January 2021 - BNC-all - ecn.purdue.edu

Season's Greetings
by Shakouri, Ali 24 Nov '21

24 Nov '21

Dear All, As the year is coming to close, we reflect on unprecedented events that have impacted all of our lives. This is a difficult situation with self isolation and physical distancing, especially for many of our international students and researchers who are thousands of miles away from their families. There are some who have been personally impacted with the loss of family members and millions who are in economic hardship. During these difficult times, we appreciate unique gifts and contributions from each member of our community. We are fortunate to have dedicated students, staff and faculty who went out of their ways and regular responsibilities to help each other. We managed to keep Birck operational for critical research between April and June. Our dedicated staff and faculty developed standard operating procedures for all labs and cleanroom that are shared by more than 500 users across campus. Thanks to everybody who has been careful and extra vigilant, we had a smooth operation during the Fall semester. We would like to thank everybody's great contributions and hope you will have safe and healthy end of the year holidays and best wishes for the New Year 2021. Sincerely, Ali, Zhihong and Sunil [cid:image002.png@01D6D3A2.91AE72E0]

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REMINDER: BNC Faculty Seminar Series: Speaker - Dmitry Zemlyanov - TODAY Jan. 28th | 12noon | via Zoom
by Turner, Jaime J 28 Jan '21

28 Jan '21

Reminder: BNC Faculty Seminar TODAY @ 12:00noon. [cid:image004.jpg@01D685C0.EB336F80] The BNC Faculty Seminar Series is designed to provide faculty a platform to present an overview of their research and the opportunity for collaborative discussion with other BNC faculty and researchers across six colleges and 15 academic units. Dmitry Zemlyanov Senior Research Scientist - Surface Science Application, Birck Nanotechnology Center January 28th, 2021 | 12:00pm Join Zoom: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/91754078808 Title: Growth and in-situ characterization of 2D materials Abstract: 2D materials and nano-materials often exhibit unique electronic, mechanical and thermal properties, which cannot be found in their bulk forms. Surface nature makes these materials prone to contaminations. Therefore, in-situ growth and characterization of 2D materials is crucial step for fundamental property understanding, smart material design, functionalization, fabrication, etc. The Surface Analysis Facility at Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, is equipped with state-of-art characterization tools such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM), high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), low energy electron diffraction (LEED). These techniques are combined with synthesis capabilities (PVD, CMD and vacuum ALD) creating exceptional opportunities for researchers in the area of 2D and nano-materials. In this talk, I would like to demonstrated a few examples of synthesis and in-situ characterization of 2D materials. For instance, Pd and Pt tellurides and selenides are Dirac semimetals demonstrating fascinating quantum phenomena such as superconductivity, magnetism, topological order and excitation of surface plasmons. Due to the strong interlayer coupling and electron level hybridization, it is extremely challenging to prepare large-area monolayer of PdTe2 and PtTe2. We developed a simple method of epitaxial growth of