It is a great pleasure to open this second issue of the CNM’s newsletter with a very exciting update. Following two years in which the CNM’s funding was more constrained than we had hoped, the FY 2009 Omnibus Funding Bill has provided the CNM with an increased operating budget for this fiscal year that reaches the Department of Energy's (DOE’s) original vision for the Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NRSCs) program. The support of the new administration, Congress, and DOE, as well as the advocacy of the DOE user facility community, is very gratefully acknowledged.

I am also very happy to report that the CNM will receive money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will allow us to expand our user program portfolio. These funds will be used for five capabilites: expansion of our computer cluster to triple its capacity; a cleanroom PECVD system for deposition of oxides and nitrides; upgrade of the CNM’s NSOM for significantly faster data acquisition and new imaging methods; a temperature stage and sample handler for the X-ray nanoprobe; and a two-color near-infrared transient absorption and emission spectrometer. These will nicely supplement other new equipment that the CNM is already in the process of acquiring, including a CVD system for deposition of carbon nanotubes, and a field-emission TEM.

While state-of-the-art capabilities such as those above are essential, the CNM’s identity is ultimately created and defined by our staff. Please join me in welcoming our most recent suite of new hires – David Czaplewski and Alexandra Imre (transitioning from her postdoctoral appointment to a full-time staff position) in the Nanofabrication and Devices group, Stuart Feinberg for additional ESH support, and Peter Fuez from Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source, who will be part of the X-ray nanoprobe team that is jointly staffed by the APS and CNM. We are also pleased to announce that Eric Isaacs, former CNM Director, has assumed his new role as Director of Argonne National Laboratory.

Finally, DOE just hosted its first NSRC Contractors’ Meeting, June 3-5, 2009. Staff and user representatives from each of the five centers gathered to discuss their research, providing an excellent opportunity for cross-fertilization across the NSRC program. We expect this to be a triennial event and look forward to the interactions among the NSRCs that this meeting has helped to nucleate.

Please read on for more news about the CNM, and I look forward to seeing you here at Argonne!

-- Stephen Streiffer, Interim Director

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Call for Proposals Deadline: July 10, 2009

Announcing! The next call-for-proposals deadline is July 10, 2009. The system is open to submissions beginning on June 10, 2009. (More >>)

CNM Users Meeting: October 5-7, 2009

The Center for Nanoscale Materials will host a stand-alone users meeting this year to better serve its active and robust user community.The CNM Users' Executive Committee is actively planning the plenary and science sessions, topical focus sessions (speakers by invitation only), and the poster session. Other events will include a two-day vendor exhibit, a variety of short courses, and a social banquet. Registration will open in late summer or early fall; anyone is welcome to register for the meeting. Please contact the CNM User Office for more details.

NUFO Holds Annual Meeting at Argonne

The sixth annual meeting of the National User Facilities Organization (NUFO) is being held at Argonne on June 10-12, 2009. (More >>)

Argonne Public Open House Date Set

Argonne's public open house is scheduled for Saturday, August 29, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bring the family! (More >>)

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User Research

New Gas Sensor Based on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Collaborative users from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and CNM staff in the Nanofabrication & Devices Group have fabricated a miniaturized gas sensor using hybrid nanostructures consisting of SnO2 nanocrystals supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes. (More >>)

SERS of Semiconducting Hybrid Nanoparticles

Collaborative users from the University of Queensland, Australia, and Northwestern University, together with the Nanobio Interfaces Group, have reported strong enhancement of selected Raman-active modes of biologically active enediol molecules adsorbed on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles. (More >>)

Improved Solar Cells

Collaborative users from the University of Chicago, along with CNM researchers in the Electronic & Magnetic Materials & Devices Group and the Nanobio Interfaces Group, presented a new in situ ultraviolet (UV) polymerization method for growing polythiophene inside TiO2 nanotubes and compare this method to the conventional approach of infiltrating nanotubes with presynthesized polymer. (More >>)

Staff Research

New Platinum Catalysts for Dehydrogenation of Propane

Research published in Nature Materials describes new platinum catalysts for the dehydrogenation of propane discovered by CNM scientists from the Theory & Modeling and Nanophotonics Groups. (More >>)

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LSM 510 META Laser Scanning Microscope

Conventional multifluorescence microscopy reaches its limit when emission signals of the dyes overlap. The CNM’s LSM 510 META solves this problem and creates brilliant images with rich information content. The design implements the confocal principle in a unique way, allowing multifluorescence images to be collected without compromising resolution and efficiency. For excitation of fluorescent dyes and fluorescent proteins, the instrument has different lasers emitting a number of lines in the ultraviolet and visible spectral ranges. The system is also equipped to use direct or fiber-coupled tunable short-pulse lasers for multiphoton excitation.

The distinctive features of this instrument include:

• Emission fingerprinting
• Online fingerprinting
• Dynamic spectral analysis
• FRET and FRAP measurements to track biological function
• Physiology software
• Quantitative colocalization
• Multitracking – metatracking
• Three-dimensional visualization
• Multifluorescence

Contact Dr. Tijana Rajh, Leader of the Nanobio Interfaces Group, for information regarding this exceptional capability for your potential user science research.

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Tijana Rajh, Group Leader of the CNM Nanobio Interfaces Group, received the Third Annual Innovator Award from the Association for Women in Science Chicago Chapter. More information can be found at the AWIS-Chicago web site.

Tiffany Santos, CNM Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in the Electronic & Magnetic Materials & Devices Group, has been awarded a L'Oreal USA Fellowship for Women in Science for her work in materials science at the CNM. (More >>)

Yugang Sun, staff scientist in the Nanophotonics Group, received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) to recognize his contribution to the advancement of science. (More >>)

Paul Podsiadlo, Willard Frank Libby Postdoctoral Fellow in the Nanobio Interfaces Group, won second prize in the international 2009 Quadrant Award competition for the best Ph.D. thesis in the field of materials and processes related to engineering and high-performance plastics and composites. Dr. Podsiadlo was one of 6 finalists invited to the final judging round and awards ceremony at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland in January 2009. (More >>)

Orlando Auciello, who holds a dual staff appointment in CNM's Nanofabrication & Devices Group and Argonne's Materials Science Division, was elected an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow in February 2009 and also a Materials Research Society Fellow in April 2009.

Axel Hoffmann, a dual staff member of CNM's Electronic & Magnetic Materials & Devices Group and Argonne's Materials Science Divisions, became an IEEE Senior Member in March 2009.

Dmitri Talapin received an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in February 2009; Prof. Talapin holds joint appointments at CNM's Nanobio Interfaces Group and the University of Chicago.

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