study fast processes in materials like atoms rearranging in a flowing liquid and to probe the smallest structures in materials. 

Understanding Interfacial Growth in Vertically Aligned P–N Heterojunctions for Photovoltaic Applications

The objective of this effort is to design and develop well defined p-n heterostructures that allow the investigation of their optoelectronic properties due to interfacial interactions.

Synchronized Terahertz Plasmons in Ultra-Thin Membrane GaN HEMT Arrays

Promising a myriad of transformative applications in various fields such as communications, security, chemical & biological sensing, and astronomy, terahertz (THz) technology is a very promising technological field. In order to realize efficient THz systems, development of active devices, such as detectors and emitters is required.

Plasmonic Optical and Chiral Optical Responses of Self-Assembled Gold Nanorod Equilateral Trimers

The groups of Kagan, Murray, and Engheta in IRG3 teamed up to (a) synthesize gold (Au) nanorods (length of ~110 nm, diameter of ~22 nm) and direct their assembly in lithographically-defined templates to form nanorod equilateral trimers.

Structural Chemo-Mechanics of Fibrous Networks / Broader Impacts

As part of our commitment to outreach, two students working with David Chenoweth in this IRG  (Alexander Kasznal and Samuel Melton) are involved in Spark mentoring programs. Spark Students are paired with a mentor based on mutual interests. Students visit their mentor’s workplace once a week for 10-13 weeks.

Mechanisms of Mechanical Plasticity in Collagen Networks from Contractile Forces

A collaboration (Wells, Shenoy) in IRG 2 studied the mechanisms of mechanical plasticity in collagen networks resulting from contractile forces produced by cellular aggregates placed within them.

Field Trip Series

Starting in 2017, the LRSM and Singh Center for Nanotechnology hosted monthly field trips for Philadelphia middle and high school students.

Large-area synthesis of monolayer 1T'-WTe2 flakes

Large-area growth of monolayer films of transition metal dichalcogenides is important in the rapidly advancing research field of topological materials, because scientists believe tungsten ditelluride has so-called “topological” electronic states.

High-strength magnetically switchable plasmonic nanorods

Next-generation 'smart' nanoparticle systems should be precisely engineered in size, shape and composition to introduce multiple functionalities, unattainable from a single material.

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