PdTe2 and PtTe2 by direct tellurization of platinum and palladium surfaces, which allowed us to synthesize large-area and high-quality monolayer films of these two materials. As another examples, I would like to demonstrated nanomanipulation of MoTe2 and MoS2 and interaction of metal with oxide support. The strong metal support interaction (SMSI) is among the best-known classes of oxide-metal interfacial interactions in heterogeneous catalysis, but there is limited insight in the atomic-scale understanding of the structure and phase of the SMSI oxide. We have investigated interfacial interaction between ZnOx oxide and Pd metal under varying gas phase conditions. Structural transformations from bilayer to monolayer and then PdZn alloy confirmed that zinc oxide as a non-reducible oxide, can spread on metal surface and show an SMSI-like behavior in the presence of hydrogen. Bio: Dmitry Zemlyanov received his Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics from the Novosibirsk State University, Russia, in 1995. He is currently a Senior Research Scientist - Surface Science Application at Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University. He held research and teaching positions in premier scientific organizations in Russia, Ireland and Germany prior to joining Purdue and published over 165 journal papers in the areas of surface science, catalysis and materials science. At Purdue, he collaborates with a wide variety of research groups from College of Science and College of Engineering enabling them to develop and apply advanced scientific instrumentation in the area of surface characterization. Upcoming BNC Virtual Faculty Seminars, Spring 2021: Date Faculty Title 1/28/20 Dmitry Zemlyanov, Senior Research Scientist - Surface Science Application, Birck Nanotechnology Center Growth and characterization of 2D materials 2/4/21 Yi Xie, Assistant Professor, School of Nuclear Engineering Degradation of Structural Materials and Fuels in Nuclear Systems 2/11/21 Letian Dou, Assistant Professor, Davidson School of Chemical Engineering Organic-Perovskite Hybrid Quantum Wells, Heterostructure, and Optoelectronics 2/18/21 Nikhilesh Chawla, Ransburg Professor, School of Materials Engineering 4D Materials Science - Probing Microstructural Evolution Through Time-Resolved Imaging 2/25/21 Sorin Adam Matei, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education, College of Liberal Arts, Professor of Communication, Brian Lamb School of Communication Team Science - what it is, how it works, and why it does not always work the way we want it to work 3/4/21 David Cappelleri, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Microrobotics Research Highlights 3/11/21 Stylianos Chatzidakis, Assistant Professor, School of Nuclear Engineering 3/18/21 Reading Day 3/25/21 Tyler Tallman, Assistant Professor, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics 4/1/21 Alex Chortos, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering 4/8/21 Ajay Malshe, R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering 4/15/21 Suranjan Panigrahi, Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology 4/22/21 Alejandro Strachan, Professor of Materials Engineering 4/29/21 Dead Week 5/6/21 Finals Week Thanks! Jaime Turner Lead Administrative Assistant to the Director | Birck Nanotechnology Center BRK | 1205 W State Street | West Lafayette, IN 47907 o: 765-494-3509<tel:7654943509> | m: 765-491-3064<tel:7654913064> | jjturner(a)purdue.edu<mailto:jjturner@purdue.edu> [83324AA6]<https://www.purdue.edu/>

