Past NRI-NSF Research

• Brown University MRSEC
  Micro- and Nano-Mechanics of Materials, W. A. Curtin (Director)
  NRI Project 2009-2011: Direct Write Synthesis of Graphene Devices, Rod Beresford, Rashid Zia, Vivek Shenoy
  The goals of the MRSEC at Brown University are to perform leading-edge research in the mechanics of materials on multiple length scales down to the nanoscale so as to uncover the fundamental mechanisms of deformation, stress-development, and degradation in structural materials, thin films, and nanoscale surfaces. The Center is also working to apply principles of solid mechanics to cell adhesion and other biological problems. The Center also uses its faculty and university resources to broadly impact science education, technology transfer, human resource development, and creation of a more diverse scientific community. The Brown University MRSEC is composed of two interdisciplinary research groups and one seed project, involving 20 faculty, 17 graduate students, and 2 post-doctoral associates from a number of different engineering and science disciplines.
  
  
• Caltech MRSEC
  Center for Science and Engineering Materials, Harry Atwater (Director)
  NRI Project 2008-2010: Graphene Atomic Switches for Ultracompact Logic Devices and Non-volatile Memory Elements, Marc Bockrath, Nai-Chang Yeh, Shuki Bruck
  The Caltech CSEM, established in September of 2000, addresses both research and educational aspects of polymeric, structural, photonic, and ferroelectric materials that will be necessary to solve critical societal needs of the twenty-first century. The Center pioneers a number of exotic and futuristic materials and applications such as liquid metals, responsive gels, and tiny medical sensors.

• Columbia University NSEC
  Center for Electronic Transport in Molecular Nanostructures, James Yardley (Director)
  NRI Project 2006-2008: Non-equilibrium Quantum Coherent Devices in 1-D Materials, Tony Heinz, Philip Kim
  NRI Project 2010-2012: Graphene Hybrid Devices: Implementing Novel Quantum Switches, Philip Kim, Ken Shepard, Tony Heinz, James Hone
  The Columbia University Nanocenter's goal is to establish new paradigms for information processing using the characteristics of electron transport unique to nanoscale molecular structures. Founded in 2001, the Nanocenter draws upon years of experience in chemical synthesis to design molecular structures with carefully crafted properties. This work has the potential to impact major disciplines in addition to electronics including photonics, biology, neuroscience and medicine.

• Cornell University NSEC
  Center for Nanoscale Systems in Information Technologies, Alex Gaeta (Director)
  NRI Project 2007-2009: Controlled Orbital Hybridization in the Carbon Nanotube Quantum-Modulated Transistor (CNT-QMT), Edwin Kan
  The Center for Nanoscale Systems in Information Technology was established at Cornell in 2001 by the National Science Foundation to develop innovative electronic, photonic, and magnetic nanoscale systems that collectively have potential to revolutionize information technology including electronics, communications, information storage and sensors. The Center for Nanoscale Systems is supported by NYSTAR the New York State Office of Science, Technology & Academic Research, and is a major component of the overall Federal effort collectively known as the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI).

• Harvard University NSEC
  Science of Nanoscale Systems and Their Device Applications, Robert Westervelt (Director)
  NRI Project 2006-2008: Ultrasmall Nanowire and Oxide Switches, Shriram Ramanathan
  NRI Project 2008-2010: Tunable Ultra-fast Conductance Switching Through External Fields, Shriram Ramanathan
  The goals of the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) are to make and understand ultra-small electronic devices and to develop physical tools for the study of biological cells as systems. Through a close integration of research, education, and public outreach, the Center encourages and promotes the training of a diverse group of people to be leaders in this new interdisciplinary field.

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology MRSEC
  Center for Materials Science and Engineering, Michael Rubner (Director)
  NRI Project 2009-2011: Reconfigurable Array Magnetic Automata (RAMA), Caroline Ross, Christine Ortiz, Stuart Wolf (UVa)
  The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at MIT, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), was established in 1994 as the core program of the Center for Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE). The clear and important mission of CMSE is to enable - through interdisciplinary fundamental research, innovative educational outreach programs and directed knowledge transfer - the development and understanding of new materials, structures and theories that can impact the current and future needs of society.

• Northwestern University MRSEC
  Northwestern University Materials Research Center, Monica Olvera de la Cruz (Director)
  NRI Project 2009-2011: Generating, Probing, and Manipulating Excitons in Carbon-Based Nanomaterials, Mark Hersam
  The Northwestern University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) develops and supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research and education in the science and engineering of nano-scale multifunctional material structures.

• Pennsylvania State University MRSEC
  Penn State MRSEC IRG3 on Electrons in Confined Geometries, Thomas Mallouk (Director)
  NRI Project 2010-2012: Very low Energy Dissipation Computin gusing Inter-band Tunneling Injected non-equilibrium Ballistic Carriers, Theresa Mayer, Suman Datta
  The research themes of IRG3 focus on the electronic properties of confined systems. Ongoing projects include the study of superconducting and semiconducting nanowires, ferroelectric thin films and a new effort on graphene sheets. These activities are complemented by a synthetic effort in low dimensional nanostructures. This has been a productive year for this IRG with a large number of publications including cover page articles in Nature and in Small.

