IMR Colloquia Series
2009-2010 IMR Colloquia
IMR announces the first talk in it’s 2009-2010 IMR Colloquia Series:
Toward Higher Performance Permanent Magnets for Automotive Applications
Dr. Kazuhiro Hono 
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and University of Tsukuba
Thursday, October 29, 2009
9:00 – 10:00 AM (light reception to follow)
E100 Scott Laboratory
201 West 19th Avenue
Abstract:
Interest in the coercivity mechanism of Nd-Fe-B based permanent magnets has recently been revived in Japan due to the increasing demand for Dy-free high coercive Nd-Fe-B magnets for (hybrid) electric vehicles (HEV). In the current Nd-Fe-B based magnets of HEV motors, 30% of Nd is substituted with Dy to increase the anisotropy field of the (Nd,Dy)2Fe14B main phase, but the natural aboundance of Dy is only 10% of Nd. Thus, we are looking for a way to increase the coercivity of the Nd-Fe-B magnets without using Dy. For this purpose, we are trying to understand the microstructure-coercivity relationships of Nd-Fe-B magnets by investigating the microstructures of commercial and experimental sintered magnets and hydrogen disproportionation desorption recombination (HDDR) powder by high resolution scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. I this seminar, I will give an overview of our recent work on the development of Dy-free high coercivity Nd-Fe-B based magnets for general audience.
Biography:
Kazuhiro Hono received a B.S. and M.S. in Materials Science from Tohoku University in 1982 and 1984, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Metals Science and Engineering from Penn State in 1988. Following post-doc at CMU, he started his carreer as a research associate at the Institute for Materials Research at Tohoku University, then, moved to the National Research Institute for Metals (now National Institute for Materials Science) as a Senior Researcher in 1995. He is now a Fellow of NIMS, Managing Director of Magnetic Materials Center, and also a Professor of the Materials Science Program at the University of Tsukuba. His research interests include phase transformation in alloys, microstructure-property relationships of magnetic and spintronics materials, nanocrystalline and amorphous alloys, atom probe field ion microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. http://www.nims.go.jp/apfim/
2008-2009 IMR Colloquia
Photovoltaics R&D: The Revolution has Begun
Dr. Lawrence L. Kazmerski
Executive Director, Science and Technology Partnerships
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(former Director of the National Center for Photovoltaics)
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Metal/Semiconductor Superlattices as Thermoelectric Metamaterials for Sold-State Energy Conversions
Dr. Timothy D. Sands
Basil S. Turner Professor of Materials Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering and Robert L. Kirk Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center
Purdue University
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Thermoelectric (TE) generators have been used in niche applications, such as deepspace probes, that demand a compact and robust source of electrical power. A significant improvement in efficiency will be necessary to expand the applications of thermoelectrics to waste heat generators for vehicles and energy-intensive industrial processes. As an alternative to conventional thermoelectric materials based on degenerate semiconductors, we have explored an approach based on nitride metal/semiconductor superlattices such as (Zr,W)N/ScN. The metal provides a source of electrons, a fraction of which have energies above the Schottky barrier introduced by the metal/semiconductor interface. The transport is thermionic, yielding a differential conductivity that is asymmetric with respect to the Fermi energy. The high concentration of interfaces in superlattices with nanoscale periods suppresses the crossplane thermal conductivity to values as low as 1.8 W/m-K, enhancing the figure-ofmerit. In this presentation, the progress towards high performance metal/semiconductor thermoelectric metamaterials will be reviewed and remaining challenges will be highlighted.
Previous Colloquia:
Nanotechnology for the Enhancement of Human Health
James R. Baker, Jr. M.D.
Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences
University of Michigan
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The application of nanotechnology to the prevention and treatment of human diseases holds great promise because it involves the interaction with nanoscale biological materials. Synthetic nanomaterials that are biocompatible, non-toxic and functional in biologic (wet) conditions can be used to engineer and restore cellular function in a manner similar to how artificial joints and heart valves can restore organ function. Early applications of nanomaterials will likely involve the development of medications that take advantage of unique aspects of nanostructures interaction with biological systems to achieve or enhance therapeutic activity. Examples will be provided for the design, synthesis and analysis of therapeutic nanomaterials where distinct kinds of attached molecules allow for unique therapeutic functions. These applications include antimicrobial compounds, vaccines, drug and gene delivery, and functional imaging. These “nanomedicines” all share the capability to uniquely function simply due to their size. Future nanotechnology therapeutic applications such as cellular engineering, human performance augmentation and single molecule manipulation will be reviewed.
Self-Assembly Processes for Constructing Unconventional Organic, Organometallic, and Inorganic Electronic Circuitry
Tobin J. Marks
Department of Chemistry and the Materials Research Center Northwestern University, Evanston IL 60208-3113 USA
t-marks@northwestern.edu
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Chemists are exceptionally skilled at designing and constructing individual molecules with the goal of imbuing them with defined chemical and physical properties. However, the task of rationally assembling them into organized, functional supramolecular structures with precise, nanometer-level control is a daunting challenge. In this lecture, approaches to addressing this problem are described in which the ultimate goal is the fabrication of organic and other unconventional electronic circuitry by high throughput, large area printing techniques. Issues here concern not only the rational design of high-mobility p- and n-type organic and non-organic semiconductors for CMOS electronics, but also modular high-k dielectrics with ultra-large capacitance, low leakage, high breakdown fields, and radiation hardness. It is seen that these approaches can be successfully applied to organic, organometallic, and inorganic semiconducting materials.