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BNC E-news: January 25th, 2021
by Turner, Jaime J 25 Jan '21

25 Jan '21

[cid:image006.jpg@01D685C3.FA345960] Responding to COVID-19: Research Operations at Birck https://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/birck/for-birck-users/covid/index.php Seminars /Workshops / Events BNC Faculty Seminar January 28th, 2021 | 12:00pm |via zoom: Join Zoom: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/91754078808 Dmitry Zemlyanov, Senior Research Scientist - Surface Science Application, Birck Nanotechnology Center Title: Growth and in-situ characterization of 2D materials<https://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/birck/events/index.php?view=3276> nanoHUB is excited to announce the first four workshops for the Spring 2021 session of our Hands-on Data Science and Machine Learning Training Series. Series information. Our series is aimed at active researchers and educators and designed to introduce practical skills with online, hands-on activities participnts will be able to incorporate in their work. Hands-on activities will use nanoHUB cloud computing resources, no need to download or install any software. All you need is an internet connection and a browser. After the training sessions, you will be able to continue using nanoHUB for research or education. Registration links and material for prior workshops can be found at the workshop webpage: https://nanohub.org/groups/ml/handsontraining Register soon as seats are limited. * Date/Time: January 27, 2021 / 1 PM – 2 PM EST Title: Constructing Accurate Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships via Materials Graph Networks By: Yunxing Zuo, Chi Chen, and Shyue Ping Ong Register here (limited seats): https://purdue.webex.com/purdue/onstage/g.php?MTID=e43ba4d6399d343e2cde9aa0… Abstract: This tutorial covers materials graph networks for modeling crystal and molecular properties. We will introduce the graph representation of crystals and molecules and how the convolutional operations are carried out on the materials graphs. Then we will introduce the megnet package for constructing the graph network models, setting up the model for training and the model evaluation. We will show examples of graph models using computational data from the Materials Project database. * Date/Time: February 3, 2021 / 1 PM – 2 PM EST Title: Convenient and efficient evelopment of Machine Learning Interatomic Potentials By: Chi Chen, Yunxing Zuo, and Shyue Ping Ong * Register here (limited seats): https://purdue.webex.com/purdue/onstage/g.php?MTID=e135394b9269645c5f55a869… Abstract: This tutorial introduces the concepts of machine learning interatomic potentials (ML-IAPs) in materials science, including two components of local environment atomic descriptors and machine learning models. Using the prepared dataset, you will learn how to build a prototype ML-IAP and use it to predict basic material properties for a multi-component system. PQSEI Seminar February 10 | Dr. Ruth Pachter of AFRL. They still several open spots still available if you’d like to present or invite a speaker please let David Stewart (davidstewart(a)purdue.edu<mailto:davidstewart@purdue.edu>) know. Full schedule is here: PQSEI Events Spring 2021<https://purdue0-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/stewartd_purdue_edu/ETjOtD…> Indiana-focused conference, Environmental Justice, Next Steps – Environment Justice, Climate Change, and Racial Justice March 25 – 26, 2021 The goal of this virtual conference is to create a regional action network on environmental justice by bringing together Purdue researchers, artists, scholars and stakeholders, and including peers working at research institutions across the state. Through the conference, Purdue will bring diverse scholars and leaders together to broaden the conversation on environmental justice with a focus Indiana and the Midwest by inviting researchers in areas including environmental sciences, racial & social justice, decolonization, engineering, law and environmental policy, and the visual and performing arts with the intention of starting long-term collaborations and conversations to maximize the impact of discussions moving forward. Website: https://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/environment/resources/Env-justice.php Birck Events<https://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/birck/events/index.php> and Birck News<https://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/birck/news/index.php> Welcome Back and Protect Purdue Pledge Reminder The Birck Leadership Team wants to extend a very warm ‘welcome back’ to everyone here at the start of Spring semester! We hope everyone found some time to disconnect, rest, and recharge! Our facility has been back online since January 4th with the normal hazardous gases turned back on and our staff members available for their usual great support. As you are undoubtedly aware, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to expand and accelerate. This national trend has been evident for the last several weeks and it is no different here at West Lafayette, Purdue, and Birck. We must be even more diligent to honor the Protect Purdue Pledge that we’re all committed to: 1. Protect Myself: Use hand sanitizer frequently and maintain > 6’ social distancing. Report any symptoms to a medical professional. Birck has a number of hand sanitizer stations throughout the facility so please use them regularly. 2. Protect Others: Wearing masks reduces the aerosolization of virus particles, thus protecting others. We have received anonymous notes of concern regarding some of our researchers not using masks at times. While in Birck we have a policy that you must wear a mask. This applies to every area, offices included. Also, look out for others and encourage their faithful commitment to the Pledge. Stay home if you feel ill or after a potential exposure. 