Theiss Research

VACUUM DOUBLE CRYSTAL SPECTROMETER THE KEY TO IMPROVED X-RAY REFERENCE DATA

ADVANCED PROCESS DEVELOPMENT FOR SQUID MULITPLEXERS

SUPERCONDUCTING SENSOR AND READOUT DEVELOPMENT

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP IN-SITU ELECTRON MICROSCOPY MEASUREMENTS ON NOVEL LOW-DIMENSIONAL ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, TRANSITION METAL CHALCOGENIDES, FOR ADVANCED MICROELECTRONICS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL DEVELOP NEW METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH FOR DETECTING AND QUANTIFYING MICROSTRUCTURAL AND ELECTRONIC PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS IN TRANSITION METAL CHALCOGENIDE THIN LAYERS UNDER THERMAL AND ELECTRICAL IN-SITU BIASING IN TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE (TEM).EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCHERS ARE DESIGNING THE PROTOCOL FOR IN-SITU TEM CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIALS AND DEVICE PLATFORMS FOR NOVEL ELECTRONIC DEVICES. IT WILL INCLUDE METHODOLOGY FOR TRANSFERRING ULTRA-THIN LAYERS OF TRANSITION METAL CHALCOGENIDES ONTO TEM HOLDERS FOR IN-SITU HEATING AND ELECTRICAL BIASING, ON-CHIP FABRICATION OF ELECTRICAL CONTACTS TO THESE LAYERS DIRECTLY ON THE TEM HOLDER, AND IN-OPERANDO MACROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION UNDER HEAT TREATMENT AND APPLIED ELECTRICAL BIAS DURING OPERATION. A SUITE OF CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES WILL ALLOW DETERMINING THE DYNAMICS OF PHASE TRANSFORMATION AND OTHER CRITICAL PROCESSES IN ULTRA-THIN LAYERS AND DEVICE HETEROSTRUCTURES TO ENABLE IMPROVED MATERIAL AND DEVICE DESIGN FOR ADVANCED MICROELECTRONICS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE IN-SITU MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUES THAT WILL BE DEVELOPED THROUGH THIS GRANT WILL ENABLE A BREAK-THROUGH IN THE FIELD OF MEASUREMENT SCIENCE OF PHASE TRANSFORMATION AND RELATED ELECTRONIC PROCESSES AND WILL HAVE A PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE TECHNOLOGY OF 2D MATERIALS FOR ADVANCED MICROELECTRONICS, THUS BENEFITING BOTH ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL R&D COMMUNITIES.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

ALGORITHMS FOR IMAGE AND SHAPE ANALYSIS IN 3D

SECURITY AND SAFETY IMAGING AND METROLOGY: FROM THE X-RAY TO THE RADIO FREQUENCY

IN SITU TEM STUDY OF THE PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS IN 2D MATERIALS FOR NOVEL COMPUTING APPLICATIONS

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT IS TO USE A NOVEL TECHNIQUE, SOLUTION BLOW SPINNING, TO DEVELOP MODEL SYSTEMS, EVALUATE THEM, AND FURTHER THE COMMUNITY'S UNDERSTANDING OF STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS OF NOVEL FIBROUS COMPOSITE SYSTEMS. THIS WILL FURTHER IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR PERFORMANCE AND LONG-TERM IMPLEMENTATION INTO PROTECTIVE MATERIALS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL DEVELOP TUNABLE, SPRAYABLE POLYMERIC NANCOMPOSITES THAT SERVE AS A MODEL SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTATION IN PROTECTIVE SYSTEMS. ONCE THESE MATERIALS ARE DEVELOPED AND PREPARED, THEY WILL BE CHARACTERIZED USING SPECTROSCOPY, MICROSCOPY, AND MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE TESTS. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE USED TO REFINE THE PROCEDURES FOR PREPARING THESE MODEL MATERIALS. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE DISSEMINATED TO THE PUBLIC TO FURTHER UNDERSTANDING OF THE STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS OF THESE SYSTEMS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A METHOD TO USE SOLUTION BLOW SPINNING TO PREPARE MODEL MATERIALS THAT CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO PROTECTIVE SYSTEMS TO OPTIMIZE SPECIFIC PROPERTIES. THEY WILL USE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES DEVELOPED IN MATERIALS SCIENCE: (1) TO CHARACTERIZE THE SPAYING PROCESS AND OPTIMIZE SPRAYING PARAMETERS TO ACHIEVE THE MOST USEFUL MATERIALS; (2) TO UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STRUCTURE OF THESE MATERIALS, THEIR CHEMICAL, PHYSICAL, AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES TO HELP REFINE AND IMPROVE THESE MATERIALS IN THE FUTURE; AND (3) TO EXPLORE THE USEFULNESS OF THESE MATERIALS FOR PROTECTIVE APPLICATIONS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE INFORMATION GENERATED FROM THIS RESEARCH CAN BE USED BY RESEARCHERS WORKING ON IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF PROTECTIVE MATERIALS SUCH AS BODY ARMOR. THE PUBLICLY ARCHIVED DATA MAY ALSO SUPPORT BETTER MODELING AND MATERIALS DISCOVERY FOR AMOR SYSTEMS. BOTH OF THESE OUTCOMES MAY ULTIMATELY RESULT IN MORE COMFORTABLE, HIGHER PERFORMING PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOR USE BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OR MILITARY USERS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO IMPROVE TEMPERATURE REALIZATION CELLS THAT ARE USED TO CALIBRATE THE STANDARD PLATINUM RESISTANCE THERMOMETERS. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE MAIN GOALS OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO IMPROVE THE REALIZATION, MAINTENANCE, AND DISSEMINATION OF THE ITS-90, AND TO PROMOTE THE ACCESS TO THE TECHNICAL INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE UPDATED BEST PRACTICES FOR REALIZING THE SCALE. THIS PROJECT CAN BE SUBDIVIDED IN FOUR TOPICS, AS FOLLOWS:A) ITS-90 FIXED-POINTS CELLS: INVESTIGATION OF TRADITIONAL ITS-90 FIXED-POINT CELLS, REALIZATION TECHNIQUES, SOURCES OF MEASUREMENT ERRORS, SUCH AS IMMERSION, HEAT FLUX AND SELF-HEATING, AND THE CAUSES OF CELL FAILURE; INVESTIGATION OF THE USE OF SEALED CELLS FOR SPRT AND THERMOCOUPLE CALIBRATIONS.B) NOVEL FIXED-POINTS CELLS: INVESTIGATION OF NOVEL FIXED POINTS, SUCH AS THE TRIPLE POINTS OF SF6 AND CO2, AS ALTERNATIVES TO REDUCE THE DEPENDENCE ON THE MERCURY TRIPLE POINT IN THE ITS-90; DETERMINATION OF THEIR REALIZATION TEMPERATURES; INVESTIGATION OF THE IMPACT OF CALIBRATIONS AT THESE POINTS INSTEAD OF THE HG POINT ON THE INTERPOLATED TEMPERATURES.C) IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SCALE: INVESTIGATION OF THE NON-UNIQUENESS AND SUB-RANGE INCONSISTENCIES IN THE ITS-90 INTERPOLATION FUNCTIONS; INVESTIGATE ALTERNATIVE INTERPOLATION FUNCTIONS TO THE CURRENTLY ADOPTED IN THE SCALE, IF NECESSARY.D) DISSEMINATION OF TECHNICAL INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC: PUBLICATION OF THE PROJECT?S ACHIEVEMENTS IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS; PRESENTATIONS IN TECHNICAL CONFERENCES; DEVELOPING MATERIAL AND LEADING TRAINING COURSES TO THE TEMPERATURE COMMUNITY IN THE USA AND ABROAD.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES INCLUDE CHARACTERIZING FIXED-POINT CELLS, BY MEASURING THEIR PHASE TRANSITION TEMPERATURES, AND ASSESSING PARAMETERS SUCH AS PLATEAU LENGTH, SLOPE, IMMERSION PROFILE AND THERMAL ANCHORAGE TO THE REALIZATION APPARATUS AND EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT; CHARACTERIZING SPRTS IN THE FIXED-POINT CELLS THAT COVER THE ITS-90 RANGE, AS WELL AS IN THE NOVEL FIXED-POINTS CELLS, BY MEASURING THEIR ELECTRICAL RESISTANCES AND THEIR DEVIATIONS WITH RELATION TO THE REFERENCE VALUES, AND BY ASSESSING OTHER PARAMETERS SUCH AS SELF-HEATING AND HEAT FLUX; ANALYSIS AND CONSOLIDATION OF EXPERIMENTAL DATA, INCLUDING THE CALCULATION OF THE MEASUREMENT UNCERTAINTIES AND INTERPOLATION FUNCTIONS; AND PREPARATION OF SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES FOR PUBLICATION IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS, SUCH AS THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THERMOPHYSICS OR METROLOGIA.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: BY DEMOCRATIZING THE REALIZATION OF THE ITS-90 SCALE THROUGH NEW CELL DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY (AND REPLACING THE TOXIC MERCURY CELL), COMPANIES WILL BE ABLE TO PERFORM ITS-90 SCALE REALIZATIONS ON-SITE WHETHER THAT BE IN A RESEARCH LABORATORY, CALIBRATION LABORATORY, OR ON THE MANUFACTURING FLOOR.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

DEVELOPING A MATERIALS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MATERIALS DESIGN: DATA DEVELOPMENT FOR GAMMA/GAMMA-PRIME COBALT-BASED SUPERALLOYS

DEVELOPING BEST IN THE WORLD INERTIAL, VIBRATION, AND SHOCK METROLOGY

RECONCILIATION OF METHOD-DEPENDENT BIASES IN NANOPARTICLE SIZE MEASUREMENTS

IN SITU THERMAL MAGIC: AN SI-TRACEABLE METHOD FOR 3D THERMAL MAGNETIC IMAGING AND CONTROL

TEST METHODS IN UNDERSTANDING INTERFACIAL INTERACTIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURED COMPOSITES FOR MULTIFUNCTIONAL APPLICATIONS

ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS FOR SHAPE MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS

ADAPTABLE AND HIGHLY SENSITIVE ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE TECHNIQUE USING INTERFEROMETRIC MICROWAVE BRIDGE AND LOW NOISE, HIGH SPEED, AND LOW TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

PURPOSE: MICROWAVE MULTIPLEXING IS A POWERFUL READOUT TECHNIQUE, ALLOWING MEASUREMENTS USING LARGE SUPER-CONDUCTING SENSOR ARRAYS WITH UNPRECEDENTEDLY HIGH NUMBER OF DETECTOR PIXELS, BUT IT IS HARD TO USE BECAUSE IT REQUIRES SPECIAL ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE. THE GRANT PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP NOVEL FIRMWARE AND SOFTWARE WILL MAKE IT MORE ACCESSIBLE TO SCIENTISTS OF VARIOUS FIELDS WITHOUT THE SPECIAL ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: DEVELOP AND SUPPLY PRE-COMPILED FPGA BITFILES (PROGRAMS), AND A FOUNDATION (THE BITFILES' SOURCE CODE) TO BUILD ON.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL FIRMWARE AND SOFTWARE FOR MICROWAVE MULTIPLEXING AS PROPOSED WILL ENABLE THE READOUT OF LARGER ARRAYS OF FASTER SENSORS. THESE SENSOR SYSTEMS WILL ENABLE NIST TO MEASURE THE COMPOSITION OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS MORE ACCURATELY, TO MEASURE X-RAYS AND MILLIMETER WAVES FROM DEEP SPACE, AND, MORE GENERALLY, TO MAKE MORE PRECISE MEASUREMENTS OF LIGHT FROM ACROSS THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: IMPROVE THE PUBLIC'S QUALITY OF LIFE AND US ENERGY SECURITY (BY IMPROVING NUCLEAR MATERIAL ACCOUNTANCY, WHICH WILL MAKE NUCLEAR POWER SAFER AND MORE COST-EFFECTIVE). IT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL TO NIST AS THE PROPOSED WORK WILL STRENGTHEN NIST'S PROGRAMS IN APPLICATION-SPACE FOR SUPERCONDUCTING SENSORS WHICH ENCOMPASSES IMPORTANT TOPICS IN BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCE. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

METROLOGIES FOR CHARACTERIZING THE PROPERTIES OF BIOMIMETIC STRUCTURES FOR USE IN ENERGY DISSIPATION APPLICATIONS

PURPOSE:THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP AN INSTRUMENT TO LEVITATE MICROPARTICLES IN VACUUM AND TO USE THE INSTRUMENT TO INVESTIGATE APPROACHES TO CONTROLLING THE QUANTUM STATE OF LEVITATED PARTICLES. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:A VACUUM CHAMBER AND INSTRUMENTATION WILL BE DEVELOPED TO LAUNCH MICROPARTICLES AND TRAP THEM IN VACUUM USING A LASER AT 1064 NM WAVELENGTH. THE CAPACITY TO MEASURE THE PARTICLE MOTION WILL BE INCLUDED BY ADDING A LASER BEAM AT VISIBLE WAVELENGTH (633 NM) WITH MULTIPLE DETECTORS TO MONITOR THE BEAM TRANSMITTED BY THE PARTICLE. THE OPTICAL SPECTRA OF THE PARTICLES WILL BE MEASURED USING A THIRD BEAM WITH A WAVELENGTH TUNABLE BETWEEN 1530 AND 1630 TO MONITOR THE SCATTERING. THE WAVELENGTHS OF LOW LOSS (HIGH-Q) RESONANCES IN THE OPTICAL SPECTRA WILL BE DETERMINED AND THE RESONANCES IDENTIFIED BY COMPARISON TO CALCULATIONS FROM MIE THEORY. THE VIBRATIONAL SPECTRA OF THE PARTICLES WILL BE MEASURED BY RECORDING THEIR SIGNATURE IN THE OPTICAL SPECTRA. VIBRATIONAL SPECTRA WILL BE RECORDED UNDER VARYING CONDITIONS TO DETERMINE THE EFFICACY OF CONTROL OF THE VIBRATIONAL STATE BY MODULATING THE OPTICAL BEAMS? INTERACTION WITH THE PARTICLE. EXPECTED OUTCOMES:THIS WORK WILL PROVIDE A FACILITY TO PRODUCE HIGHLY ISOLATED MICROPARTICLES BY VACUUM LEVITATION. IT WILL ALSO CREATE A PLATFORM TO STUDY QUANTUM CONTROL IN A RANGE OF NEW SYSTEMS, INCLUDING LARGER SYSTEMS THAN HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY ACHIEVED, VIBRATION IN LEVITATED SYSTEMS, AND ROTATION FOR INERTIAL MEASUREMENT. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES:THE US WILL BENEFIT BY DEVELOPING NEW CAPABILITIES IN CRITICAL AND EMERGING AREAS, INCLUDING QUANTUM SENSING AND RESILIENT POSITIONING, NAVIGATION, AND TIMING. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP, STUDY AND DEMONSTRATE METHODS ON NUMERICALOPTIMIZATION AND INVERSE DESIGN OF MICRODEVICES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN MEASUREMENTSCIENCE.STUDY OF ADVANCED NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION METHODS FOR PHOTONIC AND CAVITY OPTOMECHANICALDEVICES, INCLUDING DEMONSTRATION OF NUMERICAL INVERSE DESIGN TECHNIQUES FOR LARGE AREAMETAGRATING COUPLERS WITH POLARIZATION CONTROL AND NANOSCALE CAVITY OPTOMECHANICAL PROBESWITH OPTIMIZED MECHANICAL MODES AND OPTICAL RESONATORS. IMPLEMENTATION OF ADVANCEDINFORMATION-EFFICIENT MEASUREMENT METHODS USING NANOSCALE CAVITY OPTOMECHANICAL SCANNINGPROBES. METHODS WILL BE MODELED AND IMPLEMENTED VIA SOFTWARE AUTOMATION. FUNDAMENTALSTUDY AND DEMONSTRATION OF MACHINE LEARNING APPROACHES TO NUMERICAL OPTIMIZATION OF DEVICEDESIGNS AND MEASUREMENT METHODS, SUCH AS MACHINE LEARNING FROM FINITE ELEMENTS DATA ANDREINFORCEMENT LEARNING FOR OPTIMAL DESIGN AND MEASUREMENT IMPLEMENTATION.DEVELOPMENT OF DEVICE DESIGNS WITH IMPROVED PERFORMANCE. DEVELOPMENT ANDIMPLEMENTATION OF IMPROVED PHOTOTHERMAL RESONANCE INFRARED MEASUREMENT METHODS FORCHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND THERMAL PROPERTY MAPPING AT THE NANOSCALE WITH REDUCEDUNCERTAINTY AND INCREASED THROUGHPUT. DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF NOVEL METHODOLOGIESFOR USING MACHINE LEARNING IN DEVICE AND MEASUREMENT OPTIMIZATION.NIST RESEARCH PROGRAMS WILL BENEFIT FROM IMPROVEMENTS IN DEVICES AND MEASUREMENTMETHODS. LARGER RESEARCH COMMUNITY AND US INDUSTRY WILL BENEFIT FROM FUNDAMENTAL ADVANCESIN PHOTONIC MICROFABRICATED DEVICE DESIGN KNOWLEDGE AND METHODOLOGIES.THERE ARE NO SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES.

