Events

NanoDay 2007 on May 11 was a big success, with excellent talks, about 300 attendees, and 120 posters (both numbers up from our first event in 2006).  See www.nanocenter.umd.edu/nanoday/2007/ . Speakers were Ben Shapiro (Aero/ENG), John Fourkas (Chem/CLFS), Bob Celotta (Dir NIST Nano), Debra Rolison (NRL), and Hamid Ghandehari (UMB Nanomedicine) – synopses of their talks and copies of their presentations are available at www.nanocenter.umd.edu/nanoday/2007/speakers.php .  The NanoDay 2007 site also includes a significant number of the posters available for viewing.
 Our upcoming NanoDay 2008 is planned for May 14 (again, campus study day).  Michael Fuhrer is organizing the plenary technical session on graphene, which will be accompanied by a poster session, reception, and lab information and tours.  Last year NanoDay drew 300 people and included 120+ posters.  Mark the date, May 14!
The NanoCenter Colloquium series is featuring prominent leaders in the world of nano.  On Nov 1 we welcomed Mike Roco, NSF’s leader for the National Nanotechnology Initiative for his presentation “The Changing Face of Nanotechnology in a Global Context”.  On Dec 4 Vicki Colvin, Director of the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology at Rice, presented her talk “Clean Water from Small Materials: Nanotechnology in the Environment”.  Franco Cerrina, Director of the Center for Nano Technology at the University of Wisconsin, spoke on “Patterning at the Nanoscale: From Silicon to DNA” on Dec. 7.  We will welcome Stacey Bent of Stanford on March 19 and Tom Theis, Director of Physical Sciences at IBM Research, on April 28

NanoCenter organization and faculty roles

The NanoCenter is delighted to announce that Michael Fuhrer (physics/CNAM) has  become Associate Director of the NanoCenter, with an IREAP joint appointment. As you know, Michael is not only a research leader, but a superb citizen with broad interests in research, education, and outreach. Michael will be pursuing major initiatives in nanoelectronics and related areas on behalf of the NanoCenter.  A topical focus on carbon-based electronics at the upcoming NanoDay (May 14) is a move in this direction.  He will also work on various policy and organizational issues.
Sheryl Ehrman (ChBE) has taken on the responsibility of organizing the NanoCenter Colloquium series, with great success (see above).  Suggestions for future speakers are welcome.

NanoCenter Membership

With the advent of our formal Membership status in the NanoCenter, over 75 faculty have become official. The benefits and responsibilities of membership are spelled out in a signed agreement (www.nanocenter.umd.edu/faculty/MembershipAgreement.php)

New faculty

In the fall Oded Rabin joined the MSE faculty with an appointment in IREAP as well.  This semester Sarah Bergbreiter arrived with a joint appointment between ME and ISR.  Our recent faculty recruits are featured in a special web page  (www.nanocenter.umd.edu/faculty/new_faculty.php ).  Their web sites, accessible from the NC faculty page, will provide further information on their interests, skills, background, etc.
A significant number of nano-related faculty searches are ongoing this year, in chemistry/biochemistry, physics, the energy center UMERC, bioengineering, and food nanotechnology.  We are heavily involved in these searches.  Having spent a lot of time talking to candidates, I can tell you that the capabilities, expertise and vitality of the NanoCenter play an important role in the recruiting process.  The ever-expanding frontier of nanotechnology and its broad range of applications will increase the NanoCenter’s significance on campus.

