ANNUAL REPORT 2012
MESA+ Annual Report 2012
General
Highlights
Preface.................................................................................................. 5
BES
About MESA+, in a nutshell.................................................................... 6 MESA+ Strategic Research Orientations........................................... 8 Commercialization.................................................................................. 16
The Dutch Nano-landscape................................................................. 18 National NanoLab facilities................................................................. 20 International Networks......................................................................... 22
Education.................................................................................................... 25
Awards, honours and appointments................................................ 26
BIOS BNT CBP CMS COPS CPM ICE IHNC IM IMS IOMS LPNO MCS MnF MSM MST MTP MaCS
Biomolecular Electronic Structure..................................32 BIOS Lab-on-a-Chip............................................................... 33
BioMolecular Nanotechnology.......................................... 34
About MESA+
Complex Photonic Systems................................................. 37
MESA+ Governance Structure...................................................... 78
Computational Materials Science..................................... 36
Catalytic Processes and Materials.................................. 38 Interfaces and Correlated Electron systems............... 39
Inorganic & Hybrid Nanomaterials Chemistry............ 40 Inorganic Membranes........................................................... 41
Inorganic Materials Science............................................... 42 Integrated Optical MicroSystems..................................... 43 Laser Physics and Nonlinear Optics.............................. 44
Mesoscale Chemical Systems........................................... 45 Molecular nanoFabrication................................................. 46
Multi Scale Mechanics......................................................... 47
Membrane Science and Technology............................... 48 Materials Science and Technology of Polymers............. 49 Mathematics of Computational Science............................. 50
NE NanoElectronics..................................................................... 52 NanoElectronic Materials.................................................... 53
NI NanoIonics................................................................................ 54 NLCA OS PSP PCF PCS PIN PNS PoF PGMF QTM SC SFI ST PS TST
MESA+ Scientific Publications 2012............................................ 70
Computational BioPhysics................................................... 35
NBP Nanobiophysics...................................................................... 51 NEM
Publications
Nanofluidics for Lab on a Chip Applications................... 55
Optical Sciences..................................................................... 56 Philosophy of Science in Practice................................... 57 Physics of Complex Fluids.................................................. 58
Photocatalytic Synthesis..................................................... 59 Physics of Interfaces and Nanomaterials..................... 60
Programmable NanoSystems............................................. 61
Physics of Fluids.................................................................... 62
Physics of Granular Matter and Interstitial Fluids.... 63 Quantum Transport in Matter............................................ 64 Semiconductor Components.............................................. 65
Soft Matter, Fluidics and Interfaces................................ 66 Science, Technology and Policy Studies........................67 Transducer Science and Technology............................. 68
Contact details.................................................................................. 78
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[PREFACE]
Nanotechnology settles in society In 2012 the national programs NanoNextNL and NanoLabNL got off the ground. MESA+ is, as one of the lead partners, strongly involved in both initiatives. The programs have a strong focus on valorization and are performed in close collaboration with industry. This is in line with the new innovation approach by the Dutch government, called 'topsectors', being strong industrial areas strengthened by joint research and development at Dutch industries, research institutes, universities, and science foundations. In the coming years we will learn if this strategy will be an alternative to the successful programs NanoNed and NanoNextNL. MESA+ NanoLab, part of the national NanoLabNL facilities, is used extensively by research groups and companies. In 2012 new investments in the BioNanoLab have been realized, and the first research projects using this equipment started. MESA+ and its NanoLab facilities attract a lot of visitors, excited to learn more about nanotechnology, its products and its promises. Since a few years MESA+ stimulates and facilitates its spin-off companies increasingly in developing towards high-volume production. High Tech Factory, located in the redeveloped former MESA+ labs, provides production facilities to SMEs, and gives access to an operational lease fund where companies with growth