• Princeton University MRSEC
  Princeton Center for Complex Materials, Nai-Phuan Ong (Director)
  NRI Project 2010-2012: Quantum Coherence in Graphene Bilayers, Emanuel Tutuc (UT-Austin)
  Started in 1994, the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM) is an NSF-funded Materials Science and Research Center (MRSEC) at Princeton University dedicated to pushing the frontiers of complexity in materials science. PCCM brings together over thirty faculty from six departments in the natural sciences and engineering, and is centered in Bowen Hall at the eastern entrance to campus. PCCM currently has four Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) and several seed projects.

• Purdue University NCN
  Network for Computational Nanotechnology, Mark Lundstrom (Director)
  NRI Project 2006-2008: Exploratory Theory, Modeling, and Simulation for the NRI, Muhamad Alam, Supriyo Datta, Gerhard Klimeck, Kaushik Roy
  NRI Project 2007-2009: Exploratory Theory, Modeling, and Simulation for the NRI, Muhamad Alam, Supriyo Datta, Gerhard Klimeck, Kaushik Roy
  NRI Project 2008-2010: Experimental Realization of Low-Power Transistors with Negative Capacitors, Joerg Appenzeller, Mark Lundstrom
  NRI Project 2009-2011: Exploration of Novel All-Spin Logic (ASPL) from Device-Circuit-Architecture, Supriyo Datta, Mark Lundstrom, Kaushik Roy
  The Network for Computational Nanotechnology has a mission to help move nanoscience to nanotechnology by connecting theory, experiment, and computation. While addressing challenges in nanotechnology, NCN researchers produce new algorithms, approaches, and software tools with capabilities not yet available commercially. The insights and understanding emerging from this work are disseminated through seminars, summer schools, and full semester courses. The NCN's science gateway, the nanoHUB, has become a major resource for the community by providing online services for simulation, education, and collaboration. Each year, it serves more than 90,000 users across the world.

• Stanford University NSEC
  Center for Probing for Nanoscale (CPN Stanford), Kathryn Moler (Director)
  NRI Project 2008-2010: Ultra-Low Power Pseudospintronic Switching in Bilayer Graphene at Room Temperature, James Harris, David Goldhaber-Gordon, Matthew Gilbert (UI-UC), Seth Bank (UT-Austin)
  NRI Project 2010-2012: Info Processing & Cognitive Computing with Neuromorphic Elec. Synapses, H.-S. Philip Wong
  The Center for Probing the Nanoscale was founded to achieve five principal goals: 1) To develop novel probes that dramatically improve our capability to observe, manipulate, and control nanoscale objects and phenomena; 2) To apply these novel probes to answer fundamental questions in science and to shed light on materials issues which have economic importance for industry; 3) To educate the next generation of scientists and engineers regarding the theory and practice of these probes; 4) To transfer our technology to industry so that corporations can manufacture and market our novel probes worldwide; 5) To inspire thousands of middle school students by training their teachers at a Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers.

• University of Alabama MRSEC
  Center for Materials for Information Technology (MINT), William Butler (Director)
  NRI Project 2009-2011: Spintronic Logic Devices, William Butler, Arunava Gupta, Su Gupta, Patrick LeClair, Gary Mankey, Tim Mewes
  The MINT Center was selected in 1994, 1998 and again in 2002 by the National Science Foundation from over 150 university programs to be one of the twenty-nine Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) in the U.S. The amount of the award in 2002, of $1M/year for six years provides both stability and a significant increase in research funds for the Center. The MRSEC addresses the physical limits that threaten to slow the rate of increase in storage densities, two major research concentrations of the MINT Center. 16 faculty from five academic departments, along with faculty from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Virginia, participate in two interdisciplinary research groups (IRG) and one seed project.
  
  
• University of California at Berkeley NSEC
  Center for Integrated Nanomechanical Systems (COINS), Alex Zettl (Director)
  NRI Project 2009-2011: Spin-Oscillators for Non-Charge Based Ultra Low Power Logic and Communication, Jeffrey Grossman, Sayeef Salahuddin
  The goal of COINS is to develop and integrate cutting-edge nanotechnologies into a versatile platform with various ultra-sensitive, ultra-selective, self-powering, mobile, wirelessly communicating detection applications. The success of this mission requires new advances in nano-electro-mechanical devices, from fundamental building blocks to enabling technologies to full device integration. During the past 3.5 years, we have set our Center on a path towards achieving this goal by developing four major research programs, in the areas of Energy, Sensing, Mobility, and Electronics/Wireless. Each of these programs encompasses research projects spanning the full spectrum of basic through to the applied level, and each program has a set of criteria that has been established for use as a means of determining which projects to support, in order to assure optimal project alignment.

