News & Highlights

 

 

"Unraveling the Mystery of Quantum Dot Blinking by Single Dot Spectroelectrochemistry" featured in Nature.

Blinking (fluorescence intermittency) of colloidal nanocrystal quantum dots (NQDs) has been a key road block in their utilization in a number of practical applications ranging from bio-medical imaging and singl-particle tracking to solid-state lighting. CINT scientist Han Htoon in collaboration with Christophe Galland, Milan Sykora and Victor I. Klimov of Chemistry Division, have recently developed a novel single-NQD spectroelectrochemistry approach to shine new light onto this intriguing phenomena. To make this approach work, the team collaborated with CINT Scientist Jennifer Hollingsworth who recently developed a new class of ultra-stable core/shell NQDs.

carbon nanotubes

 

The dual goals: to develop novel non-blinking quantum dots as molecular probes and to understand the underlying mechanism of blinking by correlating charging events with blinking events, have been at the center of a National Institutes of Health funded project established in 2008 by Jennifer Hollingsworth (PI), Han Htoon, and Milan Sykora. The work goes a long way toward realizing key aims of this effort and, thereby, application of robust, non-blinking quantum dots for advanced bioimaging concepts.

 

 

CINT User Recognized for Work in Cancer Detection

CINT User, Ed Flynn, was featured in numerous articles in October 2011 for his work in cancer detection. He was recently recognized by the American Physics Society Journal and featured in articles in the Wall Street Journal and APS News. Congratulations, Ed!

 

2011 R&D 100 awarded to CINT team

NanoCluster Beacons

NanoCluster Beacons are collections of silver atoms maneuvered to illuminate when bound to specific nucleic acids, such as the DNA of particular pathogens. Created by Hsin-Chih (Tim) Yeh, James Werner, Jaswinder Sharma, and Jennifer Martinez, these beacons can be used to probe for diseases that threaten humans by identifying the nucleic acid targets that represent a person's full genome, and allow for personalized medication. They also can be used in quantitative biology applications, such as counting individual molecules inside a cell.

Once bound with a specific target, a NanoCluster Beacon lights up, emitting fluorescence approximately 200 times greater than in the unbound state and easily viewed by the naked eye under ultraviolet light. The beacons come in an array of colors for multiplexed analyses, are more photostable than beacons used today, and can be turned on and off reversibly. Inexpensive, easy to use, and reversible, NanoCluster Beacons are superior molecular probes for detecting specific targets, human oncogene (cancer) sequences, and molecular disease sequences (such as sickle cell anemia).


R&D 100 Award-winning NanoCluster Beacons are easily seen with the naked eye under ultraviolet (UV) light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CINT Distinguished Affiliate Scientist named 2011 MRS Fellow

Michael Nastasi, a Distinguished Affiliate Scientist, and former CINT Scientist, has been selected as a 2011 Materials Research Society (MRS) Fellow. The Fellows are outstanding MRS members whose sustained and distinguished contributions to the advancement of materials research are internationally recognized. Each year, no more than 0.2 percent of the current membership of the Society is elected to the status of Fellow.

Nastasi's award citation reads, “For seminal contributions to the field of ion-solid interactions and radiation effects, including synthesis of novel materials using energetic ions, with applications to energy, manufacturing, nanotechnology, and advanced microelectronics.” 

Nastasi was formally recognized during the 2011 MRS Spring Meeting in San Francisco.

 

 

 

 

Science Highlight:
Insight from a Single Nanowire Electrode

Video story on the news.

Improvements in Li-ion battery technologies require breakthroughs in materials and electrochemistry

  • World's smallest battery inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM), enabling real time observations of electrochemistry process at atomistic length scales
  • A unique open cell battery using ionic liquid electrolyte in the high vacuum of a TEM
  • New insight into electrochemical processes critical to developing new high performance batteries
    • Nanowires can sustain large stress (>10 GPa) without breaking, good candidate for battery
    • Elongation of nanowires during charging may lead to short circuit, thus failure of battery, a key factor to consider during design

JianYu Huang, et al, Science Dec 10, 2010
Please see the Sandia National Laboratory press release.

 

 

CINT Scientist appointed to Editorial Board of MRS Bulletin

CINT Scientist Amit Misra was recently appointed a permanent member of the Editorial Board of MRS Bulletin. He served as a 2009 Volume Organizer and a Guest Editor for the December 2010 theme issue for MRS Bulletin. MRS Bulletin (2009 impact factor = 6.33) is one of the most widely recognized and highly respected publications in advanced materials research. Published monthly by the Materials Research Society (MRS), it features technical theme topics that capture a snapshot of the state-of-the-art of material research. Written by leading experts, the overview articles are useful references for specialists but are also presented at a level understandable to a broad scientific audience.


 

CINT Science on PRL cover

Spherical nanoparticles (NPs), uniformly coated with a simple polymer used to passivate NPs in solution, are shown to produce highly asymmetric coating arrangements. We show that a class of spherical particles is not symmetrically coated even when extremely uniform grafting arrangements and full coverages are employed. We demonstrate, using explicit-atom molecular dynamics simulations of model NPs, that geometric properties dictate when a coating’s spherical symmetry will be unstable and show that the chain end group and the solvent play a secondary role in determining the properties of surface patterns. At the water-vapor interface the coatings are significantly distorted and oriented by the surface. These asymmetric and oriented coatings are expected to have a dramatic effect on the interactions between NPs and will likely influence the structures of aggregated NPs which self-assemble in the bulk and at surfaces. Full article.