ambitions can apply for the investment and use of production equipment. In 2012 High Tech Factory was fully realized, with the redevelopment of the building coming to an end, and the first twelve companies moving in. To stimulate and support PhDs and postdocs who are interested in developing their research results towards a product MESA+ started to offer a workshop in early business development. In 2012 MESA+ launched its Young Business Award that will be granted biennially to promising young entrepreneurs and their business ideas. Besides the above activities to encourage nanotechnology in business development, outstanding research and education remain vital. After all, new developments often depend on advances in science. Consequently, we want to remain attractive for international students and researchers. Recognition of MESA+ as research institute and graduate school provides the basis for ongoing internationalization activities that fit into the comprehensive integration of nanotechnology in our society. Ir. Miriam Luizink, Technical Commercial Director,
Prof. dr. ing. Dave H.A. Blank, Scientific Director,
MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology
MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology
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[RESEARCH] “MESA+ Institute for
Nanotechnology is one of the largest nanotechnology research institutes in the world”
About MESA+, in a nut shell MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology is one of the largest nanotechnology research institutes in the world, delivering competitive and successful high quality research. MESA+ is part of the University of Twente, and cooperates closely with various research groups within the university. The institute employs 525 people of whom 300 are PhD candidates or postdocs. With its NanoLab facilities the institute holds 1250 m2 of cleanroom space and state of the art research equipment. MESA+ has an integral turnover of approximately 50 million euros per year of which 60% is acquired in competition from external sources (National Science Foundation, European Union, industry, etc.). MESA+ supports and facilitates researchers and actively stimulates cooperation. MESA+ combines the disciplines of physics, electrical engineering, chemistry and mathematics. Currently 37 research groups participate in MESA+. MESA+ introduced Strategic Research Orientations, headed by a scientific researcher, that bridge the research topics of a number of research groups working in common interest fields. The SROs’ research topics are an addition to the research topics of the chairs. Their task is to develop these interdisciplinary research areas which could result in new independent chairs. Internationally attractive research is achieved through this multidisciplinary approach. MESA+ uses a unique structure, which unites scientific disciplines, and builds fruitful international cooperation to excel in science and education. MESA+ has been the breeding ground for more than 50 MESA+ high-tech start-ups to date. A targeted program for cooperation with small and medium-sized enterprises has been specially created for start-ups. MESA+ offers the use of its extensive NanoLab facilities and cleanroom space under hospitable conditions. Start-ups and MESA+ work together intensively to promote the transfer of knowledge. MESA+ has created a perfect habitat for start-ups in the micro and nano-industry to establish and to mature. MESA+ is a Research School, designated by the Royal Dutch Academy of Science. All MESA+ PhD’s are member of the MESA+ School for Nanotechnology, part of the Twente Graduate School.
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[RESEARCH] Mission and strategy MESA+ conducts research in the strongly multidisciplinary field of nanotechnology and nanoscience. The mission of MESA+ is: n to excel in its research field; n to explore (new) research themes; n to educate researchers and engineers in its field; n to commercialize research results; n to initiate and participate in fruitful (inter)national cooperation. MESA+ has defined the following key performance indicators for achieving its mission: n scientific papers in high ranked journals like Science or Nature; n 1:1 balance between university funding and externally acquired funds; n sizable spin-off activities. MESA+ focuses on three issues to pursue its mission: n to create a top environment for international scientific talent; n to create strong multidisciplinary cohesion within the institute; n to be a national leader and international key player in nanotechnology.
Organizational structure University Board
Scientific Advisory Board
Governing Board
Scientific Director/ Technical Commercial Director Management Support
NanoLab
Advisory Board: • Strategic Research Orientations • Research Groups
MESA+ is an institute of the University of Twente and falls under the responsibility of the board of the university. The scientific advisory board assists the MESA+ management in matters concerning the research conducted at the institute and gives feedback on the scientific results of MESA+. The governing board advises the MESA+ management in organizational matters. The scientific director accepts responsibility for the institute and the scientific output. The managing director is responsible for commercialization, central laboratories, finance, communications and the internal organization. The participating research groups and SRO program directors form the MESA+ advisory board.