SMART METRICS FOR FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS DESIGN

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO INCREASE THE ACCURACY OF COMPUTATIONAL DIELECTRIC SPECTROSCOPY AND DEVELOP COMPUTATIONAL ACOUSTIC SPECTROSCOPY TO HELP THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY DEVELOP IMPROVED SEPARATIONS TECHNOLOGIES THAT LEVERAGE THE ION PAIRING AND SOLVATION ON STRUCTURE OF SPECIES IN SOLUTION.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:THE RESEARCHER WILL USE MOLECULAR DYNAMICS TO MODEL SOLVENTS, MIXTURES, AND SOLUTIONS. THE DIELECTRIC SPECTRUM WILL BE CONSTRUCTED USING THE DIRECT ELECTRIC FIELD METHOD, AND THE ACOUSTIC SPECTRUM WILL BE CONSTRUCTED USING SIMULATED PRESSURE WAVES. THE ACOUSTIC PORTION OF THE PROJECT WILL REQUIRE METHODS DEVELOPMENTS, AS THESE SIMULATIONS HAVE NOT BEEN DESCRIBED IN THE LITERATURE PRIOR TO NOW.EXPECTED OUTCOMES:THE RESEARCHER WILL PRODUCE DIELECTRIC AND ACOUSTIC SPECTRA THAT CAN BE USED TO UNDERSTAND ION PAIRING AND SOLVATION IN SOLUTION.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES:THE MODELING TOOLS CAN BE USED BY OTHER RESEARCHERS IN THIS FIELD, AND RESEARCHERS WHO FOCUS ON INDUSTRIALLY RELEVANT CHEMICAL SEPARATIONS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES:THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

CHEMICAL FUNCTIONALIZATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL MATERIALS AND DEVICES

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO USE BRILLOUIN LIGHT SCATTERING COUPLED WITH OTHER TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS LOW FREQUENCY RAMAN, TO BUILD A NEW MICROSCOPE TO MODEL AND OPTIMIZE THE PERFORMANCE OF ADVANCED PACKAGING MATERIALS WITH RESPECT TO WARPAGE AND THERMAL OPERATION RANGE, CHARACTERISTICS UNDERLYING DEVICE PERFORMANCE, AND LONGEVITY.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHER WILL APPLY BRILLOUIN LIGHT SCATTERING (BLS) AND LOW FREQUENCY RAMAN (LFR) IMAGING MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUES TO INVESTIGATE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES IN EPOXY COMPOUNDS USED IN SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGING AND CORRELATE THE LOCAL PROPERTIES TO THE PROCESSING CONDITIONS. THE RESEARCHER WILL PERFORM BLS / LFR MEASUREMENTS ON COMPOSITE SAMPLES PREPARED UNDER VARIOUS CONDITIONS USING THE MICROSCOPE CAPABILITIES AT NIST, AND THE RESEARCHER WILL COLLECT BLS / LFR IMAGES AND POSSIBLY OTHER MECHANICAL DATA OF THE INVESTIGATED COMPOSITES.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: IF SUCCESSFUL, THE RESEARCHER WOULD DEMONSTRATE FOR THE FIRST TIME, AN ENTIRELY NEW CAPABILITY TO USE BRILLOUIN LIGHT SCATTERING MEASUREMENTS TO TIE LOCAL MATERIAL PROPERTIES TO LARGE SCALE PERFORMANCE IN ADVANCED PACKAGING MATERIALS. THIS COULD TRANSLATE TO AN INNOVATIVE NEW WAY FOR THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY TO EVALUATE NEW PACKAGING SOLUTIONS, OR EVEN PERFORM IN-LINE INSPECTIONS, WITH THE PROPER MODELING. THIS WORK HAS THE POTENTIAL TO DRIVE THE METROLOGY FOR THIS INDUSTRY IN AN ENTIRELY NEW DIRECTION WITH RAPID, NONDESTRUCTIVE MEASUREMENTS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: NIST RESEARCHERS AND MICROELECTRONIC ENTITIES INVOLVED IN THE DESIGN OF ADVANCED PACKAGING SEMICONDUCTORS WILL BENEFIT FROM IMPROVED QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT METHODS, OPEN-SOURCE MATERIALS DATA, MODEL CALIBRATION FRAMEWORKS, AND PREDICTIVE MODELING TOOLS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP SENSING TOOLS TO MEASURE FLOW WITHIN MICROFLUIDIC CHANNELS USING ACOUSTIC WAVES AND COMBINED IT WITH OTHER MICROFLUIDIC TECHNIQUES AND METHODS, ALL WITHOUT DISTURBING OTHER CHIP OPERATIONS. DIFFERENT DESIGN CONFIGURATIONS OF ACOUSTIC TRANSDUCERS WITH MULTIPLE SENSING POINTS IN A CHANNEL WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: AS A FIRST APPROACH, AN ARRAY OF INTERDIGITATED TRANSDUCERS FOR LEVERAGING MULTIPLE SENSING POINTS FOR MORE PRECISE FLOW MEASUREMENTS WILL BE DESIGN, FABRICATED AND TESTED. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE HIGH SENSITIVITY AND A WIDE DYNAMIC MEASUREMENT RANGE. SINCE ACOUSTIC WAVES ARE MOSTLY INVISIBLE AT LOW VOLTAGES TO OTHER OPERATIONS IN MICROFLUIDIC CHANNELS THE DEVICE WILL OPERATE AT SUCH VOLTAGES TO INTEGRATE THE FLOW SENSING CAPABILITY FOR CELL SEPARATIONS ALONG WITH INERTIAL FOCUSING AND DIELECTROPHORETIC STAGES, WHICH ARE LABEL-FREE METHODS AND CAN BE USED WITH BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS WITHOUT ALTERING THEIR FUNCTIONS. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THIS RESEARCH WILL PRODUCE TOOLS TO ACCURATELY MEASURE AND UNDERSTAND MICROFLUIDIC FLOW CHARACTERISTICS WITHIN BIOMEDICAL DEVICES AS WELL AS DEVICES IN OTHER TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES. BIOTECHNOLOGY, DRUG DEVELOPMENT AND BIOMEDICAL DEVICES INDUSTRIES WILL BENEFIT FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACOUSTIC WAVES INTEGRATED IN MICROFLUIDIC-BASED DEVICES FOR FLOW CONTROL MEASUREMENTS. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE:THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP NEW METHODS AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR DETERMINING ATOMIC ORDER IN INORGANIC MATERIALS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:NEW APPROACHES AND ALGORITHMS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE LOCAL AND NANOSCALE ATOMIC ARRANGEMENTS FROM VARIOUS TYPES OF X-RAY AND NEUTRON SCATTERING DATA WILL BE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED IN THE COMPUTER SOFTWARE RMCPROFILE (WWW.RMCPROFILE.ORG). THE NEWLY DEVELOPED TOOLS WILL BE APPLIED TO SOLVE STRUCTURES IN SEVERAL TECHNOLOGICAL MATERIALS WHICH COULD NOT BE DETERMINED WITH EXISTING METHODS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES:THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE RMCPROFILE COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR MULTISCALE STRUCTURE REFINEMENTS USING A COMBINED INPUT FROM MULTIPLE EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES. THIS SOFTWARE IS FREELY AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC VIA WWW.RMCPROFILE.ORG AND HAS BECOME A STANDARD STRUCTURE-DETERMINATION TOOL EMPLOYED BY RESEARCHERS WORLDWIDE. THE ALGORITHMS DEVELOPED AS A PART OF THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN MUCH FASTER AND MORE ROBUST CONVERGENCE OF SUCH COMBINED-TECHNIQUE REFINEMENTS, THEREBY ENABLING MATERIALS RESEARCHERS TO SOLVE A SIGNIFICANTLY BROADER RANGE OF COMPLEX STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS THAN CURRENTLY POSSIBLE. LIKEWISE, THE PROPOSED NEW APPROACHES FOR OBTAINING ATOMISTIC MODELS OF NANOPARTICLES FROM EXPERIMENTAL DATA WILL DRAMATICALLY ADVANCE EXISTING CAPABILITIES IN STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION ON THE NANOSCALE, FACILITATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NANOMATERIALS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES:MATERIALS RESEARCHERS AS THE NEW TOOLS WILL GREATLY FACILITATE THEIR WORK ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS, WHICH IS A PREREQUISITE FOR ANY DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AND OPTIMIZATION OF EXISTING MATERIALS TARGETING SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES:THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO APPLY AB INITIO COMPUTATIONAL METHODS TO CHARACTERIZE THE INTERACTIONS OF IONS IN SOLUTIONS AND AT ELECTROCHEMICAL INTERFACES TO ASSIST IN DEVELOPING THE DIELECTRIC-ACOUSTIC SPECTROSCOPY FOR INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL PERFORM DFT CALCULATIONS OF ELECTROLYTES IN WATER AND CREATE MACHINE-LEARNED FORCE FIELDS FOR THOSE SYSTEMS. THE ACTIVITIES WILL INCLUDE: EXPLORING THE DEPENDENCE OF PRESSURE, TEMPERATURE, AND CONCENTRATION ON THE COMPUTED DIELECTRIC SPECTRA, THE ION PAIR FORMATION, AND THE HYDRATION OF THE IONS; EVALUATING THE CHOICE OF DFT FUNCTIONAL FOR ACCURATELY CAPTURING THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF SOLUTIONS; DETERMINING THE ORIGINS OF PEAKS IN EXPERIMENTAL AND SIMULATED DIELECTRIC SPECTRA. THE RESEARCH WILL EXPAND TO ELECTROLYTE MIXTURES AND EXPLORE THE NON-ADDITIVE EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE ELECTROLYTE MIXTURES. COMPUTATIONAL METHODS WILL INCLUDE THE ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE METHODS BEYOND DFT, SUCH AS THE RANDOM PHASE APPROXIMATION (RPA), TO PRODUCE MORE ACCURATE AB INITIO DATA FOR MACHINE-LEARNED FORCE FIELDS. MANUSCRIPTS WILL BE PREPARED DURING THE RESEARCH YEARS AND RESULTS WILL BE PUBLISHED IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP COMPUTATIONAL METHODS TO PRODUCE ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF DIELECTRIC SPECTRA OF CHEMICAL SOLUTIONS FOR LIQUID-PHASE SEPARATION PROCESSES, AND TO DECONVOLUTE THOSE SPECTRA INTO CONTRIBUTIONS BY DIFFERENT SPECIES OR PROCESSES IN SOLUTION INCLUDING HOW PRESSURE, CONCENTRATION, AND TEMPERATURE CHANGE THE COMPUTED DIELECTRIC SPECTRA. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE U.S. CHEMICAL INDUSTRY WILL BENEFIT FROM APPLYING THE NEWLY DEVELOPED DIELECTRIC-ACOUSTIC SPECTROSCOPY TO DESIGN AND IMPROVE CHEMICAL SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES BASED ON OPTIMIZED PROCESSES OF ION PAIRING AND SPECIES HYDRATION IN CHEMICAL SOLUTIONS. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

INTEGRATING ORGANIC DYE-MOLECULE AS SINGLE PHOTON EMITTERS TO NANOPHOTONICS DEVICES

PURPOSE: TO DEVELOP ALGORITHMS AND FIRMWARE FOR RFSOC ELECTRONICS TO BETTER CONTROL QUBITS AND QUANTUM SENSORS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:DEVELOP, TEST, AND GRADUALLY MAKE PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE A SCALABLE FPGA BASEDRFSOC QUANTUM CONTROL SYSTEM TO PERFORM DIRECT DIGITAL SYNTHESIS (DDS) WITHOUT UP- AND DOWNCONVERSION, FOR MULTIPLEXED MICROWAVE DRIVE AND READOUT OF QUANTUM SYSTEMS, INCLUDING QUANTUM SENSORS AND QUBITS. DEVELOP A SYSTEM WHERE THE ELECTRONICS IS ABLE TO TRACK THE DRIFT OF A LARGE GROUP OF RESONATORS LOCATED DENSELY IN FREQUENCY SPACE. THE SYSTEM WOULD BE ABLE TO MODIFY ITS OUTPUT TO MATCH THOSE MULTI-TONE DRIFT WITHIN A FEW HUNDREDS OF NANOSECONDS. WHEN DEVELOPED, THE ALGORITHM WOULD BE ABLE TO PREDICT UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS THE LIKELY DRIFT OF THE RESONANCE IN THE COMING FEW MICROSECONDS OF TIME, AND FEED FORWARD INTO THE OUTPUT SIGNAL BEFORE THOSE DRIFTS ACTUALLY HAPPEN.WITH MINOR MODIFICATION, THE SAME QUANTUM CONTROL SYSTEM WOULD BE SUITABLE FOR DOING ERROR BUDGET ANALYSIS AND ERROR CORRECTION FOR A MID-SIZED SUPERCONDUCTING QUBIT SYSTEM.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THE WORK IS TO ENABLE COMPUTERS AND/OR INSTRUMENTS WITH LARGER NUMBERS OF BETTER PERFORMING QUBITS AND/OR SENSOR PIXELS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: ACADEMIC, GOVERNMENT, AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCHERS DEVELOPING QUBITS FOR QUANTUM COMPUTING AND QUANTUM SENSORS FOR A WIDE RANGE OF APPLICATIONS WILL BE THE DIRECT BENEFICIARIES OF THIS WORK. IMPROVEMENTS TO QUANTUM COMPUTING WILL INDIRECTLY BENEFIT THE PUBLIC BY PROVIDING NEW CHEMISTRY SIMULATION CAPABILITIES AND THE ABILITY TO SOLVE COMPUTATIONALLY INTRACTABLE PROBLEMS. THESE DEVELOPMENTS COULD LEAD TO NUMEROUS ADVANCES SUCH AS THE DISCOVERY OF NEW MEDICINES. IMPROVEMENTS TO QUANTUM SENSING WILL ALSO BENEFIT THE PUBLIC, FOR EXAMPLE BY MAKING NUCLEAR ENERGY SAFER AND LESS COSTLY.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP OPERANDO HIGH-THROUGHPUT RESONANT INELASTIC X-RAY SCATTERING CAPABILITIES FOR STUDIES OF CO2 REDUCTION CATALYSTS. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL DEVELOP A GAS DELIVERY SYSTEM INTEGRATED WITH A MASS SPECTROMETER AND PERFORM CELL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES. THESE SYSTEMS WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH A RESONANT INELASTIC X-RAY SCATTERING ENDSTATION BEING DEVELOPED AT NIST'S SOFT X-RAY BEAMLINE.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCHERS WILL BE REPORT RIXS MEASUREMENTS ON CO2 REDUCTION CATALYSTS, PARTICULARLY WITH RESPECT TO STRUCTURE-REACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE GAS DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND CELLS DEVELOPED HERE CAN BE USED BY STAKEHOLDERS LEVERAGING THE RELEVANT MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES TO ACCELERATE CATALYST TECHNOLOGIES. THE REPORTED DATA WILL ALSO BENEFIT SYNTHETIC CHEMISTS AND THEORETICIANS WORKING TOWARD THE RATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED CATALYSTS AND MODELS, RESPECTIVELY.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