3. Protect Our Purdue Community: Keep clothing, belongings, personal spaces & shared common spaces clean and protected. This includes all areas within Birck …… offices, labs, common areas, atriums, restrooms, and the cleanroom. We must all do our part to keep Birck and Purdue a safe place in which to conduct state-of-the-art research. By being extra careful, and by offering reminders to our peers and associates, we can ensure Birck stays open and safely supports our nearly 500 users. Thank you very much for your support of this critically important Pledge. The Birck Leadership Team New Raman Spectrometer Demonstration microscope device by ThermoFisher Scientific just installed in Purdue Optics and Spectroscopy Core is scheduled for the next Tuesday, Jan. 26th from 3pm to 4:30pm EST. Due to Covid travel restrictions, the previously planned demonstration on the system installed in Purdue had to be replaced with the demo of the identical system at the factory. The demonstration will be preformed by ThermoFisherc Senior Raman Application Scientist, Alex Rzhevskii. The demo is going to be broadcast over WebEx, please use the information below to connect. Please address any preliminary questions to Purdue maintainer, Alexei Lagoutchev, lagutch(a)purdue.edu<mailto:lagutch@purdue.edu> . https://thermofisher.webex.com/thermofisher/j.php?MTID=mc329b405e0355dd2c64… Meeting number (access code): 145 145 9748 Meeting password: nWMzRFDh743 Courses ECE 595 Applied Quantum Computing I, II, III Instructor: Prof. Pramey Upadhyaya (prameyup(a)purdue.edu<mailto:prameyup@purdue.edu>) Spring 2021 This course aims to train students starting from the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics to understand how they can be leveraged for building quantum hardware and software, so that they can contribute to move this emerging technology forward with applications in artificial intelligence and data sciences. An important aspect will be a focus on providing hands-on experience programming real quantum systems. Particularly, we will focus on following three-levels: * Applied Quantum Computing I-Fundamentals (1-credit): Learn the essential foundations required to understand computing models built from the principles of quantum mechanics * Applied Quantum Computing II-Hardware (1-credit): Learn how present-day material platforms are built to perform quantum information processing tasks * Applied Quantum Computing III-Algorithm and Software (1-credit): Learn domain-specific quantum algorithms and how to run them on present-day quantum hardware. ECE 695 Quantum Detectors and Sensors Spring 2021 Prof. Zubin Jacob is offering a course on fundamentals of quantum technology. Here is a preview about the course https://youtu.be/8sp4p9PEKJE Birck Safety Protocols It is very gratifying to see our research community back ‘in business’ doing leading-edge research in our center after the long pause we all experienced this Spring. But at the same time we want to remind our entire user group of the critical importance of following the COVID safety protocols while using our facilities. If an outbreak of COVID exposures should happen at Birck there is a real possibility that we may need to close the facility again. So please read and support the following….. …..Some of our approved users are holding the doors open for others to enter the building. This may very well be a gesture of politeness to assist another, but it also can be perceived that non-approved people are entering our building with the assistance of one of our approved users. Additionally it does not allow us to have an accurate accounting of who is entering our building by evaluating card-swipe data. So everyone should swipe into Birck and not be let in by someone holding the door open. …..Face masks are required while in Birck. Approved users have been, and continue to be, strongly encouraged to bring their own face mask for their personal use while in the facility. At the entrances we have supplied quantities of disposable face masks for emergency use, but our supplies of these disposable masks are being depleted at the high rate of 300 – 400 masks per week. This rate of use seems exceptionally high when personal masks are strongly recommended. Please only take one mask from the supply, and only when you’ve forgotten your personal mask. ….Social distancing continues to be a challenge. This is a difficult habit to develop and groups of people have been seen clustered around a tool, or having a hallway conversation, and not adhering to the 6’ spacing rule. Please continue to maintain at least 6’ spacing between yourself and the nearest other person. Please stay vigilant in promoting and supporting these safety protocols. If we each do our part we will continue to stay open and conduct state-of-the-art research in our great facility. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter [Facebook icon]<https://www.facebook.com/nano.purdue.edu/> [Twitter icon] <https://twitter.com/BNCPurdue> ***If you have any news items (published papers, research news, awards, honors) please send to jjturner(a)purdue.edu<mailto:jjturner@purdue.edu> so they may be included on Birck’s website, Facebook and Twitter pages*** Jaime Turner Lead Administrative Assistant to the Director | Birck Nanotechnology Center BRK | 1205 W State Street | West Lafayette, IN 47907 o: 765-494-3509<tel:7654943509> | m: 765-491-3064<tel:7654913064> | jjturner(a)purdue.edu<mailto:jjturner@purdue.edu> [83324AA6]<https://www.purdue.edu/>

