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Scientific Opportunities: NanoscienceOverview | Nanoelectronics | Nanomagnetics | Nanoscale Functional Materials | Nanoscale Strongly Correlated Systems | Polymer Nanocomposites | Biomimetic Devices Biometric DevicesAs their name hints, biomimetic systems are designed to imitate actual biological systems, such as protein macromolecules. They implement the self-organization principles that are encoded in biomolecular structures, and will play an overwhelmingly important role in the design of functionalized interfaces and the self-assembly of molecular machines. Integrated into devices, the properties of such nanoscopic systems are naturally controlled at the molecular level. Utilizing such systems, solid-state surfaces will be functionalized with adsorbed lipid/protein membranes. But optimizing these membranes requires a deep and detailed comprehension of their structure and dynamics, as well as the molecular-level interactions between their constituents. To exploit the possibilities in this field, new experimental capabilities are needed to characterize a miniscule amount of biomolecues. Techniques are needed that permit surface-sensitive scattering, both in the horizontal and vertical scattering geometries (beam directed down toward a horizontal fluid sample surface at a grazing incidence angle). These techniques will be combined with x-ray micro-focusing to achieve in-plane diffraction from micron-sized domains of 2D protein crystals. NSLS-II is needed for these experiments.
Last Modified: March 4, 2008 |
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