Understanding the locations of atoms as they are deposited on a surface is critical for growing interfaces of electronicÂ’  device quality. One unique tool that is key to this endeavor, is the high-resolution, low-temperature ultrahigh vacuum scanning probe microscope for simultaneous operation in noncontact atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy mode at 4 K available at CRISP (Yale). Download High resolution non-contact AFM Highlight

Made possible by a grant from the Connecticut Office of Workforce Competitiveness (OWC) the goal is to provide Connecticut's teachers with cutting edge imaging tools for their classrooms. A table top scanning electron microscope (mini-SEM) with elemental analysis capabilities was purchased. Typical SEMs are large and require extensive training and maintenance. Initially teachers at high schools and Connecticut's Community Technical Colleges (CTCs) are targeted for professional development and implementation.

Professor Buehler of IRG-II has employed atomistic-based multiscale simulations to theoretically demonstrate the concept of “mechanomutability," i.e. the capability of a material to change its mechanical properties reversibly in response to an external stimulus.

With over 2 million requests annually for only 8,000 reservations at El Bulli, the renowned restaurant is harder to get into than Harvard. During his visit to the MRSEC in December 2008, El Bulli founder and globally celebrated chef, Ferran Adriàƒ’ , talked with students in the Innovations course, discussed ways of bringing Center research on soft matter to the development of new foods, and gave an enthusiastically received public lecture on the dynamic relationship between modern science and modern cuisine. His visit was covered by Time and the local news stations.

Mesoscale hierarchical helical structures with diverse functions are abundant in nature.

A simple computational model demonstrates the assembly of self-limited filamentous bundles. The images are taken from dynamic Monte Carlo simulations in which chiral subunits spontaneously assemble under different interaction strengths and degrees of chirality. (a) Moderate interactions and moderate chirality reproducibly lead to a self-limited bundle with three layers of subunits, while stronger chirality (b) results in a self-limited two-layer bundle. (c) With strong interactions, frustration is relieved by defects, which enable the formation of branched networks and irregular bundles.

fd virus is a polymeric virus 1 mm in length and 10 nm in diameter. We bind fluorescently labeled fd to 1 mm diameter polystyrene spheres creating a charged polymer stabilized colloid (hairy bead) and measure the interparticle potential using a double laser trap. We first measure the interaction energy of (a) bare beads and (b) then the hairy beads, seen here in fluorescence microscopy. (c) Electron micrograph of hairy beads. The repulsive energy of hairy beads is large when the beads are close.

During the academic year, F08 - S09, Olin undergraduates Sean Calvo, Caitlin Greeley, Stephani Gulbrandsen, and Leif Jentoft designed, built, and tested a flexible automated microscopy platform capable of imaging an area up to 100mm x 100mm with a resolution of 10 microns at 4.8 second per square mm. It reduces the cost of performing microfluidics research and increases the speed by allowing researchers to easily reconfigure and expand the system to their changing needs.

Stabilized emulsions containing the oscillating Belousov - Zhabotinsky chemical reaction (BZ) show interesting dynamics. Each drop acts as an independent chemical clock. However, they chemically communicate and exhibit collective behavior. In (a) three photos of the same hexagonally packed 100 micron diameter BZ drops are shown 80 seconds apart. White corresponds to the oxidized state; black to reduced. The pattern is explained in (b); first all green drops are in the oxidized state, then all blue drops and finally all red drops.

The ability to modify the electronic structure and properties of graphene is an important step towards the large scale fabrication of electronic devices based on graphene technology.