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BNC Faculty Seminar Series: Speaker - Dmitry Zemlyanov - Jan. 28th | 12noon | via Zoom
by Turner, Jaime J 25 Jan '21

25 Jan '21

[cid:image004.jpg@01D685C0.EB336F80] The BNC Faculty Seminar Series is designed to provide faculty a platform to present an overview of their research and the opportunity for collaborative discussion with other BNC faculty and researchers across six colleges and 15 academic units. Dmitry Zemlyanov Senior Research Scientist - Surface Science Application, Birck Nanotechnology Center January 28th, 2021 | 12:00pm Join Zoom: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/91754078808 Title: Growth and in-situ characterization of 2D materials Abstract: 2D materials and nano-materials often exhibit unique electronic, mechanical and thermal properties, which cannot be found in their bulk forms. Surface nature makes these materials prone to contaminations. Therefore, in-situ growth and characterization of 2D materials is crucial step for fundamental property understanding, smart material design, functionalization, fabrication, etc. The Surface Analysis Facility at Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, is equipped with state-of-art characterization tools such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM), high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), low energy electron diffraction (LEED). These techniques are combined with synthesis capabilities (PVD, CMD and vacuum ALD) creating exceptional opportunities for researchers in the area of 2D and nano-materials. In this talk, I would like to demonstrated a few examples of synthesis and in-situ characterization of 2D materials. For instance, Pd and Pt tellurides and selenides are Dirac semimetals demonstrating fascinating quantum phenomena such as superconductivity, magnetism, topological order and excitation of surface plasmons. Due to the strong interlayer coupling and electron level hybridization, it is extremely challenging to prepare large-area monolayer of PdTe2 and PtTe2. We developed a simple method of epitaxial growth of PdTe2 and PtTe2 by direct tellurization of platinum and palladium surfaces, which allowed us to synthesize large-area and high-quality monolayer films of these two materials. As another examples, I would like to demonstrated nanomanipulation of MoTe2 and MoS2 and interaction of metal with oxide support. The strong metal support interaction (SMSI) is among the best-known classes of oxide-metal interfacial interactions in heterogeneous catalysis, but there is limited insight in the atomic-scale understanding of the structure and phase of the SMSI oxide. We have investigated interfacial interaction between ZnOx oxide and Pd metal under varying gas phase conditions. Structural transformations from bilayer to monolayer and then PdZn alloy confirmed that zinc oxide as a non-reducible oxide, can spread on metal surface and show an SMSI-like behavior in the presence of hydrogen. Bio: Dmitry Zemlyanov received his Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics from the Novosibirsk State University, Russia, in 1995. He is currently a Senior Research Scientist - Surface Science Application at Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University. He held research and teaching positions in premier scientific organizations in Russia, Ireland and Germany prior to joining Purdue and published over 165 journal papers in the areas of surface science, catalysis and materials science. At Purdue, he collaborates with a wide variety of research groups from College of Science and College of Engineering enabling them to develop and apply advanced scientific instrumentation in the area of surface characterization. Upcoming BNC Virtual Faculty Seminars, Spring 2021: Date Faculty Title 1/28/20 Dmitry Zemlyanov, Senior Research Scientist - Surface Science Application, Birck Nanotechnology Center Growth and characterization of 2D materials 2/4/21 Yi Xie, Assistant Professor, School of Nuclear Engineering Degradation of Structural Materials and Fuels in Nuclear Systems 2/11/21 Letian Dou, Assistant Professor, Davidson School of Chemical Engineering Organic-Perovskite Hybrid Quantum Wells, Heterostructure, and Optoelectronics 2/18/21 Nikhilesh Chawla, Ransburg Professor, School of Materials Engineering 4D Materials Science - Probing Microstructural Evolution Through Time-Resolved Imaging 2/25/21 Sorin Adam Matei, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education, College of Liberal Arts, Professor of Communication, Brian Lamb School of Communication Team Science - what it is, how it works, and why it does not always work the way we want it to work 3/4/21 David Cappelleri, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Microrobotics Research Highlights 3/11/21 Stylianos Chatzidakis, Assistant Professor, School of Nuclear Engineering 3/18/21 Reading Day 3/25/21 Tyler Tallman, Assistant Professor, School of Aeronautics and Astronautics 4/1/21 Alex Chortos, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering 4/8/21 Ajay Malshe, R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering 4/15/21 Suranjan Panigrahi, Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology 4/22/21 Alejandro Strachan, Professor of Materials Engineering 4/29/21 Dead Week 5/6/21 Finals Week Thanks! Jaime Turner Lead Administrative Assistant to the Director | Birck Nanotechnology Center BRK | 1205 W State Street | West Lafayette, IN 47907 o: 765-494-3509<tel:7654943509> | m: 765-491-3064<tel:7654913064> | jjturner(a)purdue.edu<mailto:jjturner@purdue.edu> [83324AA6]<https://www.purdue.edu/>

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Notice: Required for Cleanroom and Lab Access -Third Notice
by Jurss, Stephen E 21 Jan '21