OPTOMECHANICAL SENSING: ACCELEROMETER AND BEYOND

CRYSTAL PLASTICITY FINITE ELEMENT METHODS FOR CRYSTALLINE MATERIALS

DETERMINATION OF ATOMIC ARRANGEMENTS IN ELECTROCERAMICS

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO IMPROVE THE SPEED OF SIMULATIONS OF X-RAY SPECTRA AND VALIDATE THEIR ACCURACY FOR SUPPORTING MEASUREMENTS OF CATALYSTS FOR CO2 CONVERSION.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHER WILL IMPLEMENT NEW, MORE EFFICIENT METHODS WITHIN THE OCEAN X-RAY CODE, FOCUSING ON REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF EFFORT NEEDED FOR THE DENSITY-FUNCTIONAL THEORY CALCULATION THROUGH INTERPOLATION. THE RESEARCHER WILL VALIDATE THESE IMPROVEMENTS THROUGH CAREFUL COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENTAL X-RAY SPECTRA OF WELL-CHARACTERIZED CATALYSTS. THE VALIDATED IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE APPLIED TO STUDYING SHORT-LIVED INTERMEDIATE STATES FOUND DURING CATALYSIS. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE NIST SPECTROSCOPY CODE OCEAN. NOVEL FINDINGS WILL BE REPORTED IN APPROPRIATE JOURNAL ARTICLES.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE IMPROVED CODE WILL BE USED BY EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL USERS OF THE NIST X-RAY BEAMLINES. THE IMPROVEMENTS CAN ALSO BE USED BY RESEARCHERS WORKING ON OTHER SPECTROSCOPY CODES.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO OBTAIN REFERENCE DATA FOR NANOPARTICLE STANDARDS THAT ARE COMMONLY USED YET INCOMPLETELY CHARACTERIZED AND POORLY UNDERSTOOD, IMPROVING THE QUALITY AND RELIABILITY OF MEASUREMENT METHODS FOR DEVELOPING NANOMEDICINES AND STUDYING NANOPLASTICS, AMONG MANY OTHER APPLICATIONS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL FABRICATE MICROSCOPY STANDARDS TO IMPROVE CORRELATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF SINGLE NANOPARTICLES WITH LOW UNCERTAINTY AND HIGH THROUGHPUT. THE RESEARCHERS WILL MEASURE POLYSTYRENE NANOPARTICLES BY FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY, ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY, AND SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, CORRELATING THE DIFFERENT MEASUREMENT RESULTS. THE RESEARCHERS WILL EVALUATE UNAVOIDABLE UNCERTAINTY OF THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE?NANOPARTICLE SIZE?TO INFORM A MEASUREMENT ERROR MODEL. THE RESEARCHERS WILL APPLY THE MEASUREMENT ERROR MODEL TO OBTAIN UNBIASED ESTIMATES OF POWER-LAW EXPONENTS THAT MODEL INTENSITY?SIZE TRENDS ACROSS A RANGE OF NANOPARTICLE SIZES.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: FLUORESCENCE INTENSITY IS A BROADLY RELEVANT OPTICAL PROPERTY THAT IS PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT FOR POLYMERIC NANOPARTICLES. POLYSTYRENE SPHERES OFTEN SERVE AS SIZE STANDARDS TO TEST PARTICLE SIZING METHODS, PROBE OPTICAL MICROSCOPE RESPONSES, AND CALIBRATE FLOW CYTOMETRY SYSTEMS. UPON SORBING FLUOROPHORES, SUCH NANOPARTICLES MIGHT ALSO SERVE AS INTENSITY STANDARDS TO SUPPORT ONGOING EFFORTS TO USE EXPECTED POWER-LAW EXPONENTS TO INTERPRET AND EVEN VALIDATE MEASUREMENT RESULTS, OR TO INFER PARTICLE SIZE FROM FLUORESCENCE INTENSITY BY FITTING AND INVERTING A POWER-LAW MODEL. THE APPLICABILITY AND INTERPRETABILITY OF POWER-LAW MODELS MAKE THEM USEFUL FOR PROPERTY?SIZE CORRELATIONS, BUT CRITICAL EVALUATIONS OF THE DEPENDENCE OF APPARENT EXPONENTS ON UNAVOIDABLE SIZING ERRORS ARE RARE, EVEN AS CAUTION IS NECESSARY. IN THE PRESENCE OF SIZING ERRORS, OBSERVATION OF AN EXPECTED EXPONENT, WHICH WOULD ORDINARILY BUILD CONFIDENCE, COULD INSTEAD RESULT FROM A BIASED MEASUREMENT OF AN UNEXPECTED EXPONENT. SEEMINGLY SMALL SIZING ERRORS CAN CAUSE SURPRISINGLY LARGE BIASES, YIELDING MISLEADING INSIGHTS. REFERENCE DATA ARE NECESSARY TO PREVENT THIS PROBLEMATIC OUTCOME, WHICH IS A PRESSING ISSUE IN AT THE STATE OF THE ART OF THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE, AND TO ENABLE FUTURE MEASUREMENTS OF HIGH QUALITY AND RELIABILITY.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: FLUORESCENT NANOPARTICLES ARE COMMONLY USED AS SIZE STANDARDS, AND ARE INCREASINGLY USED AS INTENSITY STANDARDS, TO BENCHMARK MEASUREMENT METHODS USED IN INDUSTRIAL, ACADEMIC, AND GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. THESE MEASUREMENT METHODS HAVE NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS, RANGING FROM SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AND NEWLY AFFORDABLE NANOPARTICLE MEDICINES, TO EVALUATING THE POTENTIAL TOXICITY OF NANOPLASTIC POLLUTION. REFERENCE DATA FROM NIST ARE FUNDAMENTAL TO SUPPORT THE USE OF NANOPARTICLE STANDARDS IN SUCH MEASUREMENT METHODS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: NOT APPLICABLE.

INVESTIGATION OF COHERENCE IN OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICES BASED ON EXCITONIC POLARONIC STATES

THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP FABRICATION PROCESSES AND MEASUREMENTS FOR INTEGRATED DEVICES THAT CAN BE USED FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT IN QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. THE PROJECT WILL INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESSES FOR THE NANOFABRICATION OF INTEGRATED PHOTONIC DEVICES THAT INCLUDE TWO OR MORE TYPES OF SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS ON A SINGLE CHIP, OFFERING FUNCTIONALITY THAT IS RELEVANT FOR QUANTUM SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS AND APPLICATIONS - SUCH AS QUANTUM LIGHT EMISSION, LOW-LOSS LIGHT TRANSMISSION AND MANIPULATION IN AN ON-CHIP CIRCUIT. DEVELOPMENT OF FABRICATION PROCESSES FOR METASURFACES FOR LIGHT MANIPULATION WILL ALSO BE PERFORMED, WITH THE GOAL OF PRODUCING FLAT OPTICAL ELEMENTS FOR OPTICALLY ADDRESSING ATOMIC SYSTEMS FOR QUANTUM SCIENCE APPLICATIONS. FABRICATED DEVICES WILL BE CHARACTERIZED FOR THEIR OPTICAL PERFORMANCE, PROVIDING FEEDBACK FOR PROCESS OPTIMIZATION. OPTIMIZED DEVICES WILL BE PRODUCED TO SUPPORT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN QUANTUM PHOTONICS.THE PROJECT WILL PRODUCE FABRICATION PROCESSES FOR A NOVEL CLASS OF HIGHLY OPTIMIZED CHIP-SCALE INTEGRATED OPTICAL DEVICES, AS WELL AS NOVEL FLAT OPTICAL DEVICES FOR ADDRESSING ATOMIC SYSTEMS. BOTH CLASSES OF DEVICES WILL BE USED IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN QUANTUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, TOWARDS APPLICATIONS IN QUANTUM COMPUTATION, COMMUNICATION AND METROLOGY WITH SIGNIFICANTLY SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE THAN THE STATE-OF-THE-ART. BOTH FABRICATION PROCESSES AND DEVICES PRODUCED BY THIS RESEARCH WILL BENEFIT SCIENTISTS WORKING IN QUANTUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. THIS RESEARCH WILL ALSO BENEFIT RESEARCHERS DOING WORK ON ON-CHIP INTEGRATED PHOTONIC CIRCUITS, NANOPHOTONICS AND METASURFACES. THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP SILICON CHIP-INTEGRATED PHOTONIC DEVICES OPERATING AT TELECOMMUNICATIONS WAVELENGTHS FOR BASIC QUANTUM SCIENCE RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS IN QUANTUM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS QUANTUM COMPUTING AND QUANTUM NETWORKS. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE PROJECT WILL INVOLVE THE DESIGN, FABRICATION AND TESTING OF CHIP-BASED INTEGRATED PHOTONIC DEVICES FOR THE GENERATION OF QUANTUM LIGHT BASED ON MATERIAL DEFECTS PURPOSELY INDUCED IN SILICON CHIPS. MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES WILL BE DEVELOPED TO SUPPORT THE OPTIMIZATION OF QUANTUM LIGHT EMISSION BY INDUCED DEFECTS, IN TERMS OF EFFICIENCY AND OTHER CRITICAL PROPERTIES FOR QUANTUM INFORMATION RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS. CHIP-INTEGRATED PHOTONIC COMPONENTS WILL BE DESIGNED TO ALLOW THE ON-CHIP EMITTED QUANTUM LIGHT TO BE MAXIMALLY LEVERAGED IN QUANTUM INFORMATION APPLICATIONS - FOR INSTANCE, EFFICIENTLY DIRECTING THE ON-CHIP EMITTED LIGHT TOWARDS SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEMS ON- OR OFF-CHIP. NANOFABRICATION PROCESSES WILL BE DEVELOPED AND OPTIMIZED TO IMPLEMENT THE DESIGNED DEVICES. FABRICATED DEVICES WILL BE CHARACTERIZED FOR THEIR OPTICAL PERFORMANCE, AND MEASURED RESULTS WILL PROVIDE FEEDBACK FOR FURTHER OPTIMIZATION. FINALLY, OPTIMIZED DEVICES WILL BE PRODUCED TO SUPPORT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN PHOTONIC QUANTUM INFORMATION BASIC RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE PROJECT WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF OPTIMIZED, HIGH-YIELD NANOFABRICATION PROCESSES FOR A CLASS OF SILICON CHIP-SCALE INTEGRATED OPTICAL DEVICES AT TELECOM WAVELENGTHS THAT CAN BE USED IN BOTH BASIC RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS IN QUANTUM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES. FINALIZED DEVICES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR EXPERIMENTAL QUANTUM RESEARCH AND PHOTONIC QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: BOTH FABRICATION PROCESSES AND DEVICES PRODUCED BY THIS RESEARCH WILL BENEFIT SCIENTISTS WORKING IN QUANTUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INVESTIGATIONS. THIS RESEARCH WILL ALSO BENEFIT RESEARCHERS DOING WORK ON ON-CHIP INTEGRATED SILICON PHOTONIC CIRCUITS, NANOPHOTONICS, AND SILICON-BASED QUANTUM COMPUTATION. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

TEST METHODS FOR IN-SITU MONITORING OF FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITES IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP, STUDY AND EXPERIMENTALLY DEMONSTRATE CHIP-SCALE INTEGRATED HIGH SPEED BROADBAND ELECTRO-OPTIC MODULATOR TECHNOLOGY.DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF HETEROGENEOUS LITHIUM NIOBATE ¿ SILICON NITRIDE ELECTROOPTICALLY ACTIVE PHOTONICS, INCLUDING HIGH QUALITY, HIGH YIELD HETEROGENEOUS INTEGRATION, AND EFFICIENT HIGH BANDWIDTH MODULATION ACROSS THE OPTICAL RANGE FROM BLUE TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS BANDS. THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF HYBRID ACTIVE DEVICES USING TRAVELING GUIDED AND SLAB MODES AND ON-CHIP OPTICAL RESONANCES. DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION OF OPTICAL ISOLATORS AND ACOUSTO-OPTIC MODULATORS. INTEGRATION WITH PASSIVE COMPONENTS SUCH AS RESONATORS AND GRATING COUPLERS FOR METROLOGY APPLICATIONS.DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTROOPTIC MODULATORS, ISOLATORS AND ACOUSTO-OPTIC MODULATORS WITH IMPROVED PERFORMANCE. DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF NOVEL DEVICES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS LEVERAGING HYBRID INTEGRATION OF LITHIUM NIOBATE WITH SILICON NITRIDE. FUNDAMENTAL ADVANCES IN INTEGRATED PHOTONIC DEVICES.NIST RESEARCH PROGRAMS WILL BENEFIT FROM AVAILABILITY OF CHIP-SCALE INTEGRABLE EFFICIENT ELECTROOPTIC MODULATION TECHNOLOGY COMBINED WITH EXISTING NIST PHOTONICS PLATFORMS WITH MEASUREMENT AND QUANTUM SCIENCE APPLICATIONS. LARGER RESEARCH COMMUNITY AND US INDUSTRY WILL BENEFIT FROM FUNDAMENTAL ADVANCES IN CHIP-SCALE PHOTONIC MODULATION TECHNOLOGIES WITH APPLICATIONS FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS, SENSING AND LIGHT MANIPULATION ACROSS A BROAD RANGE OF OPTICAL FREQUENCIES.THERE ARE NO SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES.

