MONDAY MEMO, January 14, 2008 **************** 1. Announcements **************** 1.1: REMINDER: Any reservations made last Fall have been deleted; you must renew your group meetings every semester. Use the RAT system (https://engineering.purdue.edu/ECN/Resources/Tools/RAT/index_local) to request rooms for your Spring Semester Group Meetings. Once at the RAT website, select ³Birck²; then click on ³Request Reservation² on the left-hand column of the page that comes up. We have Melissa Lane coordinating all reservations so that she may keep a back up calendar, in the event that RAT would crash (similar to the events at the beginning of the Fall semester). 1.2: Try your Monday Memo via RSS feed: http://www.purdue.edu/dp/Nanotechnology/Resources/fac_resources.php *********************** 2. BIRCK TOURS/VISITORS *********************** 1.2: Tuesday, January 15, 9:55AM: Krannert Advising Office personnel. 1.2: Tuesday, January 15, 2:30PM: Dr. Michael Manfra, Candidate, Experimental Condensed Matter Physics 2.3: Thursday, January 17, 11:45AM: Albena Ivanisevic¹s EPICS lab class. ******************** 3. SEMINARS ******************** 3.1: Tuesday, January 15, 4:00PM, PHYS 223; refreshments 3:30PM, PHYS 242): ³Life in the 2nd Landau level: Bubbles, stripes, and non-Abelian quantum Hall states,² by Dr. Michael Manfra. Semiconductor heterostructures form the basis for many of our modern technologies, ranging from high-speed transistors to the laser diode. They also provide an ideal playground for exploring the physics of interacting electrons in two dimensions. When a perpendicular magnetic field is applied to a two-dimensional electron gas, the electronic density of states is transformed into a series of discrete, highly degenerate, states known as Landau levels (LL). At high fields, all of the electrons can be accommodated within a single LL known as the lowest (N=0) LL. Within the lowest LL, transport is dominated by the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE). The strong correlations of the FQHE in the lowest LL are now understood in the framework an intuitively appealing model of weakly interacting composite fermions. At lower magnetic fields where more than one LL is occupied, physics is much more complicated. In this regime the FQHE competes with other correlated, but inhomogeneous, ground states, producing some spectacular transport signatures at low temperatures. In this talk I will describe our efforts to understand and modify the possible ground states in the higher LL¹s of extremely high mobility two-dimensional electron and hole systems. In addition, I will detail our experimental efforts to confine the fragile FQHE at filling factor 5/2 in micron scale geometries. The quasiparticles of the 5/2 state are believed to obey non-Abelian statistics. Small scale devices in which the 5/2 state¹s quasiparticles can be manipulated may someday provide a platform for quantum computation. 3.2: Tuesday, January 15, 7:00PM, Class of 1950 Lecture Hall: ³What should be the future of biofuels? An open discussion and debate,² sponsored by the Center for the Environment Featuring a panel of Purdue experts who will discuss their perspectives on the environmental, technical, and policy related issues surrounding the increasing production and promotion of biofuels. Following brief statements from each panelist, questions will be taken from the audience. Participants will include: ModeratorDr. Bernie Tao, Indiana Soybean Professor in Soybean Utilization in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering; and PanelistsDr. Mike Ladisch, Director, Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering and Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Eng; Dr. Larry Nies, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Division of Environmental & Ecological Engineering; Dr. Wally Tyner, Professor of Agricultural Economics and June 2007 Lugar Energy Patriot; and Dr. Tony Vyn, Professor of Agronomy 3.3: Wednesday, January 16, 2:30PM, EE317: ³Multiphase Gallium Nitride Nanowires and Nanocircuits,² by Virginia Ayres ASBSTRACT: Catalyst-free vapor-solid nanowire growth, a newly described method for the production of nanowires compatible with a wide variety of semiconductor materials, has been used to produce novel multiphase zinc-blende/wurtzite gallium nitride nanowires. Orientation relation-ships within the multiphase nanowire were observed using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy of cross-sections created with focused ion beam techniques. A totally coherent interface be-tween the zinc blende and wurtzite phases, which is sustained over the entire length of the nanowire, is identified and discussed. Multiphase nanowire growth occurs at specific nanoscale nucleation sites on platelets of gallium nitride. Furnace growth temperature has been shown to exert a strong influence on nucleation site formation. The types of nanowires that form and the corresponding nanowire nucleation sites over the furnace growth temperature range 850-1000°C are discussed. Multiphase nanowires may have novel properties that augment and may be superior to single-phase nanowires in device applications. The electronic performance of the new multiphase nanowires in a NanoFET configuration is investigated using 2-point and 4-point probe current-voltage characterizations. The current-voltage characterizations were carried in a special nano-probing system, in which oxide sharpened ~30 nm radius tungsten nanoprobes were coupled to directly a nanowire while the experiments were directly visualized using a scanning electron microscope. All measurements showed high current densities. Evidence for single-phase current