Highlights
Feb 22, 2008
Princeton University
Breaking the Mold to Produce Submicron Polymeric Gratings with Large Areas
L. F. Pease III, P. Deshpande, S. Y. Chou, and W. B. Russel
PCCM researchers have discovered a new method for making gratings: by prying apart two rigid plates that sandwich a thin, glassy polymeric film. The process fractures the film into complementary sets of ridges on each plate, with the ridges on one corresponding to the valleys on the other. The technique produces patterns with periodic spacing from 120 nm to 200 Â’µm, and the period simply scales as four times the film thickness, regardless of the molecular weight or chemical composition of the glassy polymer.
Feb 18, 2008
Princeton University
Si Nanowire Grids Polarize Down to 193 nm
Young-Rae Hong, Koji Asakawa (Toshiba), Doug Adamson, Paul Chaikin (NYU), and Rick Register
The continual decrease in microelectronic device feature size, captured in the famous "Moore's Law", has come in part from a decrease in the wavelength of light used in the photolithographic steps used to pattern these features. Today, the most advanced production photolithography uses 193 nm ultraviolet (UV) light from an ArF excimer laser. At such short wavelengths, control of the polarization of the light becomes critical for achieving minimum feature size.
Feb 18, 2008
Princeton University
An Electronic Density-Wave Turns into a Superconductor
Dong Qian, David Hsieh, Lewis Wray, Emilia Morosan, Robert Cava, and Zahid Hasan
At low temperatures, the electrons in most layered transition-metal chalcogenides undergo a phase transition into an interesting, highly-ordered state called the charge-density-wave (CDW), in which the electron density spontaneously acquires a weak, periodic spatial modulation. In a small subset of materials, the CDW state is destroyed and replaced by the superconducting state.
Jan 20, 2008
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A story of two spin off companies
Fundamental MRSEC research often leads to new technologies that in turn create innovative start-up companies. QD Vision and Luminus Devices are two exciting examples of this process. In both cases, MRSEC-supported research at MIT helped to develop the basic platform for these new technologies.
Nov 28, 2007
Stanford University
Closing the Loop on Recycling: Can We Stop the oil-to-Landfill Treadmill?
James L. Hedrick, Robert W. Waymouth
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), a widely used engineering thermoplastic for carpet, clothing (fibers), tire cords, soda bottles and other containers, film, automotive, electronics, displays etc., will contribute several billion pounds of waste to landfills this year alone! According to the American Plastics Council, PET packaging was originally used for soft drinks, but packing applications today include other beverages such as water, juice, beer, in addition to other foods such as peanut butter and ketchup and a variety of other household products.
Nov 13, 2007
University of California, Santa Barbara
Chocolate Finally Understood: UC Santa Barbara and Nestle Uncover the Physics of Self-Aggregating Foods
Scientists from UCSB's Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) and the Nestle Research Center (NRC), Lausanne, Switzerland have resolved a long-standing problem in the self-assembly behavior of lipid molecules in water.
Oct 23, 2007
Northwestern University
Electrical Conductivity of Polymorphic Indium Tin Oxide Nanocrystalline Powders
The article entitled "Synthesis and Electrical Characterization of the Polymorphic Indium Tin Oxide Nanocrystalline Powders" received the Edward C. Henry Award from the American Ceramic Society for the best Electronics Division paper in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society during 2006.
Oct 17, 2007
Northwestern University
Polymer Surface Viscoelasticity Affects Organic Thin-Film Transistor Performance
Thin polymer films exhibit glass transition temperatures (Tgs) that are depressed from the bulk material Tg because of increased degrees of chain motion. Using such films as gate dielectrics in organic thin-film transistors provides a sensitive new probe of polymer surface motional characteristics at the buried semiconductor-dielectric interface.
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