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Basic science concepts developed in IRG1 about jamming of granular materials enabled the development of a new class of soft robotic systems.  The image is of a jamming gripper which conforms to complex or fragile objects in the unjammed state, then hardens by jamming.  This work is a collaboration between the University of Chicago, the Cornell University Department of  Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and iRobot Corp.

 The ability of an organic molecular solid to crystallize into different structures is  a phenomenon known as polymorphism.  Polymorphism is an issue of major concern in the pharmaceutical industry.  In many drug compounds, some fraction of the crystal structures that can be formed cause the drug to lose its therapeutic function.  If these structures are not known at the time of the drug’s release onto the market,

Mn(Bi, Sb)2Te4, a family of MTMs with highly tunable properties, is an ideal playground for studying the interplay of band topology with magnetism. While previous work has focused on uniform ordered phases, here we ask: How can we control the electronic properties of Mn(Bi, Sb)2Te4 using the mesoscale structure of magnetism?

Dielectric materials play a critical role in determining the operating voltage in modern-day electronics. In particular, highly polarizable and ultrathin dielectrics enable low operating voltages and thus low power consumption.

LCMRC researchers have developed a method for manipulating particles by light without touching them by using liquid crystals as a light-controlled host fluid. The LC host reduces the illumination required by factors up to 10,000X relative to direct manipulation with optical tweezers, to the extent that lasers are no longer needed for many applications. LCMRC designed and synthesized photosensitive azobenzene monolayers control the LC orientation, which in turn moves the particles.