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Oxide ceramics are ubiquitous in modern society- ranging from capacitors in electronic gadgets to high-tech displays. In numerous future technologies, it is necessary to "pattern" ceramic oxides in various forms, e.g., dots and lines, at the nanometer scale.

Background: The JHU MRSEC conducts extensive K-12 educational outreach programs aimed at promoting interest in and awareness of the importance of modern materials research. The MRSEC's Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program provides high school teacher the opportunity to conduct research in MRSEC and to use the MRSEC's resources for the development of classroom modules or other materials.

In addition to providing access to state-of-the-art commercially available instruments, the Northwestern University MRSEC Shared Facilities also participate in the development of new experimental methods and tools. In particular, the Ultrasound Bioprobe has been developed that combines the noninvasive nature and sensitivity of ultrasound waves with a near-field atomic force microscope mechanical probe that provides high phase sensitivity and mechanical contrast of the scattered ultrasound wave.

The explosion of interest in graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, has called attention to the advantages of materials with small effective masses. In our InSb quantum wells, the electron effective mass is as small as in graphene while the room-temperature

The increased speed and power of microelectronic devices has come from a steady reduction in the size of their constituent features, which has been achieved by using progressively shorter wavelengths for the photolithography used in their fabrication. Today, the most advanced production photolithography uses 193 nm ultraviolet (UV) light from an ArF excimer laser.

Â’ Nanoscale metallic structures are promising platforms for sensors: using photons to launch surface plasmon "polaritons", metallic nanowires can guide and re-emit light over tens of microns. The re-emission of light at the other end of a nanowire can be promoted or altered by adsorption of molecules.

In a collaboration with an industrial manufacturer of aerosol jet printers (Optomec, Inc.), Lodge, Frisbie, and their students have demonstrated successful low voltage operation of an array of ion-gel gated OFETs printed on flexible polyimide substrates. Every component of the OFETs was printed--the metal electrodes (gold colloidal ink), the semiconductor (poly(3-hexylthiophene), and the gate insulator (the new ion gel material).

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.

While electronics have become much smaller and more powerful, an elusive goal has been to "print" these tiny devices rapidly over very large areas.While electronics have become much smaller and more powerful, an elusive goal has been to "print" these tiny devices rapidly over very large areas. The ability to do so could lead to larger and less expensive video displays in the near-term and wide-area sensors or medical devices in the longer term.