Surface plasmons are light-energy propagating electromagnetic modes trapped at the interface between certain metals (notably gold and silver) and a dielectric. They are also of interest for optical processes enhanced by strong local electric fields.
We studied the plasmonic properties of silver nanowire gratings with varying widths whose center-to-center spacings equaled twice their width. We excite the plasmons by using light at 514 nm wavelength. As the emission intensity of a fluorophore is proportional to the intensity of the local electric field, we experimentally determined the local field intensity by measuring fluorescence from a molecular layer 8 nm above the metal’s surface. We compared the experimental results with numerical calculations.
UMD MRSEC has developed an exciting nanoscience demonstration known as the Giant Buckyball. The Giant C60, along with the smaller C20, has been used in a variety of venues including museums such as the Smithsonian Spark!Lab in Washington, DC and Port Discovery Children’s Museum in Baltimore, MD; summer camps; and science festivals to engage students and their families in the exploration of research science and engineering.
Middle school students at the UMD MRSEC Nanoscience Camp had the opportunity to talk to faculty and graduate students in Agra, India about the differences and similarities of energy consumption and conservation in the United States and India. Students prepared for this event by creating their own carbon footprint, comparing US and India energy consumption, and learning about how nanotechnology is being used to solve energy problems. 
The race to build smaller and more efficient computer chips and batteries faces major challenges in materials organization. Current smart phones, for example, are based upon layered (“2-D”) materials, but nanoscale designs that utilize 3-D architecture are envisioned. To access this third dimension in materials organization, scientists must find ways to direct the flow of atoms before locking in structure.
Scientists at the University of Maryland Maryland Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) are researching ways to direct atomic movements during growth...
Realizing the full potential of nanodevices will require the ability to place individual elements that are much smaller than the width of a human hair in precise, 3-D configurations. We have developed new materials that allow us to use light and/or electric fields to position individual micro- or nanostructures in precise locations in three dimensions and then to lock them into place using short pulses of light from a laser.
A new class of materials shows great promise for next generation electronics applications. Topological insulators have been heralded for unique properties that may prove crucial to the successful development of devices in the emerging fields of spintronics and quantum computing. Scientists are further excited about the prospect of investigating new and peculiar fundamental physics in these materials.
Graphene, a single atom-thin sheet of carbon, can be used to make ultra-fast electronics. Researchers at the University of Maryland Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) are collaborating with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to understand how graphene forms on the surface of silicon carbide. Growing graphene on silicon carbide could provide a platform to manufacture high speed graphene transistors which could find uses in applications ranging from advanced radar to miniaturized cellphones.
On the left is a magnetic force microscope (MFM) image of a CoFeB patterned film, and on the right is a representation of the micromagnetics (distribution of local magnetic moments).