21 Jan '21

Greetings all, It's that time of year again! In order to maintain access to Birck, all BNC laboratory users (including any of the dry, solvent, acid, bio, and cleanroom labs) must obtain this year's annual safety training refresher Passport badge: BNC 151 - 2021 badge<https://www.openpassport.org/Badge/bnc151-2021/Criteria> BNC lab users must obtain this badge by 11:59 PM Sunday, January 24th, or BNC lab access will be revoked. Please direct any questions or issues to sejurss(a)purdue.edu<mailto:sejurss@purdue.edu> and jcwirth(a)purdue.edu<mailto:jcwirth@purdue.edu>. To begin earning the badge, navigate to the following link and click the "Get Started" button: https://www.openpassport.org/Badge/bnc151-2021/Criteria NOTE: If you do not see the "Get Started" button at the badge page, or cannot access the page at all, you need to join the BNC Passport group: 1. Navigate to the BNC Passport Group page: https://www.openpassport.org/Group/bnc 2. Login with your Purdue ID and BoilerKey (if not already logged in) 3. Once at the BNC Passport Group page, click the "Join Group" button. To reiterate the requirements listed on the badge page, obtaining the badge requires: 1. A review of the BNC 151 - 2021 training slides<https://wiki.itap.purdue.edu/download/attachments/95882934/BNC%20151%20-%20…> and the Chemical Hygiene Plan<https://www.purdue.edu/ehps/rem/documents/programs/chp2014.pdf>. 2. Passing a 25 question quiz on content from the BNC 151 - 2021 training slides<https://wiki.itap.purdue.edu/download/attachments/95882934/BNC%20151%20-%20…> and the Chemical Hygiene Plan<http://www.purdue.edu/ehps/rem/documents/programs/chp2014.pdf>. An 80% or better is required to pass. The quiz may be retaken once, if needed. You may refer to the BNC 151 - 2021 training slides<https://wiki.itap.purdue.edu/download/attachments/95882934/BNC%20151%20-%20…> and the Chemical Hygiene Plan<http://www.purdue.edu/ehps/rem/documents/programs/chp2014.pdf> during the quiz. Please note: * If you fail to obtain an 80% after a second attempt on the quiz, your submission must be manually reset. Email Steve Jurss (sejurss(a)purdue.edu<mailto:sejurss@purdue.edu?subject=BNC%20151%20Quiz%20Reset>) with the subject line "BNC 151 Quiz Reset" to setup a meeting to discuss any points of confusion and reset your submission. * BNC laboratory access (to any/all of the dry, solvent, acid, bio, or cleanroom laboratories) will be revoked if not completed by 11:59:59 PM on Sunday, January 24th, 2021. * If not completed by the deadline, users wishing to regain BNC laboratory access will need to retake BNC 111. Safety Officer Stephen Jurss

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New Raman Spectrometer Demonstration: Jan. 26th | 3pm - 4:30pm | via WebEx
by Turner, Jaime J 20 Jan '21

20 Jan '21

Sent on behalf of Alexei Lagoutchev As announced recently, the demonstration of the new DXR3xi Raman spectro-microscope device by ThermoFisher Scientific just installed in Purdue Optics and Spectroscopy Core is scheduled for the next Tuesday, Jan. 26th from 3pm to 4:30pm EST. Due to Covid travel restrictions, the previously planned demonstration on the system installed in Purdue had to be replaced with the demo of the identical system at the factory. The demonstration will be preformed by ThermoFisherc Senior Raman Application Scientist, Alex Rzhevskii. The demo is going to be broadcast over WebEx, please use the information below to connect. Please address any preliminary questions to Purdue maintainer, Alexei Lagoutchev, lagutch(a)purdue.edu<mailto:lagutch@purdue.edu> . https://thermofisher.webex.com/thermofisher/j.php?MTID=mc329b405e0355dd2c64… Meeting number (access code): 145 145 9748 Meeting password: nWMzRFDh743 Thank you, Alexei Lagoutchev, PhD Senior Research Scientist BRK 1276 Birck Nanotechnology Center 1205 W. State Street West Lafayette, IN 47907-2057 Tel.: 765-496-3539, Fax: 765-496-2018 lagutch(a)purdue.edu<mailto:lagutch@purdue.edu>

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Welcome Back!
by Reger, Ronald K 20 Jan '21

