The vivid, angle-dependent structural colors of some butterfly wing-scales are produced by light scattering from complex three-dimensional nanoscale structures. With intricate structural knowledge from synchrotron small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), we hypothesize that the butterfly nanostructures develop by the self-organizing kinetics of cellular membranes, as with soft matter systems such as a soap film spanning a wire contour.

Transition metal oxides exhibit many properties that can be harnessed in novel devices. For example, an epitaxial ferroelectric on silicon enables a nonvolatile transistor that remembers its state without continuous power consumption. A critical question is how the oxide/silicon interface affects the oxide functionality.

The unique properties of transition metal oxides allow electrons to be manipulated in new ways. At CRISP, we have created an oxide device that enables a gas of electrons to be expanded or compressed with an applied electric field. The expansion or compression of the gas modulates the speed of moving electrons. The change in the speed of the electrons could be utilized in high speed transistors.

The goal of CRISP professional development workshops is to improve the quality and diversity of STEM education for science teachers in neighboring urban school districts. CRISP offers inquiry-based workshops which utilize CRISP specialized research facilities to emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of materials science and nanotechnology. Workshops have been offered to more than 100 participants to date.

Part of the CRISP Shared Equipment is a unique variable temperature, variable magnetic field ultrahigh vacuum scanning force microscope for applications in magnetic, electrostatic, piezoelectric, and friction force microscopy. • One chamber vacuum system• Entirely homebuilt, students played a key role in designing, building, and testing• Enables investigations of local ferromagnetic and ferroelectric properties of complex oxide multiferroic material near their transition temperatures

Modern electronics, e.g. a smart phone, relies heavily on science and engineering: semiconductors (diodes, transistors), magnetism (hard drives), photoelectric effect (digital camera), photon generation and lasers (LEDs, CD/DVD drives), light polarization (LCD), etc. The immediacy and applicability makes electronics a great tool for teaching science and technology.

Graphene (two-dimensional carbon) is an attractive material for spintronics due to weak spin-orbit coupling for robust spin transport properties. This could lead to spin-based computers that integrate logic and memory for much greater computing power.

Magnetism is typically associated with “transition metal” elements such as nickel or iron, from the middle of the periodic table.  These elements contain d electrons which are localized on the atoms, and have a “spin” or magnetic moment.  Carbon contains no d electrons and is not normally magnetic. 

When cells assemble together in a cluster, they apply force to each other. The way in which cells signal each other with and respond to forces is not well understood. Therefore, we study the traction forces cells apply to the substrate beneath them. The results show exterior cells apply tractions to the substrate that are an order of

A group of MRSEC researchers, staff, and graduate students visited the Boston Museum of Science on July 15, 2009 for a day of public demonstrations and presentations to encourage thought and discussion about polymers. The Ventures in Science Using Art Laboratory (VISUAL) program had an ongoing exhibit of images at the Museum from May through August, and coordinated a presentation to teach the audience about materials and capture their attention using visually striking images gathered during the course of MRSEC research at UMass.