transport within the multiphase nanowire structure is discussed. Novel multiphase gallium nitride nanowires and nano-circuits may provide unique flexibility for photon and carrier confinement. *with collaborators: B.W. Jacobs, K. McElroy, M.A. Crimp, Michigan State University; J.B. Halpern, and M-Q. He, Howard University; H.C. Shaw, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; M.P. Petkov, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. BIO: Virginia M. Ayres is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and heads the Electronic and Biological Nanostructures Laboratory (http://www.egr.msu.edu/ebnl <http://www.egr.msu.edu/ebnl> ) at Michigan State University. Her research interests include the reduced dimensionality-based electronic properties of nanotubes and nanowires. Dr. Ayres earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in Physics from Purdue University, and her B.A. in Physics and Biophysics from the Johns Hopkins University. She is the recipient of two NASA Faculty Fellowship Awards and of two international awards from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science and from Tokyo Institute of Technology for research and education in Japan. 3.4: Thursday, January 17, 12:30PM, Pfendler Auditorium 241: ³Advances in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering,² by Robert S. Langer, Sc.D.; Draper Award Winner; Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 2007 National Medal of Science Recipient; Member of the National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine. Advances in drug delivery and tissue engineering are revolutionizing medical therapies. New drug delivery technologies including novel polymers and intelligent microchips promise to create new treatments for cancer, heart disease, and many other illnesses. Furthermore, by combining mammalian cells with synthetic polymers, new approaches for engineering tissues are being developed that may someday help repair tissues for patients with burns, damaged cartilage, paralysis and vascular disease. **************** 4. Opportunities **************** 4.1: Per the VPR¹s office, the National Institutes of Health has issued an RFA for Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research. This program¹s purpose ³is to establish and maintain strong infrastructure and multifaceted research and development activities to provide scientific information and translational research capacity that will facilitate the next generation of therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines against the NIAID Category A-C Priority Pathogens and emerging infectious diseases agents.² The full program announcement may be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AI-08-002.html <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AI-08-002.html> . For this competition, an institution may submit one proposal. Internal deadlines are as follows: Monday, March 17: Letters of Intent due to the OVPR; Monday, April 21: Preproposals due to the OVPR; Thursday, April 24: Preproposal rankings due to the OVPR. Please note: Letters of intent, preproposals, and rankings to the OVPR should be e-mailed to OVPRlimited@purdue.edu. Purdue's limited submission policy and template for letters of intent may be found at http://dagon.admin.purdue.edu/cgi-bin/lsid.cgi <http://dagon.admin.purdue.edu/cgi-bin/lsid.cgi> . For any case in which the number of internal letters of intent received is no more than the number of proposals allowed by the sponsor, the OVPR will notify the PI that an internal preproposal will be unnecessary. 4.2: Per the VPRs office, a new opportunity on ³Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Biology and Medicine (R01)² has been anncouned. Visit http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-08-052.html <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-08-052.html> for a full description. This opportunity (FOA) is aimed at enhancing nanoscience and nanotechnology research focused on problems in biology and medicine. A major challenge facing medicine is to develop novel and more sophisticated approaches for the diagnosis, treatment and management of an array of diseases and traumatic injuries. Nanotechnology and nanoscience have the capacity to drive a new wave of medical innovation through the engineering of bioactive nanoscale structures, processes and systems based on the advancement of our understanding of biology at the nanoscale. 4.3: Limited Submission Competition: NSF Ethics Education in Science and Engineering, on behalf of Christine King The National Science Foundation has issued a new RFP for the above program, which ³accepts proposals for research and educational projects to improve ethics education in all of the fields of science and engineering that NSF supports, especially in interdisciplinary or inter-institutional contexts. Proposals must focus on improving ethics education for graduate students in those fields, although the proposed programs may benefit advanced undergraduates in addition to graduate students.² The full program announcement may be found at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08530/nsf08530.htm <http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08530/nsf08530.htm> . For this competition, an institution may submit one proposal as lead organization. Internal deadlines are as follows: Monday, January 28: Letters of Intent due to the OVPR; Monday, February 18: Preproposals due to the OVPR; Thursday, February 21: Preproposal rankings due to the OVPR. Please note: Letters of intent, preproposals, and rankings to the OVPR should be e-mailed to OVPRlimited@purdue.edu. Purdue's limited submission policy and template for letters of intent may be found at http://dagon.admin.purdue.edu/cgi-bin/lsid.cgi <http://dagon.admin.purdue.edu/cgi-bin/lsid.cgi> . For any case in which the number of internal letters of intent received is no more than the number of proposals allowed by the sponsor, the OVPR will notify the PI that an internal preproposal will be unnecessary. 