20 Jan '21

Dear Birck Research Community, The Birck Leadership Team wants to extend a very warm ‘welcome back’ to everyone here at the start of Spring semester! We hope everyone found some time to disconnect, rest, and recharge! Our facility has been back online since January 4th with the normal hazardous gases turned back on and our staff members available for their usual great support. As you are undoubtedly aware, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to expand and accelerate. This national trend has been evident for the last several weeks and it is no different here at West Lafayette, Purdue, and Birck. We must be even more diligent to honor the Protect Purdue Pledge that we’re all committed to: 1. Protect Myself: Use hand sanitizer frequently and maintain > 6’ social distancing. Report any symptoms to a medical professional. Birck has a number of hand sanitizer stations throughout the facility so please use them regularly. 2. Protect Others: Wearing masks reduces the aerosolization of virus particles, thus protecting others. We have received anonymous notes of concern regarding some of our researchers not using masks at times. While in Birck we have a policy that you must wear a mask. This applies to every area, offices included. Also, look out for others and encourage their faithful commitment to the Pledge. Stay home if you feel ill or after a potential exposure. 3. Protect Our Purdue Community: Keep clothing, belongings, personal spaces & shared common spaces clean and protected. This includes all areas within Birck …… offices, labs, common areas, atriums, restrooms, and the cleanroom. We must all do our part to keep Birck and Purdue a safe place in which to conduct state-of-the-art research. By being extra careful, and by offering reminders to our peers and associates, we can ensure Birck stays open and safely supports our nearly 500 users. Thank you very much for your support of this critically important Pledge. The Birck Leadership Team

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New Raman Spectrometer
by Turner, Jaime J 16 Jan '21

16 Jan '21

Sent on behalf of Alexei Lagoutchev Dear all, The long-awaited replacement for the outdated T64000 Raman Spectrometer at Purdue Optics and Spectroscopy Core has finally arrived, has been installed and is under test. The most important new feature of the DXR3xi spectro-microscope device by ThermoFisher Scientific is its ability to perform Raman mapping. Jsut as the old one, the new device is going to be available through iLab. A remote demonstration of the new device capabilities is preliminary scheduled to be performed during the week of January 24th. The exact date, schedule and connection details will be announced shortly. Several groups have already agreed to supply the samples for the planned demonstration. The new device has an accessory to record spectra from bulk samples, e.g., powders and liquids. If any group is interested to test such samples during the demonstration, please get in touch with the maintainer, Alexei Lagoutchev, lagutch(a)purdue.edu<mailto:lagutch@purdue.edu> Thank you, Alex -- Alexei Lagoutchev, PhD Senior Research Scientist BRK 1276 Birck Nanotechnology Center 1205 W. State Street West Lafayette, IN 47907-2057 Tel.: 765-496-3539, Fax: 765-496-2018 lagutch(a)purdue.edu<mailto:lagutch@purdue.edu>

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Update on UPW and Cleanroom
by Reger, Ronald K 14 Jan '21

14 Jan '21

Dear Birck Cleanroom Research Community, The UltraPure Water system has performed normally through the night after it was restarted yesterday, and the humidification of the cleanroom is stabilizing at the setpoint of 45%. In order to allow total stabilization and to allow the engineering staff to check cleanroom tools, we will reopen the cleanroom at 12:00 noon today, Thursday, January 14th. The lab fume hoods will reopen at this time as well. Note, the east wing air handler repair is continuing and we anticipate opening up those labs shortly, but a separate announcement will be forthcoming regarding the east wing labs. Many thanks to the engineering and facility people involved in fixing this UPW issue so expediently. Birck Management

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UltraPure Water Issue
by Reger, Ronald K 13 Jan '21

13 Jan '21

Dear Birck Users, On Tuesday evening at about 9:00 pm the UltraPure Water system went offline. All pumps shut down and UPW supply was halted. This affects many areas of Birck......UPW to fume hoods, hydrogen generator, burn boxes, dicing saws, and very importantly, the humidification of the cleanroom. Looking at the issue on Tuesday night Tim Miller discovered the control computer was down and all control outputs were off. Attempts to restart the system were unsuccessful late into the night. Because of UPW being used in so many systems we have closed the cleanroom until this problem is resolved and systems are stabilized. The cleanroom humidity is running at about 15% without humidification, and this can cause static discharge on devices and individuals. Additionally no acid or solvent work is possible without having UPW, and our burn boxes are down without UPW. Also we have closed all acid hoods in the labs, and dicing saws should not be used. Tim contacted a knowledgeable field engineer this morning and with his guidance we were able to restart the UPW control computer. We don't know why the control computer went offline, but with it running now we're in the process of cycling the water softeners, bringing up UPW pressure, cycling the filters, and eventually getting the humidifiers running and stabilized. If the control computer continues to run this UPW stabilization process will take several hours, and with no more computer issues we anticipate the cleanroom may be able to be reopened sometime tomorrow. We were very fortunate to get the system back up and hopefully it stays up with no additional failures. Thanks for your support and patience during this time. Birck Management

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