THE METROLOGY OF SECURITY IMAGING: AI, STANDARDS AND NEW FRONTIERS

MEASUREMENT AND STANDARDIZATION OF QUASI-SPHERICAL GOLD REFERENCE NANOPARTICLES: THE IMPACT OF SIZE AND SHAPE

DETERMINATION OF ATOMIC ARRANGEMENTS IN DISORDERED AND NANOSCALE MATERIALS

APPLICATION OF HIGH-DEFINITION ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE TO INVESTIGATE BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES

ADVANCED IMAGE PROCESSING AND COMPUTATIONAL MODELING TECHNIQUES FOR ANALYSIS OF REAL MICROSTRUCTURES

STABILITY ANALYSIS OF THE WESTERN BOUNDARY CURRENTS IN THE TROPICAL INDIAN OCEAN

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT A PLASMONIC-ENHANCED NANOPORE SYSTEM TO IMPROVE AND OPTIMIZE NANOPORE SENSORS FOR SINGLE MOLECULE PROTEIN SEQUENCING.THE RESEARCHER WILL DESIGN AND TEST A DNA NANOTECHNOLOGY INTERFACE THAT CAN CONNECT PROTEIN NANOPORES WITH LOCALIZED SURFACE PLASMONIC RESONANCE NANOPORES WITH SINGE NANOMETER PRECISION. THESE NANOSTRUCTURES WILL BE USED TO GENERATE TIME-RESOLVED TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS TO STUDY NANOSCALE TRANSPORT AND DEVELOP PHYSICAL MECHANISMS FOR MOLECULAR TRANSPORT ACROSS ARTIFICIAL CELL MEMBRANES. THE MECHANISTIC INFORMATION WILL BE USED TO TEST NANOPORE CHEMISTRY FOR TO OPTIMIZE NANOPORE CHEMISTRY TO DISCRIMINATE AMONG AMINO ACIDS AS LIBERATED THROUGH TRADITIONAL AND MODIFIED EDMAN DEGRADATION REACTIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL IMPROVE THE CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE KINETICS OF BIOPOLYMER-NANOPORE INTERACTIONS AND WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE WIDE FIELD OF NANOPORE-BASED SENSORS. THE DEVELOPED METHODS FOR MEASURING THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF NANOPORE AND NOVEL NANOPLASMONIC STRUCTURES COULD BE SUCCESSFULLY INTEGRATED INTO EXISTING DEVICES TO ENHANCE THEIR PRECISION AND CAPABILITIES. THE METHODS DEVELOPED FROM THIS RESEARCH WILL ENABLE RESEARCHERS TO STUDY A FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS OF CELL-CELL COMMUNICATION, DISEASE PROGRESSION AND BIOMOLECULAR FUNCTION WHICH CAN BE APPLIED TO THE DESIGN OF MOLECULAR THERAPEUTICS, AND DISEASE DETECTION AMONG OTHER CRITICAL OUTCOMES. THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP TESTING TOOLS AND STANDARDS RELATED TO SECURITY SCREENING SYSTEMS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: DOCUMENTARY STANDARDS WILL BE DEVELOPED THAT RELATE TO THE TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE AND RADIATION SAFETY OF SYSTEMS THAT SCREEN FOR BULK EXPLOSIVES. THE STANDARDS RELATE TO X-RAY AND MILLIMETER WAVE SYSTEMS FOR SCREENING PEOPLE, BAGS, CARGO AND VEHICLES.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THESE METROLOGICAL TOOLS AND STANDARDS WILL BE USED TO TEST SYSTEMS THAT SCREEN PEOPLE, BAGGAGE, CARGO AND VEHICLES TO ENSURE THAT THE THAT THEY ARE EFFECTIVE AND SAFE. BECAUSE THE US GOVERNMENT HAS INVESTED ENORMOUS SUMS OF MONEY FOR SECURITY SCREENING, ESPECIALLY IN AVIATION SECURITY, THIS PROJECT HELPS ENSURE THE QUALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS INVESTMENT BY PROVIDING THE STANDARD GUIDANCE AND MEASUREMENT TOOLS NEEDED TO GAUGE THE IMAGE QUALITY AND SAFETY OF THESE SYSTEMS. THE STANDARDS SAVE THE GOVERNMENT TIME AND MONEY BY REDUCING THE NEED FOR EXPENSIVE AND TIME-CONSUMING THREAT-BASED TESTING.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: US GOVERNMENT AGENCIES THAT FIELD SECURITY SCREENING TECHNOLOGY INCLUDING TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (TSA) , CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION (CBP), AND VARIOUS DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AGENCIES. THIS WORK WILL ALSO BENEFIT CITIZENS WHO ARE SCREENED OR WHOSE PROPERTY IS SCREENED BY THESE TECHNOLOGIES (E.G. IN AVIATION AND CROSS-BORDER TRAVEL).SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

DOPING AND INTERFACE MODIFICATION OF 2D MATERIAL-BASED NANOELECTRONICS

EXPLOITING ALTERNATE COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES II

PURPOSE:THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP FLUORESCENCE LIFETIME IMAGING MICROSCOPY (FLIM) AS A RELIABLE, QUANTITATIVETOOL FOR THE STUDY OF THE DAMAGE MECHANISMS AND DURABILITY OF FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER COMPOSITE MATERIALS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:THE RESEARCHERS WILL BUILD A STATE-OF-THE-ART SUPER-RESOLUTION FLIM MICROSCOPE FOR THE MAPPING OF DAMAGE IN MODELCOMPOSITE MATERIALS. THEY WILL ALSO DEVELOP A STRESS TEST PLATFORM FOR INVESTIGATION OF SINGLE FIBER BREAKING BEHAVIORIN POLYMER HOST MATERIALS BY SCANNING FLIM MICROSCOPY. A ROBUST METHODOLOGY TO ASSESS AND CALIBRATE THEQUANTITATIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MECHANICAL STRESS AND THE OPTICAL RESPONSE OF MECHANOPHORE DYE MOLECULES WILL BEESTABLISHED AND USED IN THE INVESTIGATION OF MODEL SYSTEMS PROVIDED BY COLLABORATORS AT EXXONMOBIL. FINALLY, FLIMMEASUREMENTS WILL BE CORRELATED WITH THE RESULTS OF OTHER ANALYSIS METHODS, INCLUDING DYNAMIC MECHANICAL ANALYSISAND EX-SITU NEUTRON SCATTERING.EXPECTED OUTCOMES:THE RESEARCHERS WILL DEVELOP FLUORESCENCE LIFETIME MICROSCOPIES, MECHANICAL TESTING PLATFORMS FOR SINGLE FIBERS ANDMETHODOLOGIES FOR THE QUANTITATIVE CALIBRATION OF THE RESPONSE OF MECHANOPHORE DYE MOLECULES TO MECHANICALLOADING. THESE DEVELOPMENTS WILL LEAD TO A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS OF DAMAGE AT THE FIBER-MATRIXINTERPHASE IN FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITES. THESE DAMAGE MECHANISMS ULTIMATELY UNDERLIE FAILURE IN COMPOSITEMATERIALS, SO THIS INCREASED UNDERSTANDING WILL LEAD TO ADVANCEMENTS IN THE OPTIMIZATION OF EXISTING MATERIALFORMULATIONS AND THE DESIGN OF NEW COMPOSITES MATERIALS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES:THE ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES OF THIS WORK WILL BENEFIT RESEARCHERS INTERESTED IN THE OPTIMIZATION AND DESIGN OF FIBERREINFORCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS, MANUFACTURERS OF THIS CLASS OF MATERIALS AND FINALLY END USERS OF FIBER REINFORCEDCOMPOSITES IN A WIDE RANGE OF DIVERSE APPLICATION AREAS, INCLUDING AEROSPACE, PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AND CONSTRUCTIONMATERIALS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES:THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND TEST THE LIMITS OF SEVERAL SCHEMES FOR DETERMINING SINGLE-MOLECULE ORIENTATION.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHER WILL CONSTRUCT A METROLOGICAL OPTICAL MICROSCOPE TEST STAND AND WILL IMPLEMENT EXISTING AND NOVEL METHODS FOR DETERMINING THE ORIENTATION OF SINGLE MOLECULES. HE WILL DETERMINE BOTH THE THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STATISTICAL LIMITS OF ORIENTATION PRECISION AND ACCURACY FOR THE VARIOUS METHODS, AND USE THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED TO IDENTIFY THE OPTIMAL APPROACH FOR DIFFERENT CLASSES OF MATERIALS AND SYSTEMS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCHER IS DEVELOPING EXPERIMENTAL METHODS, INCLUDING CALIBRATION ARTEFACTS AND ANALYTICAL TOOLS, TO GENERATE AND EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM BOTH IMAGE DATA AND POLARIMETRIC DATA, AND THE COMBINATION OF THE TWO, FROM SINGLE FLUORESCENT MOLECULES. HE WILL USE THE CALIBRATION ARTEFACTS AND ANALYTICAL TOOLS TO 1] DETERMINE THE PRECISION AND ACCURACY OF MOLECULAR ORIENTATION MEASUREMENT FOR IMAGE-BASED, POLARIMETRY-BASED, AND HYBRID METHODS; 2] IDENTIFY WHICH METHODS ARE BEST SUITED FOR WHICH APPLICATIONS; 3] DOCUMENT AND DISSEMINATE BEST PRACTICES TO THE COMMUNITIES OF SINGLE-MOLECULE OPTICAL MICROSCOPISTS. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE MICROSCOPE DESIGNS, ANALYTICAL TOOLS, CALIBRATION ARTEFACTS, AND BEST PRACTICES PRODUCED BY THIS RESEARCH CAN BE USED BY OTHER RESEARCHERS WORKING ON THE APPLICATION OF SINGLE-MOLECULE ORIENTATION MEASUREMENTS TO POLYMERS, ORGANIC OPTOELECTRONIC MATERIALS, AND BIOMOLECULAR SYSTEMS. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT PLAN ON ANY SUBAWARDS.

TUNABLE POLYMER ELASTOMER NANOCOMPOSITES AND ADVANCED MATERIALS FOR PROTECTIVE APPLICATIONS

FINITE ELEMENT THERMOMECHANICAL MODELING OF LASER POWDER BED LASER FUSION

EXPLOITING ALTERNATE COMPUTING TECHNOLOGIES

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP PHYSICS-INFORMED, ARTIFICIAL, AI-DRIVEN AGENTS (I.E., DECISION MAKING SOFTWARE TOOLS) THAT GUIDE THE DESIGN OF BIOTHERAPEUTIC DRUG FORMULATIONS BY OPTIMIZING MEASUREMENT CAMPAIGNS. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHER WILL DEVELOP SOFTWARE TOOLS THAT USE AI AND MACHINE LEARNING (ML) TECHNIQUES TO OPTIMALLY SELECT WHICH COMPOSITIONS AND TEMPERATURES AT WHICH TO CHARACTERIZE BIOTHERAPEUTIC FORMULATIONS. THESE TOOLS WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO THE EXISTING NIST AUTONOMOUS FORMULATION LAB (AFL) SOFTWARE PLATFORM AND DISTRIBUTED IN OPEN-SOURCE REPOSITORIES. ADDITIONALLY, THE RESEARCHER WILL CARRY OUT MOLECULAR SIMULATION AND THEORY CALCULATIONS THAT WILL BE USED TO IMPROVE THE A.I. GUIDANCE. FINALLY, THE RESEARCHER WILL BENCHMARK THE AI AGENT'S PERFORMANCE BY CARRYING OUT MEASUREMENT CAMPAIGNS USING A VARIETY OF METROLOGIES (E.G., SAXS, SANS, UV-VIS, RHEOLOGY) ON REAL BIOTHERAPEUTIC DRUG FORMULATIONS. THESE MEASUREMENTS WILL BE PERFORMED ON EXISTING AFL HARDWARE PLATFORMS. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE AGENT WILL IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF DESIGNING BIOTHERAPEUTIC FORMULATIONS, ALLOWING MANUFACTURERS TO EXPLORE LARGER AND MORE COMPLEX FORMULATION SPACES AT REDUCED COST. FOR THE CONSUMER, THE AGENT WILL ENABLE A GREATER VARIETY OF DRUG FORMULATIONS WHICH ARE CHEAPER AND HAVE MINIMIZED COLD-CHAIN BURDEN.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE AGENT DEVELOPED WILL SUPPORT ACADEMIC, NONPROFIT, AND INDUSTRY RESEARCHERS WORKING ON THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF VACCINE FORMULATIONS, THERAPEUTIC PROTEIN DELIVERY SYSTEMS, AND REFORMULATION STRATEGIES. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

OPTIMIZED MAGNETIC TUNNEL JUNCTIONS FOR MAGNETIC FIELD SENSORS

GENOME RELATED MICROSTRUCTURE ANALYSIS, MEASUREMENTS AND MODELS

DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHLY REPEATABLE SAMPLE PREPARATION METHODS AND BEST IMAGING CONDITIONS FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL NANOPARTICLE SEM MEASUREMENTS

MEMS OPTOMECHANICAL ACCELEROMETERS

MODELING, SIMULATION AND PREDICTION OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING RESIDUAL STRESS, DISTORTION AND FATIGUE

WAVE-CURRENT INTERACTIONS IN COASTAL INLETS AND RIVER MOUTHS

ROBUST CRYSTAL PLASTICITY FRAMEWORK IN OBJECT ORIENTED FINITE ELEMENT SOFTWARE (OOF)

QUANTUM MEMORIES FOR LONG-DISTANCE QUANTUM COMMUNICATIONS

QUANTUM TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF 2-DIMENSIONAL HETEROSTRUCTURES FOR FUTURE SWITCHING AND SENSING DEVICES

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO USE NIST'S SOON-TO-BE-COMPLETED YIELD MEASUREMENT APPARATUS TO MEASURE SECONDARY AND BACKSCATTERED ELECTRON YIELDS AND EMISSION ENERGY SPECTRA FROM WELL-CHARACTERIZED SAMPLES. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHER WILL PRODUCE REFERENCE DATA ON ELECTRON YIELD AND ENERGY SPECTRA MEASURED AS FUNCTIONS OF ELECTRON BEAM ENERGY AND ANGLE OF INCIDENCE ON VARIOUS SAMPLES. THE RESEARCHER WILL BE UTILIZING A NOVEL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM, COMPRISED OF TWO CHAMBERS MAINTAINED AT ULTRA-HIGH VACUUM LEVELS, DEVELOPED BY NIST RESEARCHERS. THE RESEARCHER WILL PREPARE SAMPLES IN-SITU IN A SAMPLE PREPARATION CHAMBER, EMPLOYING VARIOUS CLEANING TECHNIQUES SUCH AS ION SPUTTERING, ANNEALING (OR FLASHING), AND REACTIVE GAS CLEANING. THE RESEARCHER WILL VERIFY THE CLEANLINESS OF THE SAMPLES THROUGH AUGER SPECTROSCOPY, FOLLOWED BY THE CREATION OF CONTAMINATION MAPS. THE RESEARCHER WILL THEN COLLECT MEASUREMENT DATA OF THE ELECTRON YIELD AND ENERGY SPECTRA, MEASURED THROUGH A MEASUREMENT CHAMBER USING A CUSTOM-DESIGNED SPHERICAL RETARDING FIELD ANALYZER. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESULTING ELECTRON YIELD DATA WILL BE USED TO TEST AND REFINE MODELS DEVELOPED BY NIST RESEARCHERS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: NIST RESEARCHERS AND THE MICROELECTRONICS INDUSTRY THAT UTILIZES IMPROVED ELECTRON MICROSCOPY IMAGES FOR QUANTITATIVE METROLOGY WILL BENEFIT FROM IMPROVED DATA AND MODELS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE:THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO USE CAPACITANCE MEASUREMENTS TO UNDERSTAND THE ENERGETICS OF DNA NANOSTRUCTURE TO EVALUATE THEIR USE AS BIOSENSORS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:THE RESEARCHERS WILL BUILD NEW MEASUREMENT FRAMEWORKS THAT WILL ITERATIVELY ALLOW 1) THE DESIGN A NEW DNA ORIGAMI STRUCTURES, 2) THE MEASUREMENT OF THEIR DYNAMIC CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES WITH FORSTER RESONANT ENERGY TRANSFER (FRET) TECHNIQUES, AND 3) CORRELATED SURFACE ROUGHNESS OF THE SUBSTRATE WITH SIGNAL USING CAPACITANCE MEASUREMENTS OF THE STRUCTURE THE STRUCTURES ARE BIASED BY A DC VOLTAGE. EXPECTED OUTCOMES:THE RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A NEW NON-INVASIVE AND LABEL FREE TECHNIQUE TO UTILIZE ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENTS TO DESCRIBE THE STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS IN DNA NANOSTRUCTURES. THE UNIQUE PROPERTIES OF THESE STRUCTURES ALLOWS THESE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES TO BE USEFUL IN SPECIFIC SCENARIOS IN BIO SENSING: (1) TO RELIABLY DESIGN AND SYNTHESIZE NANOSENSORS WITH PRE-DETERMINED GAIN, KINETICS AND OTHER PHYSIO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES; (2) TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ENERGETICS AND PHYSICS OF STRUCTURE MOTION UNDER SEVERAL CONDITIONS; AND (3) ALLOW THE UNDERLYING MEASUREMENTS AND TECHNOLOGY TO BE UTILIZED IN FIELD-DEPLOYABLE TESTS AND PRODUCTS. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES:THE METHODS GENERATED FROM THIS RESEARCH WILL BE USED BY RESEARCHERS WORKING WITH DNA NANOTECHNOLOGY AND WHEN INCORPORATED IN SENSORS WILL GENERATE BIG DATA SETS THAT WILL BE USEFUL IN DEVELOPING MACHINE LEARNING AND AI MODELS. THE RESULTING MEASUREMENTS AND TECHNIQUES WILL LEAD TO IMPROVED ACCURACY IN BIOSENSING APPLICATIONS. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES:THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO EXPLAIN ANOMALOUS PROPERTIES OF SOLVENT MIXTURES BY USE OF COMPUTATIONAL DIELECTRIC SPECTROSCOPY, TO HELP WITH THE SELECTION OF SOLVENT MIXTURES WITH SPECIFIC DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES FOR INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL CREATE FORCE FIELDS FOR MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS WITH THE GOAL TO ACCURATELY CAPTURE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF SOLVENTS AND MIXTURES. THEN THEY WILL USE THOSE FORCE FIELDS TO STUDY THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF MOLECULAR LIQUIDS. THROUGH CONFIGURATIONAL ANALYSIS, THE RESEARCHERS WILL THEN IDENTIFY THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS THAT DRIVE THE DIELECTRIC PROPERTY DIFFERENCES SEEN IN SOLVENT MIXTURES.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE NEW AND IMPROVED FORCE FIELDS WILL CAPTURE THE SPECTROSCOPIC FEATURES SEEN IN EXPERIMENT FOR SOLVENTS AND MIXTURES, AND MOLECULAR-LEVEL INSIGHTS INTO THE DIELECTRIC RELAXATION PROCESS WILL BE ACHIEVED.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE MODEL AND SOFTWARE GENERATED FROM THIS RESEARCH CAN BE USED BY RESEARCHERS WORKING WITH OTHER LIQUIDS. ADDITIONALLY, THE PAPERS WRITTEN WILL HELP RESEARCHERS DESIGN IMPROVED SOLVENT MIXTURES WITH PREDICTABLE DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