Shared user facilities – FabLab and NispLab

Our shared user facilities in the Kim Building, namely the FabLab clean room and the NispLab electron microscopy facility, are seeing significant increase in use by campus researchers and also outside users.  The equipment portfolio presents a quantum jump in capabilities, making experimental resources for nano a stark contrast with our world 5 years ago.  The Sunny Day funding ($3.65M) from the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development has made a world of difference.  All tools have now been delivered, some are operational, and most if not all should be running by the end of the semester.
The FabLab is now home to several up and running new tools, including:  Raith e-Line electron beam lithography system, Denton e-beam/thermal evaporator with in-situ ion assisted substrate cleaning and film deposition, Hitachi environmental SEM, Rudolph ellipsometer, Agilent semiconductor parameter analyzer, and a wafer probe station.  An atomate nanowire growth system, Oxford PECVD and Cl-based ICP etch systems, and a Beneq atomice layer deposition system are currently being installed.  See http://www.nanocenter.umd.edu/new_facilities/FabLab.php  for details.
The NispLab has also come a long way.  Both the LaB6  and field emission JEOL 2100 TEMs are operational, with EDS analytical capability and a variety of sample holders (heating/cooling, etc.). for in situ experiment and dynamic observation.  Electron energy loss spectroscopy and energy-filtering imaging system has just been installed on the FE-TEM to further enhance analytical TEM capability.  A new Hitachi ultra high resolution analytical FE-SEM with the newest SSD EDS is operational in the NispLab, and we are consolidating other equipment in nearby labs.  See http://www.nanocenter.umd.edu/new_facilities/NispLab.php for details.
Websites for FabLab and NispLab provide a variety of information about how to access and use the facilities in these labs, and indeed usage is ramping up strongly.  Prospective users need only visit the NanoCenter website to initiate their training and access. We have a good online scheduling system in place for users to reserve time, then sign in to equipment and have billings recorded after signout.  Charges are then assessed to the appropriate PI and contract FRS number (or external account) on a monthly basis.

Visibility

SmallTimes placed UMD 7th in research and 5th in education in their 2007 ranking.  See www.nanocenter.umd.edu/news/news_story.php?id=2224  .  At this point we have appeared in the top 10 for nano research twice in the three years of the ranking, and all three times for nano education.
PBS Nightly Business Report broadcast a feature on food nanotechnology, the second time the NanoCenter has been featured on this nationally syndicated program.  Peter Kofinas, Greg Payne (UMBI), and Mickey Parish (NFS in AGNR) were featured, along with Kofinas' lab in Kim bldg.  Video covering the story is available at www.nanocenter.umd.edu/news/news_story.php?id=2745 . A description of the visit is given at www.nanocenter.umd.edu/news/news_story.php?id=2379 .
The State of Maryland was ranked 7th in small tech by SmallTimes, surpassing Illinois.  See www.sma-digital.com/sma/200707/?folio=30 .

People

We welcome Alice Mobaidin to the NanoCenter staff.  Alice began some months ago on a parttime basis to help with a variety of administrative tasks, and by now I expect many of you already know of her.  Her work has made a huge difference in how well we function.  Using the structures created by Ernie Cleveland for scheduling, sign-in, etc. for FabLab and NispLab, Alice is now able to process billings for equipment use each month in a straightforward and efficient fashion.  She has also begun to analyze trends in usage,  an important monitoring function for the NanoCenter, all in addition to coordinating various events and tasks.
Since this is the first such newsletter, I want to also express a belated welcome to Wen-An Chiou, Director of the NispLab.  Wen-An previously managed the Northwestern and UC Irvine electron microscopy laboratories, and we are fortunate to have such a seasoned professional to lead the NispLab.

Research funding and connectivity

IARPA, the new Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, will locate its headquarters in UMD’s Research Park on campus.  IARPA is charged with developing groundbreaking technologies for the U.S. Intelligence Community.  See www.nanocenter.umd.edu/news/news_story.php?id=2844 .
In concert with the presence of IARPA, the NanoCenter hosted a NanoBiotechnology for Defense Applications Workshop 2007 on campus Nov 13-14, cosponsored by UMBI, NRL, and IARPA.  See www.nanocenter.umd.edu/nanobiotechnology_conference/2007 .
Our partnerships with NIST and its Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST), led by Director Robert Celotta, has been strengthened by a NIST grant of $1.5M/yr for up to 5 years.  This grant is aimed at developing measurement technology for nano and scaling up the CNST program.  Ellen Williams (physics, IPST), Director of the NSF MRSEC at UMD, serves as PI, with administration of the grant handled through the NanoCenter. See www.nanocenter.umd.edu/cnst.php .