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Creating aligned arrays of high purity (>99.9%) semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWCNTs) over a large area has been a significant challenge in materials synthesis. Towards this goal, IRG2 have recently developed a novel yet simple method to deposit aligned s-SWCNTs on substrates via dose-controlled, floating evaporative self-assembly.  The diffusion

The wide range of instrumentation within the University of Wisconsin MRSEC Shared Instrumentation Facilities (UW-MRSEC SIF) can now be accessed by academic and industry users around the nation via the Materials Research Facilities Network (MFRN.org).   A Significant new addition over the past year is a Cameca LEAP 3000 Si ATOM Probe.

Fracture energy of plaque/glass interface Gc ≈ 100 J/m2 104 × larger than Eadh of mfp5 (the most adhesive protein)!  

Nanoscale three-dimensional (3D) structures are building blocks for the fabrication of miniature switching devices and can be used as functional units in nanorobotics. The functionality of the 3D structures is affected by their size and shape and may significantly differ depending on the properties of the bulk material. Nebraska MRSEC researchers

In work reported in Science (August 20, 2013) a Harvard MRSEC team led by Suo and Whitesides developed a transparent “ionic skin,” a sensor skin using ionic conductors. It senses signals with high stability and wide dynamic range, from a gentle touch of a finger to strains over 500%. The new ionic skin has attributes required for biocompatibility in medical devices and

New state of matter may lead to novel computer memory and logic Esoteric property of topological insulators leads to efficient switching  

Topological insulators (TIs) are a novel class of quantum materials characterized by an insulating bulk and metallic conducting states at the surface. This metallic behavior however, can be changed by applying a magnetic field or, equivalently, by coupling the TI to a ferromagnetic material. In this work, for the first time, NSF MRSEC researchers have succeeded in turning the TI surface states into an insulating state by coupling the TI to a ferromagnetic insulator.

By precisely controlling the surface composition of thin oxide films, films can be switched from a metal to an insulator. Atomic-scale control of the surface is achieved using molecular beams of atoms (the molecular beam epitaxy growth method). To understand why the thin film changes from a metal to an insulator, the surface is imaged using x-rays scattered from the film (see 3D image of film on left).