QUANTUM TRANSPORT OF GRAPHENE PN JUNCTION (GPNJ) AND POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF 2-DIMENSIONTAL (2D) HETEROSTRUCTURES FOR NANOELECTRONICS SWITCHING DEV

MILLIMETER AND SUB-MILLIMETER STANDOFF PASSIVE VIDEO IMAGING FOR SECURITY AND SAFETY WITH TRANSITION EDGE SENSOR ARRAYS

SYNTHESIS AND METROLOGY OF ADVANCED LOW-DIMENSIONAL NANOELECTRONIC MATERIALS

OPTIMIZED MAGNETIC THIN FILMS FOR SPINTRONICS

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MATERIALS DESIGN

DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW-GENERATION SERIES OF NANOPARTICLE SRMS

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF A MICROFABRICATED OPTOMECHANICAL SENSING PLATFORM WITH HIGH INTRINSIC ACCURACY BASED ON A FABRY-P?ROT MICROCAVITY FOR ACCELEROMETER OPERATION AND BEYOND.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL MAKE SEVERAL IMPROVEMENTS TO THE OPTOMECHANICAL SENSING PLATFORM, WHICH HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AT NIST, TO FURTHER INCREASE PERFORMANCE. FIRST, THEY WILL DEMONSTRATE CHIP-TO-CHIP BONDING OF THE OPTOMECHANICAL CAVITY TO INCREASE DIMENSIONAL STABILITY AND STIFFNESS. NEXT, THEY WILL REDESIGN THE ACCELEROMETER PACKAGE TO INCREASE ITS STIFFNESS WHILE REDUCING ITS MASS. IN TANDEM, THE MICROMECHANICAL RESONATOR WITHIN THE ACCELEROMETER WILL BE REDESIGNED TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF MECHANICAL DISSIPATION DUE TO ANCHOR LOSS AND THERMOELASTIC DISSIPATION. THESE IMPROVEMENTS WILL THEN BE COMBINED TO PROVIDE A MORE STABLE AND SENSITIVE ACCELEROMETER.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCHERS? WORK IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN OPTOMECHANICAL ACCELEROMETERS THAT HAVE HIGHER STABILITY, IN TERMS OF SENSOR SIGNAL DRIFT, GREATER STIFFNESS, WHICH WILL PROVIDE GREATER ACCURACY, AND HIGHER MECHANICAL QUALITY FACTOR, RESULTING IN HIGHER SENSITIVITY. THESE OUTCOMES WILL BE USED BY NIST TO PERFORM VIBRATION METROLOGY WITH UNPRECEDENTED PERFORMANCE.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: NIST WILL BE THE PRIMARY BENEFICIARY OF THIS RESEARCH SINCE IT WILL DIRECTLY IMPROVE OUR WORK ON VIBRATION METROLOGY. THE RESEARCH WILL ALSO BENEFIT VIBRATION CALIBRATION COMPANIES AND U.S. MANUFACTURERS OF INERTIAL SENSORS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

IN SITU TEM STUDY OF INTERFACES IN ALL-SOLID-STATE LI-ION BATTERY

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE USE OF A MICROFLUIDIC PLATFORM WITH ELECTRONIC MANIPULATION AND MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF CELL MIGRATION RATES IN CANCER CELLS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHER WILL DESIGN, FABRICATE, AND TEST MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES WITH INTEGRATED METALIZED POROUS POLYESTER (PET) MEMBRANES FOR DIELECTROPHORETIC (DEP) TRAPPING AND IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENTS OF CELLS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE PET MEMBRANE. THE RESEARCHER WILL TROUBLESHOOT ALL THE ASPECTS OF THE FABRICATION AND ASSEMBLY OF THE DEVICES AS WELL AS THE ELECTRICAL TOOLS USE TO CARRY OUT THE MEASUREMENTS TO OBTAIN THE OPTIMAL CONDITIONS FOR THE MEASUREMENTS OF CELL BEHAVIOR UNDER CONTROL AND PERTURBATION CONDITIONS. THE DATA OBTAINED WILL BE ANALYZED AND REPORTS WILL BE WRITTEN TO BE PRESENTED AT CONFERENCES AND SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION IN PEER-REVIEW JOURNALS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCHER WILL DEVELOP THE REQUIRE METHODOLOGY TO DEPOSIT GOLD ON PET MEMBRANES THAT WILL SERVE AS THE ELECTRODES TO CARRY OUT DEP AND TO TAKE IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENTS OF THE CELLS WITHIN THE MICROFLUIDIC CHANNELS. METHODS TO ASSEMBLE THE DEVICES WILL ALSO BE DEVELOPED IN ORDER TO OBTAIN ROBUST BONDING BETWEEN THE SUBSTRATES CONTAINING THE MICROCHANNELS AND THE PET MEMBRANE. CELL MIGRATION ASSAYS WILL BE ESTABLISHED TO DETERMINE THE MIGRATION RATES OF CANCER CELLS WITH DIFFERENCES IN MIGRATION ABILITY. THE DEVICES AND THE DATA OBTAINED FROM THEM ARE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS OF THE DIFFERENCES IN CELL MIGRATION OF THE DIFFERENT CELLS IN A TUMOR. AT LEAST ONE PRESENTATION PER YEAR AND ONE JOURNAL PEER-REVIEW ARTICLE ARE EXPECTED AT THE END OF EACH YEAR.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE PLATFORM THAT WILL BE DEVELOPED IN THIS PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO, ULTIMATELY, BE USED IN R&D LABS IN BIOPHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES FOR TOXICOLOGY AND DRUG SCREENING, SPECIFICALLY IN PRECLINICAL IN VITRO TESTING. ALSO, THIS PLATFORM WILL BENEFIT RESEARCHERS IN THE ACADEMIA AND OTHER RESEARCH FACILITIES BY PROVIDING A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO MEASURE CONTINUOUSLY AND IN REAL-TIME MIGRATION OF CANCER CELLS. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THERE ARE NO SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES.

ELECTRODE/ELECTROLYTE INTERPHASE MODIFICATION ON HIGH CAPACITY NEGATIVE ELECTRODE MATERIAL

PURPOSE: TO DEVELOP TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING THE MANUFACTURABILITY OF SUPERCONDUCTING QUANTUM CIRCUITS. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE INNOVATIVE TOOLS TO FABRICATE SUPERCONDUCTING CIRCUITS WITH FEWER ERRORS, TO DETECT ERRORS DURING FABRICATION, TO CORRECT ERRORS BEFORE CIRCUITS ARE DISSEMINATED TO USERS, AND TO PERFORM THE MANUFACTURING IN A MORE AUTOMATED AND MORE EFFICIENT WAY. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: IF SUCCESSFUL, THE PROPOSAL WILL REDUCE THE COST OF MANUFACTURING CAMERAS OF QUANTUM SENSORS AND REDUCE THE NUMBER OF DEAD PIXELS WITHIN THESE CAMERAS. THE PROPOSAL WILL HAVE SIMILAR BENEFITS FOR THE MANUFACTURING OF ARRAYS OF SUPERCONDUCTING QUBITS USED FOR QUANTUM COMPUTING.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: ACADEMIC, GOVERNMENT, AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCHERS DEVELOPING QUANTUM SENSORS AND QUANTUM COMPUTING FOR A WIDE RANGE OF APPLICATIONS WILL BE THE DIRECT BENEFICIARIES OF THIS WORK. IMPROVEMENTS TO QUANTUM SENSING WILL ALSO BENEFIT THE PUBLIC, FOR EXAMPLE BY MAKING PROVIDING REAL-TIME DIAGNOSTIC DATA AT NUCLEAR FACILITIES, THEREBY IMPROVING THEIR OPERATING EFFICIENCY. IT IS VERY VALUABLE TO U.S. ENERGY SECURITY TO MAKE NUCLEAR ENERGY SAFER AND LESS COSTLY. IMPROVEMENTS TO QUANTUM COMPUTING WILL INDIRECTLY BENEFIT THE PUBLIC BY PROVIDING NEW CHEMISTRY SIMULATION CAPABILITIES AND THE ABILITY TO SOLVE COMPUTATIONALLY INTRACTABLE PROBLEMS. THESE DEVELOPMENTS COULD LEAD TO NUMEROUS ADVANCES SUCH AS THE DISCOVERY OF NEW MEDICINES. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF FIELD-INDUCED SEPARATION METHODS WITH MULTI-DETECTION FOR APPLICATIONS IN NANOMEDICINE AND BIOMANUFACTURING

CHARACTERIZATION OF ELECTRON EMISSION OF CONDUCTORS & SEMICONDUCTORS IN ULTRA HIGH VACUUM UNDER ELECTRON BOMBARDMENT FOR NANOMETROLOGY

AGEING OF UNIDIRECTIONAL LAMINATE MATERIALS USED IN SOFT BODY ARMOR APPLICATIONS

FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF INTEGRATED METASURFACE AND NANOPHOTONIC DEVICES FOR QUANTUM OPTICS APPLICATIONS

PURPOSE: TO DEVELOP OPTO-ELECTRONIC EXCITON-BASED DEVICES AND METROLOGY TO CONTRIBUTE TO RESEARCH IN DEVELOPING EXCITON-BASED SENSOR TECHNOLOGY.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: DEVELOP OPTO-ELECTRONIC DEVICES WITH HIGH BINDING ENERGY EXCITONS WHICH HAVE SENSITIVITY TO FIELDS AND COMPARE RESPONSE TO EXISTING AND UPCOMING SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES. DEVELOP AND FABRICATE DUAL GATE STRUCTURE TRANSISTORS FOR ELECTRICALLY PUMPING EXCITON-BASED DEVICES. THE PROJECT ALSO INCLUDES THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCATTERING BASED MEASUREMENTS TO DETECT EXCITON AND CHARGE MOTION IN-OPERANDO IN RELEVANT OPTO-ELECTRONIC EXCITON-BASED DEVICES.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: DEVELOPMENT OF PROTOTYPE EXCITON-BASED SENSOR DEVICES AND METROLOGY TO MEASURE OPTO-ELECTRONIC EXCITON-BASED DEVICES.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: DEFENSE, AEROSPACE, AND HEALTH MONITORING INDUSTRIES WILL BENEFIT FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL SENSORS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO STUDY, DEVELOP AND EXPERIMENTALLY DEMONSTRATE INTEGRATED PHOTONIC STRUCTURES FOR VERSATILE AND HIGH-PERFORMANCE COUPLING OF LIGHT BETWEEN FREE SPACE AND PHOTONIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: PROJECT ACTIVITIES WILL INCLUDE ANALYTICAL AND NUMERICAL MODELING AND OPTIMIZATION OF PHOTONIC STRUCTURES FOR FREE-SPACE COUPLING, AND THEIR DESIGN, MICROFABRICATION AND EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION. MICROFABRICATION MAY BE DONE AT THE NIST NANOFAB AND AT EXTERNAL FOUNDRIES. DEVICES WILL BE PROVIDED TO NIST AND EXTERNAL COLLABORATORS FOR IMPLEMENTING SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS. PUBLICATIONS IN OPEN SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE DESCRIBING NOVEL DEVICE DESIGNS, OPTIMIZATION METHODS, AND EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION RESULTS AND APPLICATIONS OF PHOTONIC TO FREE SPACE COUPLER DEVICES. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: PHOTONICS RESEARCH COMMUNITY WILL BENEFIT FROM THE NEW KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPED IN THIS RESEARCH PROJECT. NIST AND EXTERNAL US COMPANY COLLABORATORS MAY BENEFIT FROM HIGH PERFORMANCE DEVICES ENABLING THEIR APPLICATIONS. GENERAL PUBLIC WILL BENEFIT FROM SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES LEADING TO PHOTONIC DEVICES WITH IMPROVED PERFORMANCE, REDUCED COST AND NEW CAPABILITIES RESULTING FROM THIS RESEARCH. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO SUPPORT A COLLABORATIVE PROJECT BETWEEN THE NIST MATERIAL MEASUREMENT LABORATORY AND ENGINEERING LABORATORY THAT SEEKS TO PERFORM RAPID CHARACTERIZATION OF PHASE TRANSITION OF THE ADDITIVE ALUMINUM ALLOY UNDER REALISTIC MANUFACTURING CONDITIONS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHER WILL PARTICIPATE IN ESTABLISHING A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK BASED ON HIGH-SPEED MEASUREMENTS THAT SEEK TO UNDERSTAND THE PHASE TRANSFORMATION DURING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING PROCESSING OF ALLOYS, FOCUSING ON ADDITIVE ALUMINUM ALLOYS. THE RESEARCHER WILL PERFORM MEASUREMENTS USING NANOCALORIMETRY, X-RAY DIFFRACTION, ELECTRON MICROSCOPY AND CONDUCT CALCULATIONS USING COMPUTATIONAL THERMODYNAMICS. THE RESEARCHER WILL ANALYZE THE ACQUIRED DATASETS AND DISSEMINATE THE RESULTS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCH WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMBINED METHODOLOGY USING THERMOGRAPHY, NANOCALORIMETRY, X-RAY DIFFRACTION, ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, AND THERMODYNAMIC SIMULATIONS TO INVESTIGATE THE PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS OF ADDITIVE ALUMINUM ALLOYS UNDER HIGHLY NONEQUILIBRIUM CONDITIONS. THE RESEARCHER IS EXPECTED TO CONTRIBUTE TO ALL ASPECTS OF THIS PROJECT. THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES INCLUDE: (1) PRODUCING AND INTERPRETING NANOCALORIMETRY DATA ON AT LEAST ONE SURROGATE MODEL ALLOY SYSTEM THAT PROVIDE THERMAL INSIGHT REGARDING THE ALLOYS PHASE TRANSFORMATION UNDER VARIOUS COOLING SPEEDS; (2) PERFORMING MULTI-LENGTH SCALE MICROSTRUCTURAL EVALUATION USING X-RAY AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPY METHODS TO PROVIDE INSIGHT REGARDING THE PHASE PRESENT UNDER DIFFERENT PROCESSING CONDITIONS; AND (3) CONDUCTING THERMODYNAMICS AND KINETICS ANALYSIS TO PREDICT AND ELUCIDATE THE PHASE TRANSFORMATION PATHWAY AND KINETICS. THE RESULTS, ONCE CONCRETELY ESTABLISHED, ARE EXPECTED TO BE DISSEMINATED TO A BROAD AUDIENCE IN THE FORMS OF PRESENTATION AND PUBLICATION.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE METHODOLOGY AND DATA GENERATED FROM THIS RESEARCH CAN BENEFIT RESEARCHERS WORKING WITH ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF ALUMINUM ALLOYS AND OTHER ALLOYS BY PROVIDING INSIGHTS REGARDING THE FUNDAMENTALLY CRITICAL, PERFORMANCE-DETERMINING PHASE TRANSFORMATION PATHWAY AND KINETICS. THE DATA CAN ALSO HELP THE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY DEVELOP PROCESSING STRATEGIES THAT LEAD TO MORE RELIABLE AND ROBUST FABRICATION METHODS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

