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eMaterials Newsletters

 

Wednesday, December 6, 2007Volume 7, Issue 6

 

News and Events

New MRI Web site launched

 

The MRI Web site is a service to the entire materials community, providing access to a wealth of information for both internal and external users. A new version of the MRI Website, with more resources and easier navigation, went online in late November at http://www.mri.psu.edu/.   

 

CyndiNew resources especially useful for faculty and students include templates for PowerPoint presentations and posters; tutorials for creating professional posters; an online course for using Dreamweaver, the web page design tool; as well as graphic resources to add the new MRI identity to your printed material and presentations.  The MRI Web site remains the best one-click gateway for reserving equipment, locating centers and facilities, and staying in touch with the Penn State materials community.

 

Thanks to Webmaster and site developer Cyndi Carey, along with Dan Lehman and the IT team. Cyndi is also responsible for the new MRI graphic identity.  Templates for the new identity, and much more, can be found in the Intranet section in the upper right navigation bar.   

 

 

Materials Research Society Issues 3rd Entrepreneurship Challenge
MRI is supporting the Materials Research Society’s 3rd annual Entrepreneurship Challenge, a contest that encourages materials scientists to team up with business school students to take their new technology out of the lab and into the marketplace. The deadline to register is fast approaching. 
For details and to register, visit http://www.mrs.org/s_mrs/sec.asp?CID=1652&DID=14565.

 

Smeal College extends the challenge
Although the MRS contest is open only to members of the Materials Research Society, a similar contest exclusively for Penn State researchers and business students will be advertised shortly, according to Prof. Tony Warren of the Smeal College of Business.  He suggests that the same 12-minute PowerPoint presentation can be used for both contests. Look for posters with further details on the Penn State challenge coming to your area soon.

 

Equipment Updates

WYKO NT1100 Optical Profiler Upgrade
MCL recently upgraded the Wyko NT1100 Optical Profiler with a high power objective. This upgrade enables rapid surface imaging over an ~300 x 225 µm field-of-view with a lateral resolution of ~400 nm and a vertical resolution of better than 1 nm. For a brief introduction to the technique, click here. To view images demonstrating the new capability (all images were acquired in less than 60s), click here. If you would like additional information or to setup a training session, please contact Josh Stapleton (814-863-2224 or Validate to view address - Send Email via form)

 

New at the Nanofab

wetbenchesRecent equipment acquisitions have brought welcome improvements for the researchers at NNIN at Penn State, the Nanofab.  Thanks to lithography technical lead Michael Rogosky for the following information:  

 

Four wet benches were purchased from Reynolds Tech.  Two are constructed of acid and base resistant polymer, and the other two are stainless steel for solvents.  These benches improve the cleanliness, safety, and work flow in the wet chemistry area of the Nanofab.

 

Resist preparation and resist develop stations and associated equipment were purchased from Reynolds Tech, Laurell Technologies, and others.  New resist spin casting machines and a single automated developer from Laurell give improved process control.  The stations are a huge improvement of cleanliness and process capability that has been welcomed by the researchers of the Nanofab.

 

lithographywetbench

 

 

Upcoming Courses

Surface and Interface Characterization Course Planned for Spring 2008
A special graduate-level credit course in Surface and Interface Characterization will be offered in Spring 2008 for students in science and engineering fields who will use surface/interface characterization techniques in their own research and those who want to learn about advanced characterization techniques.  The course, ChE 597C/MatSE 597G, will cover fundamental principles as well as applications of surface techniques including charged-particle-based (XPS, AES, SIMS, FIB, etc.), probe-based (STM, AFM, etc.) and photon-based (IR, SFG, ellipsometry, etc.) surface characterizations.  Dr. Seong H. Kim is the instructor for the course, which is scheduled for MWF 10:10 – 11:00am in 140 Fenske.  For more information contact Dr. Kim at Validate to view address - Send Email via form

 

Surface characterization techniques evolved from the need to understand interfaces in semiconductor manufacturing and heterogeneous catalysis.  Traditionally, they have been focused on model surfaces, often prepared in vacuum environments, mimicking specific aspects of complex real surfaces of technological relevance.  Nowadays, various surface characterization techniques are ubiquitously used in a number of non-traditional surface science fields and even became routine analysis tools in nanotechnology and biomaterials.  During this expansion of the realm of surface characterization to other fields, some new surface analysis techniques were invented, rediscovered, or modified for in situ or ex situ characterization of more complicated interfaces such as, for example, surfaces exposed to aqueous solutions or complex biological fluids.

