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Highlights

Jul 31, 2007
University of Washington

Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Assembly of Hybrid Inorganic-Protein Nanostructures Using an Engineered DNA Binding Protein

Haixia Dai, Woo-Seok Choe, Corrine K. Thai, Mehmet Sarikaya, Beth A. Traxler, Franàƒ’§ois Baneyx, and Daniel T. Schwartz

Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and Microbiology, University of Washington We show that a protein with no intrinsic inorganic synthesis activity can be endowed with the ability to control the formation of inorganic nanostructures under thermodynamically unfavorable (nonequilibrium) conditions, reproducing a key feature of biological hard-tissue growth and assembly. The nonequilibrium synthesis of Cu2O nanoparticles is accomplished using an engineered derivative of the DNA-binding protein TraI in a room temperature precursor electrolyte.
Jul 30, 2007
University of Oklahoma

14th Insulating Materials Conference

The Oklahoma-Arkansas MRSEC hosted the14th SIMC conference which engaged international participation from a diverse group of more than 30 nations. The technical sessions presented over 5 days with parallel sessions encompassed the transfer of many new and developing ideas, and the talks received the highest evaluation as indicated by the results of the conference survey. Download  
Jul 30, 2007
University of Oklahoma

Narrow Gap Semiconductor Structures for Electronic Device Applications

The explosion of interest in graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, has called attention to the advantages of materials with small effective masses. In our InSb quantum wells, the electron effective mass is as small as in graphene while the room-temperature
Jul 25, 2007
California Institute of Technology

Design of tunable ferroelectric photonic structures

The IRG on ferroelectric nanophotonic materials and devices seeks to develop tunable photonic devices by combining the nonlinear dispersion of photonic metamaterials with the unusual optical properties of ferroelectric perovskites. A series of experimental tests and theoretical calculations have demonstrated the potential of this approach. The bottom figure shows how the refractive index of a ferroelectric thin film can be changed with applied electric field. The top right shows how light can be confined to a ferroelectric wave-guide the results of a theoretical calculation.
Jul 25, 2007
California Institute of Technology

Woe to the Makers of Literal Translation

When proteins are made inside cells, genetic information (in the form of messenger RNA) must be "translated" into specific sequences of amino acid building blocks. Accurate translation is essential to the health of the cell, and the idea that "one gene gives one protein" emerged very early in the development of the field of molecular biology. Researchers in the Center for the Science and Engineering of Materials (CSEM) at the California Institute of Technology are changing that idea.
Jul 19, 2007
Stanford University

In Memorium of Marni Goldman

Marni Goldman, Education Director of CPIMA, died of natural causes in late February while on vacation with her family. Although she never walked and had only the most limited use of her arms, Marni's academic and professional accomplishments placed her in elite company, even as her friendships extended far and wide. Marni earned bachelor's degrees in both Psychology and Materials Science from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in Materials Science from the University of California Berkeley.
Jul 19, 2007
Stanford University

Microfluidic Device for DNA Dynamics in Mixed Flows

Susan J. Muller, University of California Berkeley, and Eric S.G. Shaqfeh, Stanford Highlight from Stanford MRSEC 0213618
Jul 19, 2007
Stanford University

Verticle Nanopore Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

Mike McGehee, Stanford University, Robert D. Miller, IBM Almaden Research Center, Joe DeSimone, University of North Carolina Highlight from Stanford MRSEC 0213618
Jul 19, 2007
Yale University

Plasmon Propagation along Metallic Nanostructures

Marleen van der Veen, Jason Merrill, Mark Reed, Eric Dufresne

Â’ Nanoscale metallic structures are promising platforms for sensors: using photons to launch surface plasmon "polaritons", metallic nanowires can guide and re-emit light over tens of microns. The re-emission of light at the other end of a nanowire can be promoted or altered by adsorption of molecules.