STUDY OF EXPANSION/CONTRACTION OF HIGH CAPACITY NEGATIVE ELECTRODE MATERIAL DURING ELECTROCHEMICAL LITHIATION/DE-LITHIATION

CHIP-BASED MEASUREMENT OF VOLUMETRIC FLOW RATES FOR MICROFLUIDIC AND BIOMEDICAL DEVICES

ENGINEERING CANCER CELL CULTURES FOR IMPROVING CELL-BASED MEASUREMENT INFRASTRUCTURE

DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL INTERFACE ENGINEERING TO ADVANCE MANUFACTURE AND METROLOGY FOR ORGANIC-BASED DEVICE TECHNOLOGY

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:THIS GRANT WILL FUND RESEARCH AIMED AT IMPROVED ACCURACY OF THE SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE (SEM) WHEN PERFORMING DIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENTS OF NANOMETER-SCALE STRUCTURES SUCH AS NANO-PARTICLES, TRANSISTORS, AND OTHER MANUFACTURED ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS.THE PROBLEM TO BE ADDRESSED: THE SEM PRODUCES IMAGES WITH CONTRAST DUE TO VARIATION IN THE SECONDARY ELECTRON YIELD. DIMENSIONS OF FEATURES IN THE IMAGE MUST BE INFERRED FROM THIS MEASURED SECONDARY ELECTRON SIGNAL. THE INFERENCE IS ONLY ACCURATE INSOFAR AS WE KNOW THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO. CURRENTLY THIS KNOWLEDGE IS LIMITED FOR ELECTRONS WITH ENERGY BELOW 100 EV. USUALLY, THE PHYSICS IS APPROXIMATED WITH A VARIANT OF DIELECTRIC FUNCTION THEORY, BUT DIFFERENT VARIANTS MAKE WIDELY DIFFERENT PREDICTIONS OF SECONDARY ELECTRON SIGNAL. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCH FUNDED BY THIS GRANT WILL SEEK TO IMPLEMENT A BETTER APPROXIMATION OF THE SECONDARY ELECTRON GENERATION PHYSICS. THE BETTER APPROXIMATION WILL BE BASED ON DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY, WHICH HAS PROVEN TO BE VERY ACCURATE FOR COMPUTING GROUND STATE PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS. THIS APPROACH WILL BE COMBINED WITH AN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BETHE-SALPETER EQUATION TO INCLUDE THE EFFECT OF ELECTRONIC EXCITATIONS. THIS APPROACH ACCOUNTS FOR SOME PHENOMENA (E.G., DETAILED BAND STRUCTURE, QUANTUM MECHANICAL EXCHANGE) THAT ARE OMITTED BY THE EXISTING APPROACH. THE NEW MODEL WILL BE USED TO COMPUTE THE ENERGY- AND MOMENTUM-DEPENDENT DIELECTRIC FUNCTIONS OF MATERIALS, THEN FROM THESE THE CORRESPONDING ENERGY LOSS FUNCTIONS. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS PROCESS WILL BE REPEATED FOR MANY MATERIALS, BEGINNING FIRST WITH MATERIALS THAT ARE IMPORTANT IN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS OF SEM TO DIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENTS, FOR EXAMPLE IN INTEGRATED ELECTRONICS AND NEXT GENERATION ELECTRONIC DEVICES, WHERE INDUSTRIAL TASK-GROUPS ARE HIGHLIGHTING THE NEED FOR SUB-0.5 NM ACCURACIES. THE MORE ACCURATE ENERGY LOSS FUNCTIONS WILL IMPROVE THE ACCURACY OF EXISTING ELECTRON-SCATTERING SIMULATORS, WHICH ARE USED TO INFER FEATURE DIMENSIONS FROM THEIR SECONDARY ELECTRON IMAGES. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: IF THE NEW APPROACH IS SUCCESSFUL, THE ACCURACY OF INFERRED FEATURE DIMENSIONS WILL BE IMPROVED. THE CAPABILITY TO MAKE SUCH INFERENCES WILL BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE VIA NIST?S JMONSEL SIMULATOR. SEM IS ONE OF VERY FEW MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES SUITABLE FOR APPLICATIONS IN NANO-TECHNOLOGY, WHERE THE IMPROVEMENTS ARE EXPECTED TO SPEED DEVELOPMENTS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: IN THE FIRST INSTANCE, SEMICONDUCTOR ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING AND OTHER NANOTECHNOLOGIES SHOULD BENEFIT. THERE ARE POTENTIALLY OTHER APPLICATIONS FOR SUCH IMPROVED MODELS, FOR EXAMPLE TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF RESIST EXPOSURE PROCESSES IN ELECTRON BEAM AND EXTREME ULTRA-VIOLET LITHOGRAPHY, WHERE SUCH IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING COULD LEAD TO DESIGN OF BETTER RESISTS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

METROLOGY FOR TWO-DIMENSIONAL TUNNEL TRANSISTORS

ALL-SOLID-STATE LI-ION BATTERY: FROM STRUCTURE ENGINEERING TO FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISM STUDY BY IN-SITU TEM

INTEGRATING COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS TO SUPPORT THE DESIGN OF ADVANCED MATERIALS

FEASIBILITY STUDY OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL NANOMETER-SCALE SEM IMAGING AND METROLOGY

PURPOSE: THIS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROPOSES THE APPLICATION OF AN EMERGING X-RAY METROLOGY TO REVEAL MOLECULAR-SCALE BEHAVIOR OF THE CATALYSTS RESPONSIBLE FOR PRODUCING THE ENERGY-INTENSIVE CHEMICALS CORE TO THE AMERICAN ECONOMY. IN PARTICULAR, THE WORK WILL LEVERAGE AND ADVANCE CAPABILITIES BEING ENABLED AT NIST'S X-RAY FACILITIES BY AN ACTIVE NIST INNOVATIONS IN MEASUREMENT SCIENCE (IMS) PROJECT, INCLUDING A NIST-BUILT DETECTOR AND NIST EQUIPMENT FOR ENABLING INDUSTRIALLY-RELEVANT CATALYSIS EXPERIMENTS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL BUILD A FRAMEWORK FOR PULSED-GAS RESONANT INELASTIC X-RAY SCATTERING MEASUREMENTS OF CATALYSTS. THIS WILL INCLUDE CO CHEMISORPTION STUDIES OF MODEL CATALYSTS, PULSED STUDIES OF THESE CATALYSTS, CHEMISORPTION STUDIES ON COMMERCIAL CATALYSTS UNDER STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS, AND TRANSIENT MEASUREMENTS OF COMMERCIAL CATALYSTS. THE RESEARCHER WILL ALSO DEVELOP TOOLS FOR PERFORMING THESE STUDIES AND ANALYZING THE CORRESPONDING RESULTS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE METHODOLOGIES AND RESULTS WILL BE PUBLISHED WITH THE DATA PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. THIS WILL SHOWCASE AND FURTHER THE TOOLS NIST HAS RECENTLY INVESTED IN AND DEVELOPED FOR CATALYSIS AT ITS FACILITIES, AS WELL AS ENABLE NEW STUDIES FOR NIST STAKEHOLDERS IN THE FUTURE. THE DATA CAN BE USED BY RESEARCHERS AROUND THE COUNTRY SEEKING TO IMPROVE CATALYSTS TO PROMOTE US INDUSTRIAL COMPETITIVENESS IN THE PRODUCTION OF ESSENTIAL CHEMICALS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE FINDINGS OF THIS RESEARCH CAN BE USED BY RESEARCHERS TO IMPROVE CATALYST MATERIALS. THE MEASUREMENT METHODOLOGIES AND TOOLS WILL ALSO REMAIN AVAILABLE AT NIST'S FACILITIES TO BENEFIT FUTURE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL NIST STAKEHOLDERS WORKING ON PROJECTS THAT ADVANCE NIST'S MISSION.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

CLASSICAL PROCESSING FOR QUANTUM INFORMATION

NON-DESTRUCTIVE SUBSURFACE AND TOMOGRAPHY METROLOGY USING AFM BASED TECHNIQUES FOR NANO-CHARACTERIZATION

SYNTHESIS OF VAN DER WAALS LAYERED MATERIALS WITH SEMICONDUCTING, METALLIC, AND TOPOLOGICAL INSULATOR PROPERTIES

DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELECTRONIC MATERIALS FOR DEVELOPING QUANTIZED RESISTANCE STANDARDS AND TRANSISTORS FOR BEYOND CMOS ELECTRON

HIGH PERFORMANCE NON-LOCAL CRYSTAL PLASTICITY FRAMEWORK IN OBJECT ORIENTED FINITE ELEMENT SOFTWARE (OOF)

PURPOSE:THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO USE CAPACITANCE MEASUREMENTS TO UNDERSTAND THE STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF DNA NANOSTRUCTURE TO EVALUATE THEIR USE AS BIOSENSORS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:THE RESEARCHERS WILL BUILD NEW MEASUREMENT FRAMEWORKS THAT WILL ITERATIVELY ALLOW 1) THE DESIGN A NEW DNA ORIGAMI STRUCTURES, 2) THE MEASUREMENT OF THEIR STATIC STRUCTURAL ATTRIBUTES WITH CRYO-EM MICROSCOPY, 3) THE ACQUISITION OF CAPACITANCE DISTRIBUTIONS AS THE STRUCTURES ARE BIASED BY A DC VOLTAGE, AND 4) THE CORRELATION OF CAPACITANCE MEASUREMENTS TO DETERMINE IF THE DISTRIBUTION OF STRUCTURAL ATTRIBUTES CAN BE PREDICTED.EXPECTED OUTCOMES:THE RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A NEW NON-INVASIVE AND LABEL FREE TECHNIQUE TO UTILIZE ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENTS TO DESCRIBE THE STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS IN DNA NANO STRICTURES. THE UNIQUE PROPERTIES OF THESE STRUCTURES ALLOWS THESE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES TO BE USEFUL IN SPECIFIC SCENARIOS IN BIO SENSING: (1) TO RELIABLY DESIGN AND SYNTHESIZE NANOSENSORS WITH PRE-DETERMINED GAIN, KINETICS AND OTHER PHYSIO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES; (2) TO ALLOW THESE NANO SENSORS TO BE INCORPORATED WITH SCALABLE ELECTRONICS; AND (3) ALLOW THE UNDERLYING MEASUREMENTS AND TECHNOLOGY TO BE UTILIZED IN FIELD-DEPLOYABLE TESTS AND PRODUCTS. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES:THE METHODS GENERATED FROM THIS RESEARCH WILL BE USED BY RESEARCHERS WORKING WITH DNA NANOTECHNOLOGY AND WHEN INCORPORATED IN SENSORS WILL GENERATE BIG DATA SETS THAT WILL BE USEFUL IN DEVELOPING MACHINE LEARNING AND AI MODELS. THE RESULTING MEASUREMENTS AND TECHNIQUES WILL LEAD TO IMPROVED SENSING ACCURACY IN BIOSENSING APPLICATIONS. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES:THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

IRES: INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS: COASTAL OCEANOGRAPHY IN EAST AFRICA

IMPROVED OPTICAL COUPLING ELEMENTS FOR MICROWAVE POLARIMETER ARRAYS

ADVANCED ANALYTICAL S/TEM METROLOGIES FOR EMERGING NANOTECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS

PURPOSE: THIS GRANT'S PURPOSE IS TO DEVELOP THE METHODOLOGY, NEW ALGORITHMS, AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR DETERMINING LOCAL AND NANOSCALE ATOMIC AND MAGNETIC ORDER IN TECHNOLOGICAL MATERIALS USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF X-RAY AND NEUTRON SCATTERING DATA. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: A NEW ALGORITHM FOR ATOMISTIC STRUCTURAL REFINEMENTS USING TOTAL SINGLE-CRYSTAL X-RAY AND NEUTRON SCATTERING DATA WILL BE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED IN THE RMCPROFILE SOFTWARE (HTTPS://RMCPROFILE.ORNL.GOV/). NEW CAPABILITIES WILL BE ADDED TO THE SOFTWARE TOOL FOR PERFORMING FOURIER FILTERING OF 3D DIFFUSE-SCATTERING INTENSITY TO ENABLE ADAPTIVE MASKING OF ARBITRARY-SHAPED DIFFUSE SCATTERING. A NEW MACHINE-LEARNING APPROACH TO RECOVERING STRUCTURAL MODELS FROM EXPERIMENTAL TOTAL-SCATTERING DATA WILL BE DEVELOPED AND TESTED FOR FEASIBILITY. A NEW IMPROVED ALGORITHM FOR FITTING NEUTRON MAGNETIC SCATTERING WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE RMCPROFILE SOFTWARE AND APPLIED TO DETERMINE MAGNETIC ORDERING IN HIGH-ENTROPY OXIDES. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS WILL LEAD TO MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE EXISTING CAPABILITIES FOR DETERMINING ATOMIC ORDER IN PARTIALLY DISORDERED MATERIALS, WITH VASTLY EXPANDED SCOPE AND HIGHER FIDELITY OF THE RECOVERED STRUCTURAL MODELS. THE RMCPROFILE SOFTWARE IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE AND ALREADY USED WORLDWIDE BY THE MATERIALS RESEARCH COMMUNITY. THE NEW CAPABILITIES WILL PERMIT THESE RESEARCHERS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE STILL UNDERUTILIZED DATA OBTAINABLE WITH MODERN SYNCHROTRON AND PULSED NEUTRON FACILITIES AND, THUS, SOLVE A SIGNIFICANTLY BROADER RANGE OF STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS THAN CURRENTLY POSSIBLE. THE IMPROVED SOFTWARE FOR THE INVERSE FOURIER TRANSFORM OF CALCULATED DIFFUSE INTENSITIES WILL BE OF SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT TO EXPERIMENTAL CRYSTALLOGRAPHERS AND THEORISTS PERFORMING MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS. THE NEW MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH, IF SUCCESSFUL, WILL PROVIDE A BLUEPRINT FOR USING THE MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN AI ALGORITHMS FOR STRUCTURE DETERMINATION. ALTOGETHER, THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE THE EXISTING CAPABILITIES IN STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION AVAILABLE TO RESEARCHERS DEVELOPING NEW AND IMPROVED MATERIALS. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: MATERIALS RESEARCHERS WILL BENEFIT FROM THE NEW CAPABILITIES WHICH WILL FACILITATE THE UNDERSTANDING OF STRUCTURE AND ITS RELATION TO FUNCTION IN COMPLEX TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEMS. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

DEVELOPMENT OF SPIN-TRANSPORT INSTRUMENTATION, MEASUREMENTS, AND ANALYSIS CAPABILITIES FOR ADVANCED MAGNETIC MATERIALS

TWO-DIMENSIONAL SEMICONDUCTORS FOR FUTURE ELECTRONICS: DESIGN AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIALS AND DEVICES