Previous IMR Seminars
Simulation Based Nano-engineering: From Nanotechnologies to Applications
H. Eliot Fang
Deputy & Technical Assistant to the Vice President, Science & Technology and Research Foundations Division, Sandia National Laboratories
Friday, April 11, 2008, 2:30 – 3:48 PM
Complex and hierarchical nanodimensioned and nanostructured materials offer many unique functions that are changing the concepts of engineering design in numerous application areas. An exciting advancement in products prototyping and maturation in the past few years is the direct simulation in detail of the mechanisms, which govern the responses of the nanomaterials, becoming possible with advanced modeling methods and the computing power available today. However, it is also recognized by scientists and engineers that fundamental understanding of the behaviors of nanoscale materials will not be addressed by simple extensions of current theoretical methods that are focused on either atomic or macro scales, but it will require bridging the gap between these scales with new concepts, new modeling frameworks, and new simulation schemes. In recent years, various modeling and simulation approaches were employed by researchers to study the structures of molecular assemblies, properties at materials interfaces, mechanical interactions between nanomaterials, behaviors of nanocomposites, and functions of nanoelectronics and nanophotonics. Although many promising progresses in computation methodologies and modeling approaches have enabled detailed studies of collective and cooperative materials phenomena at nanoscale, significant challenges in theory and numerical algorithm developments are yet to be overcome.
In this presentation, advance of nanoscience and nanotechnologies, techniques to manipulate nanomaterials, and recent efforts of computational modeling of nanoscale materials will be reviewed. Successes will be highlighted and remaining challenges identified. General issues existing in the computational modeling community will be discussed.
The Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
Linda L. Horton
Director, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Thursday, April 3, 2008, 3:00 – 4:00 PM
The Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences is the one of the newest user facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Located adjacent to ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source, the CNMS is one of 5 Department of Energy nanoscience user facilities. CNMS is open to scientists and engineers for research to understand the phenomena that control the properties of nanoscale materials. CNMS emphasizes synthesis and characterization, including neutron scattering and electron microscopy. One important capability is a 10,000 sq ft nanofabrication clean room facility. CNMS also integrates theory and modeling with the experimental program, a critical aspect of the research. The user program hosted over 300 users last year — and the science program supported by the Center has evolved since CNMS opened 2 years ago. The central focus of the scientific research is to develop the understanding needed to design and control the dynamics and spatial aspects of functionality in nanoscale systems. This presentation will provide an update on the current directions and capabilities of the CNMS. CNMS is supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Scientific User Facilities.
Unconventional Nanofabrication
George Whitesides
Flowers University Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University
Wednesday, March 26, 2008, 4:30-6:00 PM
The Institute for Materials Research, OSU department of Chemistry and the NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) co-sponsored this seminar by Dr. Whitesides. Dr. Whitesides was the first recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award in Nanotechnology. The award was presented by President Gordon Gee, followed by Dr. Whitesides’ seminar, “Unconventional Nanofabrication.”
Photolithography and beam lithographies are the workhorses of nanofabrication. These techniques are versatile and highly developed, and probably unbeatable for applications in complex integrated circuits. They are not necessarily the best for areas where cost is important, where the structures are relatively simple, where non-planar patterns are required, or where less familiar materials are involved. This talk will describe alternative techniques for nanofabrication that use soft-lithographic and other techniques (edge lithography, phase-shifting lithography, nanoskiving or mechanical slicing, tipping) to make patterned nanostructures. The emphasis in this work is on exploratory programs developing techniques that offer alternatives to conventional methods
Research and Advancement in Nanotechnology and Nanoelectronics in the Semiconductor Industry
Dr. Robert Chau, Intel Corporation
Friday, August 31, 2007
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Scott Laboratory Room E001
Hors d’oeuvres reception to follow in Scott Laboratory Room E100
Abstract
This presentation will first summarize some of the most recent silicon innovations made for advanced CMOS transistors in the nanotechnology era for high-speed and energy-efficient VLSI applications. Through these Si nanotechnologies, it is expected that the CMOS downscaling and improved performance trends will extend and continue well into the next decade. In addition, there has been good progress made and much interest generated in the research of non-silicon electronic materials and their integration onto the silicon substrate to enhance chip performance, provide more functions, and reduce power dissipation. For instance, III-V compound semiconductors and high-mobility quantum-well transistors and their integration onto silicon are currently in research for future high-speed and ultra-low-power digital CMOS applications. Emerging nano-materials and nanotechnologies such as nanotubes, nanowires and nanoribbons, as well as new areas such as non-charge based devices and spintronics, are being explored for future computation and data storage applications. The research progress of these emerging nanotechnologies and nanoelectronic devices, and the challenges and opportunities of combining top-down and bottom-up nanoelectronics, will be discussed in this presentation.
Bio
Dr. Robert Chau is an Intel Senior Fellow, the company’s highest and most prestigious technical position, and the Director of Transistor Research and Nanotechnology at Intel Corporation. He is responsible for directing research and development in advanced transistors and gate dielectrics, process modules and technologies, and integrated circuit processes for microprocessor applications. He is also responsible for leading research efforts in novel electronic materials and emerging nanotechnologies for future nanoelectronics applications.
Dr. Chau holds more than 125 issued United States patents, has received six Intel Achievement Awards and 13 Intel Logic Technology Development Division Recognition Awards, and was recognized by IndustryWeek in 2003 as one of the 16 “R&D Stars” in the United States who “continue to push the boundaries of technical and scientific achievement.” He has been elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Dr. Chau received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees, all in electrical engineering, from The Ohio State University. He was the recipient of the 2003 Alumni Professional Achievement Award from The Ohio State University Alumni Association, and is the recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Engineering of The Ohio State University.
This IMR Colloquium is sponsored by the OSU Institute for Materials Research