4.4: Innovative Technologies for Molecular Analysis of Cancer (R21) Application Receipt Dates: March 11, 2008; May 29, 2008; September 24, 2008 Purpose. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), solicits grant applications proposing exploratory research projects focused on the inception and early stage development of highly innovative cancer-relevant technologies. The emphasis of this FOA is on technically innovative molecular analysis tools with the potential to add a new quality to the investigations of the molecular basis of cancer (e.g., by facilitating the detection of cancer-related characteristics/alterations at the molecular and cellular levels of organization and function). These technologies may be intended for molecular analyses in vitro, in situ, and/or in vivo. Responsive ³technologies² encompass relevant methods, techniques, tools, instrumentation, and devices (but not software or informatics solutions). This funding opportunity is part of a broader NCI-sponsored Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) Program. Several IMAT FOAs of identical or closely related scientific scope using various funding mechanisms are available. To facilitate selection, a separate Notice in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts provides brief cross-comparison and links to all the IMAT FOAs. See NOT-CA-08-003 <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-CA-08-003.html <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-CA-08-003.html> <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-CA-08-003.html > > . 4.5: Application of Emerging Technologies for Cancer Research (R21) Purpose. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), solicits grant applications proposing exploratory research projects to evaluate the performance of emerging molecular analysis technologies and develop applications for an appropriate cancer-relevant biological system. These systems may cover cancer-relevant molecular analyses in vitro, in situ, and/or in vivo. The thrust of effort in the projects proposed in response to this FOA must be on emerging technology application rather than on technology development. Emerging technology² is one that has passed the initial developmental stage and shows promise but has not been evaluated/developed in the context of the proposed application and has not been commercialized. Responsive ³technologies² encompass relevant methods, techniques, tools, instrumentation, and devices (but not software or informatics solutions). This FOA is part of the broader NCI-sponsored program Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT). Several IMAT FOAs of identical or closely related scientific scope using various funding mechanisms are available. To facilitate selection, a separate Notice in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts provides a brief cross-comparison and links to all the IMAT FOAs. See NOT-CA-08-003. <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-CA-08-003.html <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-CA-08-003.html> <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-CA-08-003.html > > 4.6: Application of Emerging Technologies for Cancer Research (R33) Purpose. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), solicits grant applications proposing exploratory research projects to evaluate the performance of emerging molecular analysis technologies and develop applications for an appropriate cancer-relevant biological system. These systems may cover cancer-relevant molecular analyses in vitro, in situ, and/or in vivo. The thrust of effort in the projects proposed in response to this FOA must be on emerging technology application rather than on technology development. Responsive ³technologies² encompass relevant methods, techniques, tools, instrumentation, and devices (but not software or informatics solutions). This FOA is part of the broader NCI-sponsored program Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT). Several IMAT FOAs of identical or closely related scientific scope using various funding mechanisms are available. To facilitate selection, a separate Notice in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts provides a brief cross-comparison and links to all the IMAT FOAs; see NOT-CA-08-003. <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-CA-08-003.html <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-CA-08-003.html> <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-CA-08-003.html > > ****************** 5. Life on the Outside ****************** 5.1: Quit SMOKING Now for FREE! If you¹ve been thinking about quitting smoking, there¹s never been a better time than now to do it! And, for a limited time, there is extra help out therejust for you. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, talk with a counselor, and enroll today with the Indiana Tobacco Quitline. You¹ll receive a FREE, two-week supply of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (gum or patches), while supplies last. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW and get your start today! There¹s never been a better time to quit! Deborah S. Starewich Administrative Assistant to Timothy D. Sands, Director Birck Nanotechnology Center Purdue University 765-494-3509 dstarewi@ecn.purdue.edu http://www.nano.purdue.edu/