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Starting in 2017, the LRSM and Singh Center for Nanotechnology hosted monthly field trips for Philadelphia middle and high school students. During these visits, students had introductory lessons on Materials Science and Nanotechnology and suited up for the clean room at the Quattrone Nanofabrication facility, where they observed and, when possible, assisted with lithography and soft-lithography. 124 students from four schools participated in the field trip program, of which 81% were URM and 96% were low-income (i.e., they qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch program).

The CDCM Arts+Sciences Collaboratory Residence Program is educating MRSEC students, post-docs and faculty about the ways in which contemporary artists are using and developing advanced technologies.

The objective of this effort is to design and develop well defined p-n heterostructures that allow the investigation of their optoelectronic properties due to interfacial interactions.

Nebraska MRSEC researchers have proposed a new concept to design high-performance ferroelectric tunnel junctions with enhanced tunneling electroresistance (TER). This design exploits property of a polar oxide material to create an ionic charge at the interface.

Teachers from Wisconsin and Puerto Rico came together in Puerto Rico in July 2017 for the capstone week of their Research Experiences for Teachers Program.

MXenes are two-dimensional (2D) ceramics made of transition metal carbides and nitrides. Unlike other 2D ceramics, MXenes have inherently good conductivity and thus are promising for various applications. Probing the local physical properties of MXenes monolayers is important for the understanding of their functional performance. Nebraska MRSEC researchers in collaboration with their colleagues at Drexel University have developed an improved method for synthesis of monolayer membranes of Nb4C3Tx MXene.

Many advanced drugs acting in cells are made of DNA fragments.  Since DNA is biologically active and destroyed if not recognized, a major challenge for this kind of medicine is getting the DNA into selected target cells.  SMRC researchers have found that soap-like molecules that form nanometer-size spherical particles in water and that have a DNA-like component as part of their molecular structure can act as effective carriers of therapeutic DNA for cancer treatment.

At Nebraska MRSEC’s Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physical Sciences (WoPhyS), participants present research accomplishments, attend keynote talks, participate in graduate school preparation workshops, and tour UNL facilities and labs.

“Phase transition” is a term which is commonly used to describe transformations between solid, liquid, and gaseous states of matter. However, even in solids, phase transitions may occur between different structural phases, resulting in a discontinuous change of certain material properties, such as electrical conductivity and heat capacity, which can be used in technological applications. Many phase transitions in solids involve ultrafast motion in the atomic positions towards a new equilibrium configuration.

In response to the needs of teachers, the UCSB MRSEC has placed a new focus on the development of maker activities for K-12 students. These encourage the integration of maker activities into the school curriculum as well as within out-of-school environments (Maker Faires), supporting the adoption of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).