J. Matthew D. Lane and Gary S. Grest

 

 

CINT researchers use NanoCluster Beacon to detect specific nucleic acid target sequences for diagnostics

Hsin-Chih (Tim) Yeh, Jaswinder Sharma, Jason Han, Jennifer Martinez, and James Werner of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (MPA-CINT) recently demonstrated that DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (DNA/Ag NCs) can be used to detect specific nucleic acid targets. The nanoclusters circumvent many of the shortcomings of conventional molecular beacons. The team has developed a novel way to control conversions of DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (DNA/Ag NCs) between highly fluorescent and weakly fluoresc ent states. More information (pdf).

 

 

Quanxi Jia named 2010 American Ceramic Society Fellow

The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) recently announced the names of the organization's two newest Distinguished Life Members and 19 members elevated to Fellow status. The title of "Fellow" is an honor ACerS gives to distinguished mid-career scientists, engineers and business leaders who specialize in ceramic and glass materials. Quanxi Jia, among the 19 newly named Fellows, is a Fellow of Los Alamos National Laboratory and a Thrust Leader at CINT.

Dr. Jia received his B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Xian Jiaotong University, China, in 1982 and 1985 respectively, and his PhD in the same field from the State University of New York, Buffalo in 1991. He was a team leader at the Superconductivity Technology Center of LANL before joining CINT at the beginning of 2010. Dr. Jia has authored/co-authored over 350 refereed journal articles and 8 book chapters. He has 32 US patents awarded in electronic materials and devices. Among the numerous awards and honors he has received are two prestigious R&D 100 awards, the 2005 Asian-American Engineer of the Year Award, and the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer. He is a Fellow of Los Alamos National Laboratory and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. His current research interests include nanostructured materials, multifunctional materials, thin films, multilayer systems, and the development of novel solid-state microelectronic/electro-optic devices.

More information on the 2010 ACerS Fellows can be found at http://ceramics.org/awards.


CINT Postdoc Receives Prestigious Fellowship

Shadi Dayeh, a Director's Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, has been appointed a Distinguished J. Robert Oppenheimer Postdoctoral Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory.  Named after the Laboratory's first Director, this prestigious 3 year fellowship provides the opportunity for recipients to collaborate with LANL scientists and engineers on staff initiated research. Candidates must display extraordinary ability in scientific research and show clear and definite promise of becoming outstanding leaders in the research they pursue. As an Oppenheimer Fellow Shadi plans to pursue semiconductor nanowire studies in a wide variety of areas, including understanding and controlling the science of their growth and their applications in electronics, spintronics, solar energy harvesting and neural probe research. Shadi joined LANL in September, 2008 as a Director's Postdoctoral Fellow; his CINT mentor is Tom Picraux.

 

CINT User, Ed Flynn, featured in New Mexico Business Weekly

CINT User, Dr. Edward Flynn, was recently featured in New Mexico Business Weekly for his ground-breaking technology that can detect certain cancers much earlier than current diagnostic techniques. To view this article, click here.

 

Two CINT Scientists recognized for outstanding scientific contributions

CINT Scientists Toni Taylor and Tom Picraux, were two of the six designated 2009 Los Alamos National Laboratory Fellows recognized for sustained, outstanding scientific contributions and exceptional promise for continued professional achievement.

The title of Fellow is bestowed on only about 2 percent of the Laboratory's current technical staff. The new Fellows come from myriad scientific disciplines and have sustained high-level achievement important to the Laboratory, become recognized authorities in their fields, and made important discoveries used or cited by peers inside and outside the Laboratory.

"These distinguished scientists were chosen as 2009 Laboratory Fellows based on a very rigorous peer review process and honored for their considerable scientific accomplishments," said Terry Wallace, principal associate director for Science, Technology, and Engineering. "I am pleased to have such a distinguished class of Fellows for 2009 that reflects the diversity of top-notch scientific talent at Los Alamos National Laboratory."

Fellows play a continuing role in helping maintain the scientific excellence of the Laboratory. Fellows are often asked by the Laboratory director to assess issues and provide advice. As recognized leaders, Fellows are advocates for the continuing conduct of science at the Laboratory.

Toni Taylor leads the Laboratory's Materials Physics and Applications Division and is a pioneer in electromagnetic metamaterials as well as terahertz science and technology, and in applying coherent control techniques to ultrafast optics, which provide unique insight into condensed-matter physics. Taylor has made key contributions in the exploration of fundamental properties of superconductors through ultrafast techniques; made key demonstrations of exquisite control of phase and amplitude in ultrafast pulses leading to coherent control of propagation in fibers; and has contributed to novel metamaterial concepts leading to devices with unique dielectric properties. She has written or cowritten 250 publications, wrote two book chapters, edited three books,and has mentored 32 postdoctoral researchers. Taylor is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Optical Society of America.

Samuel "Tom" Picraux is chief scientist of the Laboratory's Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies. Picraux is known internationally for use of energetic ion beams for the characterization of materials, as well as for his advances in surface processing and epitaxy. Using his quantitative ion beam analysis developments, Picraux and his group pioneered the use of surface probes of the plasma edge to diagnose conditions in the U.S. and European tokamak experiments in fusion energy. Picraux and his colleagues pioneered the field of ion implantation metallurgy, creating a standard process for fabrication in the semiconductor industry. A 1990 E.O. Lawrence Award recipient for his developments in ion-challenging and related ion-beam techniques for materials characterization, Picraux has more than 250 publications (6,500 citations). He coauthored one book and edited six others. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, American Academy for the Advancement of Science, and the Materials Research Society.