Nanonews September 2007
Words from the Director
Dear colleagues
With summer drawing to a close we shall soon launch new Argovia projects. Six new applications have been submitted and the Argovia Board will soon decide on their funding.
In the coming month, we shall have to shape the future of the NCCR. At the beginning of next year we have to submit the pre-proposal for the third phase. We know that the budget will be cut. However, it is our goal to uphold the quality and diversity of our research projects that made our NCCR famous the world over. On October 17 all module leaders with selected representatives from their projects will discuss the future of our organization. In coming issues of the nanonews we will inform you about the plans and outcome.
Some of our co-workers who were with the NCCR from the start and who made important contributions during recent years will pursue their careers outside Switzerland and the NCCR Nanoscale Science. To single out just two: Martin Hegner and Urs Staufer have lastingly shaped their respective NCCR projects and contributed a great deal to our good reputation since day one in 2001. We wish them and their teams a good start in their new positions at CRANN (Ireland) and Delft (the Netherlands) respectively. We hope that the good and fruitful collaborations will continue.
In this issue of nanonews we will also see some examples of the beauty of nanoscience. The winners of the Best Nano Image Award are presented. I wish you an interesting reading and am always looking forward to comments.
Best regards
Christian Schönenberger
Awards and Nominations
Best Nano Image Award 2007
For this years’ nano image award the NCCR board has selected five winners. It was not an easy decision because there were many beautiful as well as scientifically interesting images.
Thanks a lot to all participants for their contribution!
And the winners are:
Meike Stöhr: Two different perylen derivatives self assemble to a porous network on an Ag(111) surface.
Marija Plodinec: AFM height image of a single living Rat-2 fibroblast cell taken in a contact mode and under native conditions. The nucleus as the highest region of the cell and the surrounding cytoskeleton stress fibre network are clearly resolved.
Nikolai Wintjes: Nanoalgae, porphyrin derivative on Ag(111).
Friedjof Heuck: Cleaved hollow cantilever out of silicon oxide for an Ionpipette. It was cleaved right at the point, where it is attached to the chip. The scallop shaped inside of the capillary is a result of the DRIE etching to obtain a rectangular cross-section. The smooth round corners result from the oxidation of the silicon. The big triangular base is a typical shape of KOH etching of silicon. The image shows the specific constraints of the fabricating technology and one of its latest results.
Dino Keller: SEM image of a nano-sun. It is etched into the silicon oxide layer on a wafer. The structure was patterned by e-beam lithography.
Urs Staufer appointed professor at the TU Delft
Professor Dr. Urs Staufer has been nominated chair of the Department Precision Manufacturing and Assembly at the Technical University of Delft, Netherlands. He will continue his research with nanotools and their applications in different processes. His main focus will move from single sensors and tips towards whole nanosystems. He hopes to continue the fruitful NCCR collaborations he was involved in.
Martin Hegner appointed professor at the NanoInstitute CRANN
PD Dr. Martin Hegner has been appointed Professor at the NanoInstitute CRANN (Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices) at the University of Dublin, Ireland. The Institute will open on October 1st, 2007. Martin will continue his research at the interface between basic and applied research on optical tweezers, single molecule manipulation and diagnostic sensors. Four co-workers of his group at the Department of Physics of the University of Basel (Dr. Wilfried Grange, Dr. Thomas Braun, Manuel Voegtli, and Peter Noy) will join him. Three nanostudents of our Nanocurriculum in Basel who will carry out project work or their diploma thesis in Martin’s group will also add Swiss spirit to Martin’s new laboratories.
Bart Hoogenboom to join the University College London
Dr. Bart Hoogenboom is leaving the SNI to become lecturer at the University College in London, UK.
Christoph Gerber elected Editorial Advisoy Board member
Professor Dr. Christoph Gerber has been elected editorial board member of the new journal of the American Chemical Society ACS Nano. During 2007, the journal is available on the web at no charge.
ACS Nano
Congratulations to all of you. Many thanks for your valuable contributions to the NCCR and SNI in previous years and a good start in your new positions.
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Events
Visit of BASF delegation
On 24th August a delegation of about 30 current and former top managers from BASF (Germany) visited the SNI. Dr. Hans-Peter Wessels, Director of Basel Area, and Dr. Franz Saladin, Head of Life Sciences, Environment and Energy at the Basel Chamber of Commerce, opened the visit at the Department of Physics and presented the Basel region and their opportunities. Dr. Thomas Jung as member of the NCCR demonstrated how chemistry and supramolecular chemistry can be seen with the “eyes” and “hands” of a physicist: he presented examples of ongoing research activities in the area of self assembly of nanostructures. All visitors were able to get a deeper insight into research activities after a lab tour and an introduction to the SNI given by Dr. Tibor Gyalog at the end of the visit.
Dates for your diary
Open Day at nanoSurf , 29th September 2007, Liestal, CH
Registration by email
Internal Scientific Board Meeting in Bad Schaumburg
17th October 2007
Ethics of Science – Ethics in Science Part II
14th November 2007, University of Basel, 14.15 – 18.00
Registration no later than 12th October by email to Veronica Cerletti
nanoECO – Nanoparticles in the Environment – Implications and Applications
2nd – 7th March 2008, Asconca, Switzerland
More ...
Press releases
Important step on the way to the application of spintronics - Researchers achieve breakthrough in the analysis of spin–orbit coupling
15th July 2007: In the coming issue of “Nature Physics” the controlled manipulation of electron spins by electrical fields is demonstrated. These results originate from a collaboration within the National Center of Research Nanoscale Science of the IBM researchers Lorenz Meier and Gian Salis with Ivan Shorubalko, Silke Schön, Emilio Gini, and Klaus Ensslin from the ETH Zurich. The experiments deliver an important prerequisite for the use of spins in data processing.
Full text in German
Experiment approaches topological quantum computer
19th July 2007: An international team with scientists from the Swiss Nanoscience Institute at the University of Basel, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Harvard University and the Bell Labs (Alcatel-Lucent) experimentally confirmed a promising quantum state in semiconducting nanostructures. The pioneering experiments are an important step towards the development of a topological quantum computer. They are published in the current issue of “Nature Physics”.
Full text in German
Phoenix Mars Lander successfully started with atomic force microscope from Basel
6th August 2007: The American space agency NASA has started its recent Mars Mission named Phoenix. On board is an Atomic Force Microscope that was co-developed at the University of Basel. With the microscope scientists hope to get a clearer picture of the existence of water and life on Mars.
Full text in German
New in the SNI
Genki Yoshikawa, since 1st April PostDoc with a special SNF grant
Jiayun Zhang, since 1st September PostDoc in Module 1
Marko Loparic, since 1st June MD-PhD in Module 1
Airat Gubaev from 1st November PostDoc in Module 1
Bahram Ganjipour since 1st August Doctoral student in Module 2
Hagen Aurich, from 1st November Doctoral Student in Module 4
Nicolas Cottenye, since 1st September Doctoral student in Module 5
Fang Wu, since 1st September PostDoc in Module 5
Recent publications
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