• University of California at Santa Barbara MRL
  Materials Research Laboratory, Craig Hawker (Director)
  NRI Project 2006-2008: Development of Next Generation Devices using Nanolithography, H.-S. Philip Wong
  The Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was established in September 1992 with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and became an NSF Materials Research Science & Engineering Center (MRSEC) in 1996. Its primary role is to support interdisciplinary research, training and education through the study of materials with chemical and structural complexity. These materials range from self-assembling polymers to atomically layered semiconductor materials and have the common theme that multiple length-scales play an important role in their physical properties.
  
  
• University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign NSEC
  The Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems (nano-CEMMS), John Rogers (Director)
  NRI Project 2010-2012: Anisotropic and Environment-Limited Thermal Conduction in Flexible Nanotube Arrays and Graphene Sheets, Eric Pop (UIUC)
  Research in the Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems (Nano-CEMMS) addresses a central problem in the development of nanotechnology: how to assemble structures at sizes smaller than can be seen (or transduced) and manipulated (or transcribed). Making three-dimensional, nanoscale devices and systems from millions to trillions of different types of molecules is incredibly difficult. The Center’s goal is to develop a reliable, robust and cost-effective nanomanufacturing system to make nanostructures from multiple materials. This technology will allow advancements and discoveries in nanoscience to move from the laboratory to production.
  

• University of Maryland MRSEC
  Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Ellen Williams (Director)
  NRI Project 2007-2009: Pseudospintronics, Sankar DasSarma, Allan MacDonald (UT-Austin), NRI Liaison Team
  NRI Project 2008-2010: Graphene for Post-CMOS Electronics, Michael Fuhrer
  The Maryland MRSEC carries out nationally recognized fundamental research on surfaces and interfaces of materials with potential impact on the next generation of opto- and nano-electronic devices, and on complex oxides with potential applications in memory, switches and sensors. The research is closely integrated with a continuing educational outreach program that has a direct impact on the education of a diverse population of K - 12 students and teachers.

• University of Nebraska Lincoln MRSEC
  Q-SPINS: Quantum and Spin Phenomena in Nanomagnetic Structures, Evgeny Tsymbal (Director)
  NRI Project 2010-2012: Study and Control of Intrinsic Magnetization at the Boundary of a Magneto-electric Material for Electrically Switchable Magnetic Nanostructures, Kirill Belashchenko, Peter Dowben, Christian Binet
  The MRSEC at the University of Nebraska was established in fall of 2002 by the National Science Foundation to carry out research on new magnetic structures and materials at the nanometer scale, or a width of about four atoms. It aims at the fundamental understanding of topics of substantial technological importance, and at the communication of this understanding to the public. Nanomagnetic structures are important in the development of advanced electronics and computing systems, and have the potential to lead to data storage systems with hundreds of times more capacity than present systems, non-volatile computer memory, improved hand-held electronic devices and advanced sensors.

• University of Oklahoma/University of Arkansas MRSEC
  Center for Semiconductor Physics in Nanostructures, Matthew Johnson (Director)
  NRI Project 2006-2008: Nanoferroelectric Random Access Memory, Gregory Salamo (Univ. of Arkansas)
  The Center for Semiconductor Physics in Nanostructures is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the University of Arkansas and the University of Oklahoma. The quest to improve computing power, data storage, and communication speed demands new approaches to device fabrication and new materials systems. Our mission is to develop ways to create and probe structures on the nanometer scale, study their individual and collective dynamics, and explore their use in next generation electronic, optical and chemical systems.

• University of Virginia MRSEC
  Center for Nanoscopic Materials, Robert Hull (Director)
  NRI Project 2006-2008: Directed Assembly of Epitaxial Semiconductor Nanostructures for Novel Logic Switches, Jerrold Floro, Petra Reinke, Greg Snider (Notre Dame), Stuart Wolf
  NRI Project 2007-2009: Coherent Spin Dynamics in Single Ion doped Semiconductors: Towards a Coherent or Quantum Spin Switch, Stuart Wolf (Notre Dame), Jerrold Floro, David Awschalom (UCSB), Greg Snider (Notre Dame)
  The MRSEC Center for Nanoscopic Materials Design at the University of Virginia is an NSF-funded Materials Research Science & Engineering Center. Established in 2000, the Center has a dual focus on ground-breaking interdisciplinary research and educational outreach in the area of nanotechnology. The Center's research targets the understanding, control, and application of localized nucleation of nanostructures upon patterned surfaces (the concept of "templated assembly").

• Yale University MRSEC, Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena, John Tully (Director)
  NRI Project 2007-2009: Design and Fabrication of Magnetic-Based Devices with Complex Oxide Materials, Charles Ahn
  The Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena [CRISP] explores the composition, structure, properties and potential applications of the "interface" or border region where two materials come into contact with each other. As the spatial dimensions of electronic, magnetic and mechanical devices are made ever tinier, their performance is increasingly dominated by their surfaces and interfaces. We investigate the transition between bulk and interface dominance, with the goal of discovering new phenomena: new kinds of electronic, magnetic and chemical behavior, and new ways to control and utilize them. We are focusing particularly on the interfaces between oxide materials because of the wealth of new science and new applications they offer.