NSLS II: Nanoscience

Nanoscience is one of the most dynamic and rapidly developing areas of interdisciplinary research. It addresses the unique physical and chemical properties of nanometer-sized (less than 100 nm) materials and phenomena occurring at the nanoscale. It provides a natural link between physical sciences and life sciences, since nanometer length scales also characterize molecular machines and the basic building blocks in living organisms. The excitement in nanoscience is driven not only by the potential to revolutionize a wide range of scientific and technical fields, but also the possible economic and societal impact. These can be illustrated by the grand challenges identified by the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

Nanostructured Materials by Design
Manufacturing at the Nanoscale
Chemical-Biological-Radiological-Explosive Detection and Protection
Nanoscale Instrumentation, and Metrology
Nano-Electronics, Nano-Photonics, and Nano-Magnetics
Healthcare, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics
Efficient Energy Conversion and Storage
Microcraft and Robotics
Nanoscale Processes for Environmental Improvement

Left: A coherent x-ray diffration pattern of a silver "nanocube" that is 160 nanometers wide. Right: A reconstructed image of the cube obtained from the diffration pattern. At NSLS-II, scientists will have the ability to image and study the properties of many materials at the nanoscale.

In order to understand, and eventually design, the properties of materials at the nanoscale, many materials synthesis, manipulation, characterization, and modeling/simulation tools need to be developed. In the area of characterization, over the last two decades a wide range of synchrotron radiation-based diffraction, scattering, spectroscopy, and imaging tools have been developed for materials research. These tools have increased our understanding of bulk materials, thin films, surfaces, and interfaces by revealing atomic-resolution structures and unique electronic, chemical, and magnetic information.

There is a compelling need to extend the reach of these synchrotron-based tools to the nanoscale to obtain essential information that is not accessible with scanning probes and electron microscopy. This requires the high brightness of NSLS-II. It will enable these techniques to be applied on nanometer-length scales by allowing the development of novel full-field x-ray imaging techniques and by focusing x-rays down to 10 nm or below. This unprecedented combination will clearly enable completely new experiments. For example, one can imagine performing in-situ experiments on a single nanometer-sized catalyst in actual reaction conditions or performing x-ray experiments on a single carbon nanotube while electric current is passing through the nanotube.

Last Modified: March 4, 2008
Please forward all questions about this site to: Gary Schroeder