PRECISION WAVELENGTH DISPERSIVE MEASUREMENTS OF RARE EARTH L TRANSITIONS

NANOMAGNETIC MATERIALS FOR REFRIGERATION, CANCER TREATMENT, AND HIGH DENSITY STORAGE

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP CHIP-BASED DEVICES WITH INTEGRATED QUANTUM DOTS FOR BASIC QUANTUM SCIENCE RESEARCH AS WELL AS APPLICATIONS IN QUANTUM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS QUANTUM COMPUTING AND QUANTUM NETWORKS. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE PROJECT WILL INVOLVE THE DESIGN, FABRICATION AND TESTING OF CHIP-BASED INTEGRATED PHOTONIC DEVICES FOR THE GENERATION OF QUANTUM LIGHT BASED ON SINGLE QUANTUM DOTS. CHIP-INTEGRATED PHOTONIC COMPONENTS WILL BE DESIGNED TO ALLOW THE ON-CHIP EMITTED QUANTUM LIGHT TO BE MAXIMALLY LEVERAGED IN QUANTUM INFORMATION APPLICATIONS - FOR INSTANCE, EFFICIENTLY DIRECTING THE ON-CHIP EMITTED LIGHT TOWARDS SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEMS ON- OR OFF-CHIP. METHODS FOR ELECTRONIC CONTROL OF IMPORTANT QUANTUM DOT OPTICAL PROPERTIES, SUCH AS EMISSION WAVELENGTH AND TEMPORAL STABILITY, WILL BE INVESTIGATED. NANOFABRICATION PROCESSES WILL BE DEVELOPED AND OPTIMIZED TO IMPLEMENT THE DESIGNED DEVICES IN HYBRID CHIPS INVOLVING MULTIPLE TYPES OF MATERIALS. FABRICATED DEVICES WILL BE CHARACTERIZED FOR THEIR OPTICAL PERFORMANCE, AND MEASURED RESULTS WILL PROVIDE FEEDBACK FOR FURTHER OPTIMIZATION. FINALLY, OPTIMIZED DEVICES WILL BE PRODUCED TO SUPPORT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN PHOTONIC QUANTUM INFORMATION BASIC RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE PROJECT WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHIP-INTEGRATED DEVICES CONTAINING QUANTUM LIGHT SOURCES BASED ON SINGLE QUANTUM DOTS, WHERE THE QUANTUM DOT OPTICAL EMISSION PROPERTIES CAN BE CONTROLLED ELECTRONICALLY TO MEET NECESSARY, STRINGENT SPECIFICATIONS FOR QUANTUM INFORMATION APPLICATIONS. IT WILL ALSO LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF OPTIMIZED NANOFABRICATION PROCESSES FOR A CLASS OF HYBRID, MULTI-MATERIAL CHIP-SCALE INTEGRATED OPTICAL DEVICES THAT CAN BE USED IN BOTH BASIC RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS IN QUANTUM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES. FINALIZED DEVICES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR EXPERIMENTAL QUANTUM RESEARCH AND PHOTONIC QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: BOTH FABRICATION PROCESSES AND DEVICES PRODUCED BY THIS RESEARCH WILL BENEFIT SCIENTISTS WORKING IN QUANTUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INVESTIGATIONS. THIS RESEARCH WILL ALSO BENEFIT RESEARCHERS DOING WORK ON ON-CHIP INTEGRATED PHOTONIC CIRCUITS, NANOPHOTONICS, NANOFABRICATION. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS --

SYNCHROTRON X-RAY MICROBEAM DIFFRACTION MEASUREMENTS OF FULL ELASTIC STRAIN AND STRESSES OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURED PARTS

PROJECT DESCRIPTIONPURPOSE: THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO DEVELOP AN IMPROVED ENDOTHELIAL/CARDIAC ORGAN-ON-CHIP MODEL CAPABLE OF REAL-TIME, MINIMALLY INVASIVE MEASUREMENT OF BOTH ENDOTHELIAL BARRIER INTEGRITY AND CARDIAC FUNCTION.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THIS PROPOSAL WILL FOCUS ON NEW MEASUREMENT CAPABILITIES BY FABRICATING ELECTRODES DIRECTLY ON BOTH SIDES OF A POROUS MEMBRANE AND INTEGRATE THIS NEW SENSOR INTO A HEART-ON-A-CHIP DEVICE. THE NEW DEVICE WILL BE OPTIMIZED, AND AN ASSESSMENT OF THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE ENDOTHELIAL BARRIER AND THE MEASURED IMPEDANCE OF ENDOTHELIAL LAYER WILL BE CARRIED OUT. ULTIMATELY, IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENTS ON CARDIAC CELLS WILL BE PERFORMED TO STUDY THE TRANSPORT OF CARDIOTOXIC COMPOUNDS AND HOW THEY AFFECT CARDIAC FUNCTIONALITY.THE WORK WILL BE DONE BY:1. ESTABLISH A ROBUST MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE FABRICATION AND ASSEMBLY PROCESS. 2. OPTIMIZE THE ON-CHIP CELL SEEDING AND CULTURE CONDITIONS FOR BOTH HUMAN-INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL-DERIVED CARDIOMYOCYTES (HIPSC-CMS) AND HUMAN UMBILICAL VEIN ENDOTHELIAL CELLS (HUVECS). 3. EVALUATION AND DETERMINATION OF THE CORRELATION BETWEEN ENDOTHELIAL BARRIER INTEGRITY, BY MEASURING TRANS ENDOTHELIAL ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE (TEER) AS WELL AS THE IMPEDANCE OF HUVEC LAYER. 4. CONDUCT IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENTS TO STUDY THE TRANSPORT OF KNOWN CARDIOTOXIC COMPOUNDS ACROSS THE ENDOTHELIAL BARRIER AND HOW THEY IMPACT CARDIAC FUNCTION. EXPECTED OUTCOMES:? A HIGH-YIELD PROCESS FOR FABRICATING ELECTRODES ON TRACK-ETCHED PET MEMBRANES WILL BE REALIZED.? OPTIMAL CELL CULTURE CONDITIONS FOR BOTH HIPSC-CMS AND HUVECS IN THE MICROFLUIDIC CHANNEL WILL BE OBTAINED.? A ROBUST CALIBRATION CURVE WILL BE ESTABLISHED RELATING MEASURED TEER VALUES AND CELL LAYER PERMEABILITY. THE CALIBRATION CURVE SHOULD ENABLE REAL-TIME MONITORING OF CELL BARRIER CHANGES THAT MAY NOT BE EASILY VISIBLE IN A TRADITIONAL MICROSCOPE.? A COMPLETE HEART-ENDOTHELIUM-ON-A-CHIP WILL BE REALIZED.? PUBLISHING OF THIS WORK IN A PEER-REVIEW JOURNAL, IN ADDITION TO PRESENTING OUR FINDINGS IN CONFERENCES RELEVANT TO OUR FIELD.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THIS PROJECT WILL IMPACT THE ORGAN AND LAB-ON-A-CHIP FIELD BY PROVIDING TRANSFERABLE TECHNOLOGY TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A HEART-ON-A-CHIP SYSTEM WITH MULTIPARAMETRIC CAPABILITIES. THIS TOOL COULD BE FURTHER DEVELOP TO PERFORM IN VITRO PRE-CLINICAL TESTING.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INVESTIGATE AND UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS OF SURFACTANT-MEDITATED ELECTROCHEMICAL METAL DEPOSITION, PARTICULARLY COPPER, RHODIUM, AND IDIUM AT THE NANOSCALE FOR USE IN ADVANCED MICROELECTRONIC INTERCONNECTS. THROUGH OPERANDO MEASUREMENTS AND MODELING, THE RESEARCH AIMS TO OPTIMIZE DEPOSITION PROCESSES, IMPROVE MATERIAL PERFORMANCE, AND SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF NEXT-GENERATION INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGIES CRITICAL TO SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THIS PROJECT WILL USE ADVANCED MICROSCOPY AND MODELING TO STUDY HOW SURFACTANTS AFFECT METAL DEPOSITION FOR NEXT-GENERATION SEMICONDUCTOR INTERCONNECTS. BY OPTIMIZING MATERIALS LIKE COPPER, RHODIUM, AND IRIDIUM, THE WORK AIMS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE, SUPPORT CHIPS ACT GOALS, AND TRAIN NEW TALENT IN MICROELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THIS PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO DELIVER INSIGHTS INTO SURFACTANT-DRIVEN METAL DEPOSITION, ENABLE IMPROVED FABRICATION OF ADVANCED INTERCONNECTS, SUPPORT CHIPS ACT GOALS, AND HELP TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF U.S MICROELECTRONICS WORKFORCE.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: U.S SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURERS, MATERIALS SCIENTIST, MICROELECTRONIC RESEARCHERS, GENERAL PUBLIC & NATIONAL SECURITY STAKEHOLDERS. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

COMPUTER ALGORITHMS AND SOFTWARE FOR STRUCTURE REFINEMENTS USING THE REVERSE MONTE CARLO METHOD

PURPOSE:THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO DEVELOP NEW ALGORITHMS AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR DETERMINING ATOMIC ORDER IN TECHNOLOGICAL MATERIALS USING A COMBINED INPUT FROM POWDER AND SINGLE-CRYSTAL X-RAY AND NEUTRON SCATTERING DATA.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED:NEW ALGORITHMS FOR FAST CALCULATIONS OF 3D DISTRIBUTIONS OF DIFFUSE SCATTERING WILL DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED IN THE RMCPROFILE SOFTWARE (WWW.RMCPROFILE.ORG). THE EXISTING RMCPROFILE CODE WILL BE REPLACED WITH A NEW ONE ENABLING PARALLEL CALCULATIONS ON MULTIPLE GPUS, AS REQUIRED FOR FITTING 3D DIFFUSE SCATTERING DATA OVER LARGE SECTIONS OF RECIPROCAL SPACE WITH HIGH RESOLUTION. A NEW SOFTWARE TOOL FOR THE INVERSE FOURIER TRANSFORM OF THE CALCULATED 3D DIFFUSE SCATTERING WILL BE DEVELOPED IN THIS STUDY, PROVIDING A CAPABILITY FOR IDENTIFYING STRUCTURAL ORIGINS OF SPECIFIC DIFFUSE FEATURES. AN APPROACH FOR STRUCTURAL REFINEMENTS USING LOCAL DISTORTION MODES OF COORDINATION POLYHEDRA AS VARIABLES WILL BE FURTHER DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED IN THE RMCPROFILE SOFTWARE. THE NEWLY DEVELOPED TOOLS WILL BE TESTED USING COMMON STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN TECHNOLOGICAL MATERIALS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES:THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS WILL LEAD TO A STEP CHANGE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE RMCPROFILE SOFTWARE FOR ATOMISTIC STRUCTURAL REFINEMENTS USING A COMBINED INPUT FROM POWDER AND SINGLE-CRYSTAL SCATTERING DATA THAT ARE EXPECTED TO YIELD STRUCTURAL MODELS OF UNPRECEDENTED SCOPE AND FIDELITY. THIS SOFTWARE IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE (WWW.RMCPROFILE.ORG) AND USED WORLDWIDE BY THE MATERIALS RESEARCH COMMUNITY. THE NEW SOFTWARE WILL ENABLE THESE RESEARCHERS AND THEIR CUSTOMERS TO TAKE A FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE STILL UNDERUTILIZED DATA OBTAINABLE WITH MODERN SYNCHROTRON AND PULSED NEUTRON FACILITIES AND, THUS, SOLVE A SIGNIFICANTLY BROADER RANGE OF COMPLEX STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS THAN CURRENTLY POSSIBLE. THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTATIONALLY EFFICIENT SOFTWARE FOR THE INVERSE FOURIER TRANSFORM OF CALCULATED DIFFUSE INTENSITIES WILL BE OF SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT FOR EXPERIMENTAL CRYSTALLOGRAPHERS AND THEORISTS PERFORMING MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS. SIMILARLY, THE AVAILABILITY OF ATOMISTIC STRUCTURAL REFINEMENTS USING DISTORTION MODES AS STRUCTURAL VARIABLES WILL REGULARIZE THE REFINEMENT PROCESS AND FACILITATE INTERPRETATIONS OF RESULTS. ALTOGETHER, THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENTS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY ADVANCE THE EXISTING CAPABILITIES IN STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION AVAILABLE TO RESEARCHERS DEVELOPING NEW AND IMPROVED MATERIALS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES:MATERIALS RESEARCHERS WILL BENEFIT FROM THE NEW CAPABILITIES WHICH WILL FACILITATE THE UNDERSTANDING OF STRUCTURE AND ITS RELATION TO FUNCTION IN COMPLEX TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEMS.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES:THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY RELIES ON A HIGHLY INTERCONNECTED GLOBAL SUPPLY AND FABRICATION CHAIN TO PRODUCE ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES. HOWEVER, LIMITED TRANSPARENCY IN MATERIAL PROCESSING AND DEVICE OPTIMIZATION STRATEGIES HAS LED TO CRITICAL GAPS IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR ECOSYSTEM. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY (NIST) PLANS TO ADDRESS THESE R&D CHALLENGES TO FACILITATE ADVANCEMENT IN METROLOGY CRITICAL TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MATERIALS, PRODUCTION METHODS, PROCESSING PROTOCOLS AND PACKAGING IN CHIP MANUFACTURING. GIVEN THE CENTRAL ROLE OF METAL INTERCONNECTS IN SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES, THIS PROJECT "OPERANDO SPECTROSCOPIC INVESTIGATION OF ELECTRODEPOSITION PROCESSES FOR INTERCONNECT MATERIALS", WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE ONGOING EFFORTS AT NIST TO MANUFACTURE ADVANCED METALLIZATION PROCESSES FOR MICROELECTRONIC INTERCONNECTS, ALIGNED WITH THE GOALS OF THE US CHIPS ACT. IN DOING SO, IT WILL SUPPORT THE GENERATION OF NEW KNOWLEDGE AND TRAINING OF NEW TALENT FOR THE US INDUSTRY.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE PROPOSED PROJECT AND PI DR. KHURANA AIM TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF ADDITIVE-ASSISTED ELECTRODEPOSITION MECHANISMS AND NANOSCALE FEATURE-FILLING PROCESSES RELEVANT TO ADVANCED INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGIES, WITH A CENTRAL FOCUS ON OPERANDO SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES. THE CORE INVESTIGATIVE TOOL WILL BE SHELL-ISOLATED NANOPARTICLE-ENHANCED RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY (SHINERS), WHICH ENABLES HIGH-SENSITIVITY, NON-INVASIVE PROBING OF INTERFACIAL CHEMISTRY AND GROWTH DYNAMICS UNDER REALISTIC ELECTROCHEMICAL CONDITIONS. SHINERS WILL BE EMPLOYED TO MONITOR SURFACE ADSORBATES, ADDITIVE CO-ADSORBATE INTERACTIONS, AND THE EVOLUTION OF METAL GROWTH FRONTS DURING DAMASCENE-TYPE ELECTRODEPOSITION. THESE STUDIES WILL BE SUPPORTED BY A SUITE OF COMPLEMENTARY TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY (XPS) FOR CHEMICAL STATE ANALYSIS, SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM) FOR MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION, INFRARED REFLECTION/ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY (IRAS) AND SURFACE-ENHANCED INFRARED ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY (SEIRAS) FOR MOLECULAR VIBRATIONAL STUDIES, AND ELECTROCHEMICAL SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY (EC-STM) AND ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY (EC-AFM) FOR IN SITU SURFACE IMAGINGEXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE CONTINUED SCALING OF INTERCONNECT ARCHITECTURES IN SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES HAS UNDERSCORED THE NEED TO EXPLORE ALTERNATIVE METALS TO ADDRESS THE GROWING LIMITATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCREASED RESISTIVITY OF COPPER INTERCONNECTS AT NANOSCALE DIMENSIONS. THIS PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO TACKLE THAT CHALLENGE BY ESTABLISHING NEW PROTOCOLS FOR THE ELECTRODEPOSITION OF PLATINUM-GROUP METALS (PGMS) INTO NANOSCALE FEATURES, GUIDED BY A DETAILED MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEPOSITION PROCESSES. THE RESEARCH WILL LEVERAGE OPERANDO SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES, WITH A PRIMARY EMPHASIS ON METHODS SUCH AS SHINERS, TO PROBE INTERFACIAL PHENOMENA AND ADDITIVE-MEDIATED GROWTH MECHANISMS IN REAL TIME. INSIGHTS GAINED FROM THESE STUDIES WILL BE SHARED WITH INDUSTRIAL COLLABORATORS TO SUPPORT THE CO-DEVELOPMENT OF SCALABLE DEPOSITION STRATEGIES COMPATIBLE WITH EXISTING INTERCONNECT INTEGRATION SCHEMES.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE RESEARCH PUBLISHED WOULD BENEFIT THE PUBLIC, THE CHIP MAKING INDUSTRY WILL ALSO BENEFITSUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

