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Label-Free Bioanalytical Detection Using Membrane-Coated Silica Nanoparticles @ Stanford/ IBM ARC/ UC Davis/ UC Berkeley Education Outreach - MRSECs offer educational outreach programs in science and technology. Research Groups Welcome to the internet hub of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC), a network of Centers located at academic institutions throughout the United States, funded by the National Science Foundation. This website provides organized connections to information and resources at the various MRSECs for the international scientific, industrial, and educational materials research and development communities. Read more about MRSEC

Recent Program Highlights

January 08, 2009 :: Defect Density Limits Orientational Order in Shear-Aligned Block Copolymer Films

Defect Density Limits Orientational Order in Shear-Aligned Block Copolymer FilmsIn a recent study, PCCM researchers have shown that the quality of orientational order of the dots in shear-aligned block copolymer films depends only on the density of these dislocations; in the limit that dislocations are absent, the order is as perfect as can be measured with an atomic force microscope (AFM). [...]

December 19, 2008 :: Multiscale Patterning of Plasmonic Metamaterials

Surface plasmons – collective oscillations of free charges – on metal surfaces have resulted in demonstrations of enhanced optical transmission, collimation of light through a subwavelength aperture, negative permeability and refraction at visible wavelengths, and second-harmonic generation. The structures that display these plasmonic phenomena typically consist of ordered arrays of particles or holes with sizes of the order of 100 nm. At the NU-MRSEC, a new nanofabrication technique based on soft interference lithography was used to manufacture multiscale arrays of nanoparticles and nanoholes with unexpected optical properties. [...]

December 19, 2008 :: Atomic Force Photovoltaic Microscopy

Organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) hold promise for a variety of applications requiring alternative energy generation. Through a collaboration between  Northwestern University MRSEC IRG 4 and Wright Patterson Air Force Base, a new strategy for characterizing the electrical and optical performance of operating OPVs has recently been developed. Atomic force photovoltaic microscopy allows the photocurrent response in OPVs and other optoelectronically-active [...]

December 19, 2008 :: The Art of Science and the Science of Art

A partnership between the NU-MRSEC and the Art Institute of Chicago provides fertile ground for curriculum development. Lisa Backus, a high school chemistry teacher and participant in the Center’s 2006  Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program was inspired by her summer research project working on conservation science problems of Ancient Chinese jades and Winslow Homer watercolors. The result is [...]