Highlights

Multilayer graphene grown at Georgia Tech to heights of 1 to 10 nanometers contains non-graphitic “twists” between layers. Our recent theory describes the top layer as a single, effectively isolated graphene sheet. The remaining multilayer creates a periodically varying mass of the top-layer electrons: from positive, to zero, to negative(!). This makes intuition from single-layer graphene available for the analysis of twisted multilayer graphene, and predicts a regular pattern in the electronic structure that has been observed in experiments from our GT/NIST collaboration.

    Fluidic chamber placed on top of   graphene sensor to exchange fluid   and hence protein or chemical   concentration during a measurement.

The Triangle MRSEC enjoys a vibrant ongoing partnership with German researchers supported through an International Graduate Research and Training Grant (IGRTG) from the DFG. A significant component of this partnership is extended graduate student exchanges. An example of funded projects is the fundamental modeling of particle gelation by molecular dynamics simulations by Prof. Sabine Klapp (Technical Univ. - Berlin), Carol Hall and Orlin Velev.

Triangle MRSEC researchers have invented a new technology for the use of electrical voltages to dynamically generate various patterns on curved surfaces and over large areas, such as the surfaces of gloves. The applied voltages deform flat surfaces of rubbers into patterns of creases, lines, and craters. The patterns can be random, aligned or curved, and their feature sizes can be tuned from micrometers to millimeters. As the voltages are

MRSEC postdoc, Dr. Kermin Martínez-Hernández; Visiting Scholar, Sandy Sine; and former MRSEC RET participant, Troy Dassler organized a workshop “Integrating cutting-edge nanotechnology into the inquiry-based learning experience.” This was part of the professional development workshop prepared for Middle Year’s Science Teachers and organized by CESA 6 Science Center: Meeting Demand for 21st Century Learning and UW-Madison Wisconsin Leads in Math and Science Initiative

Molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse grain model are used to explore the morphology of thermotropic liquid crystal nanodroplets. The characteristic length of the droplets is such that different contributions to the energy, including interfacial and bulk-like terms, have comparable magnitudes. Depending on the relative strength of such contributions, a wide variety of mesophases can be identified. These range from a completely disordered isotropic phase at elevated temperatures, to ordered radial and smectic phases at low temperatures.

IRG 3 has examined the orientational ordering of nematic liquid crystals (LCs) supported on organized monolayers of dipeptides with the goal of understanding how peptide-based interfaces encode intermolecular interactions that are amplified into supramolecular ordering.

In the last ten years, two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy has become an important technique for studying molecular structures and dynamics. We report the implementation of heterodyne detected two-dimensional sum-frequency generation (HD 2D SFG) spectroscopy, which is the analog of 2D infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy, but is selective to noncentrosymmetric

Objective: To develop nanofabrication capabilities that will allow for writing structures as small as ~10 nm. Approach: Use MRSEC funds provided by the State of Utah to purchase state-of-the-art nanofabrication capabilities to expand existing materials research capabilities. Results and Significance: We have purchased and installed a new $1.5M dual beam focused ion beam system that is housed in the University of Utah Nanofab. The system is being used extensively within MRSEC to create nano-plasmonic devices.