Faculty Hires

 

Chen

Yongsheng Chen, assistant professor, Energy and Mineral Engineering http://www.eme.psu.edu/Faculty/chen.html
Research interests: Bioenergy, catalytic conversion of biomass, nanomaterials for energy applications, with expertise in materials characterization.Current research: Synchrotron techniques to understand the mechanism of sulfur poisoning
Datta

Suman Datta, associate professor, Electrical Engineering http://www.ee.psu.edu/faculty/datta/datta.asp
Prof. Datta comes to Penn State from Intel Corporation, where he was a principal engineer in the Advanced Transistor and Nanotechnology Group. Research interests: Energy-efficient nanoelectronic device modeling, fabrication, characterization and their circuit applications for advanced information processing systems; Energy conversion and energy scavenging devices
Current research: Exploring new materials, novel nanofabrication techniques, new classical and non-classical device structures for CMOS “enhancement” as well as for CMOS “replacement” for future energy efficient, high performance and fault-tolerant information processing systems. He is also interested in exploring novel energy conversion devices harnessing nanoscale properties of nanostructures
Hickner

Michael Hickner, assistant professor, Materials Science and Engineering http://www.matse.psu.edu/fac/profiles/hickner.htmlResearch interests: Prof. Hickner comes to Penn State from Sandia National Laboratories where he was a postdoc and staff member. Research and teaching interests include all aspects of polymeric materials, polymer micro- and nano-structure, transport characterization, electrochemistry, and new materials for energy applications.
Current research: Developing and characterizing novel ion conducting membranes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. This research has impact on applications including fuel cells, electrochemistry, and electrochemical reactors, water treatment membranes for ion exclusion or selective ion transport, and other membrane separations principally in aqueous systems.
Schaak

Raymond Schaak, associate professor, Chemistry http://www.chem.psu.edu/faculty/res20
Research interests: Synthetic inorganic chemistry, solid-state chemistry, materials chemistry, and nanoscience; new low-temperature synthetic routes to solid-state materials; reactivity, reactions, and reaction pathways in bulk and nanoscale solids; multi-element and hollow nanocrystals; multifunctional nanocomposites and active nanostructures; nanostructured catalysts; superconductivity; precursor routes to oxide materials; biogenic routes to new solids. 
Current research: Developing chemical strategies for controlling the synthesis of “complex” nanostructures. Current research efforts are aimed at using low-temperature strategies for synthesizing new solids, developing an elaborate reaction toolbox for generating complex multi-component nanostructures, and constructing functional nanoscale architectures for applications in energy and catalysis. 

 

 

Honors and Awards

MRI Researcher Wins Samsung Inside Edge Award
Seung Ho Park a newly minted Ph.D. in Materials has turned his doctoral thesis into a $10,000 cash prize in the third annual Inside Edge Award, sponsored by Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a division of Samsung Electronics.  Along with the award, Park received a job offer from Samsung and, if accepted, support for one year of postdoctoral research.

 

This is the second major recognition for Park’s research, which integrates a millimeter-size ultrasonic piezoelectric motor into a package made of low temperature co-fired ceramics and allows optical fibers to be aligned with great precision and lower cost.  In Sept. 2007, a team of scientists consisting of Park’s co-advisors Clive Randall, director of the Center for Dielectric Studies, and Kenji Uchino, director of the International Center for Actuators and Transducers, both part of the Penn State Materials Ressearch Institute, and Richard Eitel, a former graduate student in Materials now teaching at the University of Kentucky, were recognized with the R & D 100 Award, given by R & D Magazine for the 100 most significant products of 2006. 

...read more:

MRI Faculty Member Wins National Mentorship Award
Judith Todd, P.B. Breneman Department Head Chair, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics was recognized with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) at the White House Nov. 16.  Read the NSF press release at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=110716&org=NSF&from=news

 

Grants and Contracts

Materials research accounted for more than $9.1 million in contracts and grants for the months of October and November! The largest of these contracts and grants (those greater than $200K) are listed below, along with a link to the complete list of contracts and grants. These data are provided by OSPs Strategic Information Management System.

 

 

For a complete list of the contracts and grants for October and November go to: http://www.mri.psu.edu/awards.asp?awardperiod=0711

 

Seminars

Friday, December 07, 2007

4:00 PM - 102 Chemistry Building

"Design of Conjugated Polymers for Solar Cells"

Barry Thompson, University of California Berkeley

 

Thursday, December 13, 2007

10:00 AM - 301 Steidle Building

"Functional Polymer Nanocomposites: Adventures in the Nanoworld"

Evangelos Manias, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering

Series - 2007 Polymer Seminars