Acquisition of an Ultra-High-Vacuum Variable-Temperature Scanning Probe Microscope for the Study of Nanoscale Dynamics in Complex Materials and Education

Northeastern University, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

0075931 Israeloff An award is made to the Northeastern University for the acquisition of state-of-the-art low-temperature ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) scanning-probe-microscope. Fluctuations in properties on a length scale somewhat larger than atomic scale are increasingly important in complex materials such as glasses, polymers, proteins, ceramics, and small devices. These mesoscopic scale fluctuations are believed to arise because molecules must rearrange cooperatively, an important but poorly understood phenomena occurring in many systems. Nanoscale cooperativity will be directly studied in various complex materials using powerful new nanoscale spectroscopies which require a state-of-the-art low-temperature ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) scanning-probe-microscope. Through cooperative and experiential education programs, undergraduates will participate in research with this state-of-the-art instrument, gaining valuable nano-science experience and enabling them to contribute to important nano-technologies of the future. ***