MEASUREMENT OF STRESSES AND THE ELECTRICAL PERFORMANCE OF CU THROUGH-SILICON VIA USED IN 3D ICS SUBJECTED TO SEVERE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

RARE EARTH L TRANSITIONS ON SI TRACEABLE X-RAY ENERGY SCALES

OPTOMECHANICAL MICROCAVITY FOR ACCELEROMETRY AND SENSING

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP PHYSICAL MODELS OF ALUMINUM GALLIUM NITRIDE (ALGAN)/GALLIUM NITRIDE (GAN)-BASED HIGH-ELECTRON-MOBILITY TRANSISTOR (HEMT) DEVICES FOR COUNTER INTUITIVE PHYSICS OF SHORT CHANNEL DEVICES.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL BUILD A NEW MODEL OF TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF GALLIUM NITRIDE (GAN)-BASED HIGH-ELECTRON-MOBILITY TRANSISTOR (HEMT) DEVICES OF VARIOUS GEOMETRIES AND ACCOUNTING FOR DEVICE PHYSICS PHENOMENA SUCH AS SELF-HEATING DYNAMIC EFFECTS AND BALLISTIC MOBILITIES IN 2D ELECTRON GAS AT THE GAN/ALUMINUM GALLIUM NITRIDE (ALGAN) INTERFACE.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING MULTI-PHYSICS COMPACT AND TECHNOLOGY COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN (TCAD) MODELS FOR GAN-BASED HEMT DEVICES AND DELIVERING THESE MODELS TO NIST AND OTHER RESEARCHERS SO THAT THESE IMPROVED MODELS CAN BE USED FOR ACCURATE AND EXPERIMENTALLY VALIDATED/VERIFIED SIMULATION OF WIDE-BAND-GAP HIGH-FREQUENCY, HIGH-POWER DEVICES. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE MODEL GENERATED FROM THIS RESEARCH CAN BE USED BY NIST AND OTHER RESEARCHERS WORKING TO EXPERIMENT WITH AND VALIDATE WIDE-BAND-GAP HIGH-FREQUENCY, HIGH-POWER DEVICES.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

A MAGNETIC FIELD SENSOR BASED ON THE MAGNETO-ELECTROLUMINESCENCE RESPONSE OF ORGANIC LEDS

PRINTED AND FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS: SMART OPTIMIZATION OF AN IN-SITU ROLL TO ROLL SLOT DIE COATING TEST BED VIA INTEGRATED OPTICAL METROLOGY

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: REORGANIZATION OF DEEPWATER CIRCULATION IN RESPONSE TO THE OPENING OF SOUTHERN OCEAN PASSAGES IN THE MIDDLE/LATE EOCENE (40-3

COMPUTER ALGORITHMS AND SOFTWARE FOR STRUCTURE REFINEMENTS USING THE REVERSE MONTE CARLO METHOD

MULTISCALE ANALYSIS OF ENGINEERED FIBROUS MATERIAL RELIABILITY

EVALUATION AND ISOMER DIFFERENTIATION FOR FENTANYL-RELATED COMPOUNDS USING ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES AND HOST-GUEST CHEMISTRY

ON THE ACCURACY OF PARTICLE SIZE AND SHAPE MEASUREMENTS OF METAL POWDERS USED FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IDENTIFY THE BEST PRACTICES FOR GROWTH OF THIN FILM MAGNETIC TUNNEL JUNCTIONS FOR ADVANCED MAGNETIC MEMORY ELEMENTS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL PERFORM THE CONTROLLED SYNTHESIS OF ULTRATHIN FILM HETEROSTRUCTURES, INCLUDING MAGNETIC TUNNEL JUNCTIONS, IN AN ULTRAHIGH VACUUM THIN FILM DEPOSITION FACILITY AND ESTABLISH BEST-PRACTICES FOR THE GROWTH AND PROCESSING OF THESE HETEROSTRUCTURES FOR MAGNETIC MEMORY ELEMENTS. THE ACTIVITIES WILL INCLUDE EXPLORING THE DEPENDENCE OF PROXIMAL AND DISTAL LAYER MATERIALS, THEIR ASSOCIATED STRESSES AND CHEMISTRY, ON THE PROPERTIES OF THE MAGNETIC TUNNEL JUNCTIONS COMPOSED THEREOF. PARTICULAR FOCUS WILL BE GIVEN TO OBTAINING THE PROPER CRYSTALLIZATION AND CRYSTAL ORIENTATION OF THE MGO AND FEPD COMPONENTS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE HIGH PERPENDICULAR MAGNETIC ANISOTROPY, LOW DAMPING, LOW ANISOTROPY INHOMOGENEITY AND HIGH MAGNETORESISTANCE VALUES IN THE UNDERLYING MAGNETIC MEMORY ELEMENT. JUDICIOUS EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGY IN THE PREPARATION OF THIN FILM SPECIMENS AND THEIR CAREFUL AND SYSTEMATIC PROCESSING IN CONTROLLED CONDITIONS WILL BE EMPLOYED TO ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE IN THE MATERIALS AND PROCESSING LEADING TO OPTIMIZED MAGNETIC TUNNEL JUNCTIONS. STRUCTURAL MEASUREMENTS - INCLUDING X-RAY DIFFRACTION, TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY AND ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY - AND MAGNETIC MEASUREMENTS - INCLUDING MAGNETORESISTANCE MEASUREMENTS, MAGNETOMETRY AND FERROMAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY - WILL BE USED TO ESTABLISH STRUCTURE-PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS KEY TO BUILDING NEW PROCESSING KNOWLEDGE FOR THE OPTIMIZED MAGNETIC TUNNEL JUNCTIONS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE PROJECT WILL DELIVER NEW MATERIALS UNDERSTANDING TO PRODUCE MAGNETIC TUNNEL JUNCTIONS THAT COMBINE HIGH MAGNETIC ANISOTROPY WITH LOW MAGNETIC LOSS AND LARGE TUNNEL MAGNETORESISTANCE BY EXPLORING THE MATERIALS AND PROCESSING STRATEGIES THAT ARE COMPATIBLE WITH FEPD AND MGO-BASED MAGNETIC TUNNEL JUNCTIONS.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE US SEMICONDUCTORY INDUSTRY WILL BENEFIT FROM APPLYING THE NEWLY DEVELOPED SYNTHESIS AND PROCESSING STRATEGIES TO THEIR EXISTING FOUNDRY TOOLS FOR MAGNETIC NON-VOLATILE MEMORY DEVELOPMENT, A KEY ENABLER FOR EMERGING EMBEDDED AND STANDALONE MEMORY TECHNOLOGIES, AND GENERALLY ONE OF THE MOST QUICKLY GROWING AREAS IN THE GLOBAL MEMORY INDUSTRY.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS GRANT IS TO PROVIDE MEASUREMENT METHODS AND DATA TO HELP ENABLE THE TRANSITION TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY, WITH THE GOALS OF IMPROVING SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCY AND ENABLING U.S. COMPETITIVENESS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL USE METROLOGY SUCH AS SPECTROSCOPY TO CHARACTERIZE THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF TEXTILES IN AN EFFORT TO DEVELOP DATA REPOSITORIES AND REGISTRIES FOLLOWING THE FAIR DATA PRINCIPLES, AS WELL AS ESTABLISH NEW STANDARDS AND METHODOLOGIES FOR THE SEPARATION OF TEXTILE BLENDS THAT WILL ALLOW THE REUSABILITY AND RECYCLABILITY OF THESE MATERIALS.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A METHODS AND DATA RESOURCES TO HELP CHARACTERIZE COMMON TEXTILE BLENDS AND PROVIDE A SPECTRAL LIBRARY THAT COULD BE USED TO AUTOMATE SORTING AND ENABLE RECYCLING FOR THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY.INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: IN ADDITION TO GENERAL SOCIETAL BENEFITS FROM RECLAIMING PREVIOUSLY WASTE MATERIAL, U.S. BUSINESSES AND THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY CAN BENEFIT FROM THE WORK IN THIS PROPOSAL TO FACILITATE A MOVE TOWARDS CIRCULARITY. AS FASTER AND MORE EFFICIENT SORTING AND NEW METHODS OF RECYCLING ARE ENABLED, THIS WILL CAUSE GROWTH IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES FOCUSED IN THE FIELD OF CIRCULAR TEXTILES.SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

IN SITU MAPPING OF ELECTROCHEMICAL REACTIVITY OF 2D MATERIALS

INVESTIGATIONS OF THE AGEING OF UNIDIRECTIONAL LAMINATE MATERIALS USED IN SOFT BODY ARMOR

ELECTRON SCATTERING MODELS FOR ENHANCED THREE-DIMENSIONAL METROLOGY BY SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

THREE-DIMENSIONAL NANOMETROLOGY BASED ON MULTI-ANGLE SEM IMAGING

QUANTUM INTERACTION MODELS FOR ELECTRON SCATTERING IN NANOSCALE STRUCTURES: APPLICATIONS TO METROLOGY, SPECTROSCOPY, MATERIALS DESIGN AND ANALYSIS

DEVELOPING ALL-SOLID-STATE THIN FILM BATTERIES AND METROLOGY OF TEM IN SITU MICROSCOPY OF ELECTROCHEMICAL PROCESSES

CHARACTERIZATION OF NANOPARTICLE-BASED DELIVERY PLATFORMS

METROLOGY FOR TWO-DIMENSIONAL ADVANCED DEVICES

MAGNETOMETRY INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT

THE EQUATORIAL SURFACE VELOCITY FIELD DERIVED FROM SATELLITE ALTIMETER OBSERVATIONS

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN MODIS AND FLUXNET: VALIDATION OF NEW HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION SATELLITE-BASED ESTIMATES OF EVAPOTRANSPIRATION USING FLUXNET O

EXTRACTING ELECTRON DENSITIES NON-DESTRUCTIVELY FROM RAMAN SPECTRA OF LAYERED STRUCTURES IN COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTORS

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INVESTIGATE QUANTITATIVE STRUCTURAL AND CHEMICAL INFORMATION ON BOTH POLYMER FILMS AND MNP .ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHER WILL GENERATE A PROCEDURE, AND USE BCARS MICROSCOPY, TO BE ABLE TO CHARACTERIZE AND INVESTIGATE THE 3D MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF MICROPLASTICS, AS WELL AS LARGER PLASTIC BODIES. BY COMPARING THE 3D MOLECULAR STRUCTURES OF PRODUCED MNP AND OF LARGE PLASTICS, WE CAN PROPOSE DEGRADATION MECHANISMS DUE TO WEATHERING EFFECTS. THE RESEARCHER WILL ALSO DEVELOP A STANDARD PROTOCOL OF O-PTIR MICROSCOPY TO IMAGE MNP AND POLYMER FILMS. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCHER IS DEVELOPING A METHOD TO IMAGE MNP AND POLYMER FILMS TO UNDERSTAND WEATHERING PRODUCTION MECHANISMS. THEY WILL USE IMAGING TECHNIQUES OF CHEMICAL IMAGING BASED ON BCARS AND O-PTIR MICROSCOPY. THE PROJECT WILL PROVIDE TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES AT MATERIAL MEASUREMENT LAB (MML), SUCH AS POLARIZATION CONTROLLED BCARS MICROSCOPY AND O-PTIR MICROSCOPY AND DEVELOP A STANDARD PROTOCOL TO MONITOR WEATHERING EFFECTS ON POLYMER FILMS AND MNP. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE TECHNOLOGIES NEEDED FOR MITIGATING MNP POLLUTION, WHICH HAS BECOME A SERIOUS GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM. THE NEW KNOWLEDGE OF SUBMICROMETER-LEVEL STRUCTURAL INFORMATION ON MNP SHEDDING AND THE WEATHERING EFFECT WILL IMPROVE NOT ONLY PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT BUT ALSO THE COMPETITIVENESS OF US MANUFACTURING. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

IN-SITU STRESS AND QCM STUDY OF PT-BASED STRAIN-INDUCED CATALYSIS

DETERMINATION OF BIOPRODUCTION AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CELLS UNDER MICROFLUIDIC CONDITIONS

MODELING WIND WAVE EVOLUTION FROM DEEP TO SHALLOW WATER

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THERMOPLASTIC FIBER COMPOSITES

COMPUTER ALGORITHMS AND UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS OF PARTICLE SIZE MEASUREMENTS USING DYNAMIC IMAGING ANALYSIS METHODFOR STRUCTURE REFINEMENTS USING THE REVERSE MONTE CARLO METHOD

IMPROVED ALGORITHMS FOR QUANTIFYING INTEGRATION IN PHYSICAL SYSTEMS PROCESSING INFORMATION

RADIATION REACTION, ORBITAL EVOLUTION, AND EMITTED GRAVITATIONAL WAVEFORMS FROM EXTREME-MASS-RATIO BINARIES, AND WAVE EXTRACTION FOR NUMERICAL RELATI

PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO USE FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS TO MEASURE THE BINDING KINETICS OF DNA INTERACTIONS WITH HIGH PRECISION TO IMPROVE BIOSENSORS.ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: THE RESEARCHERS WILL BUILD NEW MEASUREMENT TOOLS THAT 1) OPTIMIZE FUNCTIONAL SURFACES FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE DNA MEASUREMENTS, 2) TEST THE EFFECT OF ANALYTE CONCENTRATION AND FLOW RATE ON KINETICS, AND 3) MEASURE THE EFFECT OF MUTATIONS ON DNA BINDING KINETICS, PARTICULARLY WITH THE GOAL OF SEPARATING MUTANT TYPES FROM THE KINETICS DATA.EXPECTED OUTCOMES: THE RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A NEW NON-INVASIVE AND LABEL FREE TECHNIQUE TO UTILIZE ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENTS TO DESCRIBE THE KINETIC INTERACTIONS OF DNA. THE METHODS WILL ALLOW THE DEVELOPED ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES TO BE USEFUL IN SPECIFIC SCENARIOS IN BIO SENSING: (1) TO RELIABLY DESIGN BIOSENSORS FOR NEW ANALYTE TYPES; (2) TO ALLOW THESE NANO SENSORS TO BE INCORPORATED WITH SCALABLE ELECTRONICS; AND (3) ALLOW THE RAPID AND SENSITIVE DETECTION OF VARUANTS SUCH AS DNA MUTANTS WITHIN A FIELD-DEPLOYABLE TEST FRAMEWORK. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: THE METHODS GENERATED FROM THIS RESEARCH WILL BE USED BY RESEARCHERS WORKING WITH DNA AND WHEN INCORPORATED IN SENSORS WILL GENERATE BIG DATA SETS THAT WILL BE USEFUL IN DEVELOPING MACHINE LEARNING AND AI MODELS. THE RESULTING MEASUREMENTS AND TECHNIQUES WILL LEAD TO IMPROVED SENSING ACCURACY IN BIOSENSING APPLICATIONS. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: THE RECIPIENT DOES NOT INTEND TO SUBAWARD FUNDS.

WAVE-CURRENT INTERACTION IN COASTAL INLETS AND RIVER MOUTHS

PHOTOELASTIC IMAGING FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY STRAIN MEASUREMENTS