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[strategic RESEARCH orientations] Dr. Pepijn W.H. Pinkse:
NanoPhotonics: there's more to light than meets the eye" "Applied
Applied NanoPhotonics Optics has revolutionized fields as various as data storage and long-distance communication. Optical systems have a chance to become even more ubiquitous in other areas, like today’s smart devices, but this step requires further miniaturization. The example of electronics shows us that miniaturization will sooner or later hit physical limitations. In the case of optics this will be in the nanodomain. Working with optics on this scale requires new concepts to be developed and many questions to be answered: How can we shrink the dimensions of optical structures to or even below the wavelength limit? To what extend can we build so called ‘’meta-materials” that have specially engineered optical properties by nanostructuring? How can we miniaturize lasers, reduce their threshold and increase their yield? How can one make high-sensitivity optical detectors, e.g. for medical applications, and integrate them in low-cost labs on a chip? Can we use nanophotonics to study complex (molecular) systems and can we tailor light to efficiently steer their behavior? And on the more fundamental side: Can single emitters be controlled efficiently and embedded into nanophotonic structures? How can we exploit the quantum character of light for new functionality? The goal of our SRO is to address these questions exploiting the expertise in MESA+ groups. Building adaptivity into nanophotonic systems is becoming a common paradigm in answering these questions. Adaptivity allows optimizing properties or processes with clever learning algorithms. Adaptive systems can react on external stimulus, can compensate for fluctuations and inevitable randomness in nanophotonic structures. Adaptive Quantum Optics goes one step further and merges this adaptive control in random systems with quantum optical tools such as single-photon detectors and non-classical light sources. The example of a beam splitter made from a multiple scattering medium is illustrated in the figure on the right. We are currently exploring other intriguing applications in, e.g., cryptography.
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[strategic RESEARCH orientations]
Applied Nanophotonics (ANP) started in October 2009 and has become a very active Strategic Research Orientation. ANP fosters new research and develops new expertise in a few key areas. ANP scientists meet on monthly basis in ANP meetings to lively debate the latest nanophotonic developments. By means of these ANP group meetings, ANP colloquia and workshops, ANP stimulates cooperation between the research groups at MESA+ that have a strong optics focus including COPS, IOMS, LPNO, NBP, and OS. In 2013 the mathematics group MaCS joined ANP in the understanding that mathematics is indispensable for the understanding of optics and that at the same time optics offers an ideal testbed for new mathematical tools, in particular efficient and reliable numerical methods. Program director: Dr. P.W.H. Pinkse, phone +31 53 489 2537, p.w.h.pinkse@utwente.nl, www.utwente.nl/mesaplus/nanophotonics
A sugar cube illuminated with 2 red laser beams illustrates a beam splitter that can be made from a multiplescattering medium. Incident light on a multiple-scattering medium generates speckles. By wavefront shaping, a revolutionary technique developed in Twente to control the propagation of light in complex media, the equivalent of a normal beam splitter is created. In Adaptive Quantum Optics we use this technique to program quantum interference of single incident photons or other quantum states with opaque scattering media.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] S.R. Huisman, G. Ctistis, S. Stobbe, A.P. Mosk, J.L. Herek, A. Lagendijk, P. Lodahl, W.L. Vos, P.W.H. Pinkse, Photonic-Crystal Waveguides with Disorder: Measurement of a Band-Edge Tail in the Density of States, Phys. Rev. B 86 (2012) 155154. [2] S.R. Huisman, G. Ctistis, S. Stobbe, J. Herek, P. Lodahl, W.L. Vos, P.W.H. Pinkse, Extraction of optical Bloch modes in a photoniccrystal waveguide, J. Appl. Phys. 111 (2012) 033108.
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[strategic RESEARCH orientations] Dr. Peter M. Schön:
"What makes Nanotechnology possible? There are many important driving
forces to mention, but for sure one of the most influential was the development of scanning probe microscopies”
Enabling Technologies The Strategic Research Orientation (SRO) Enabling Technologies is a multidisciplinary program aiming at bundling the research activities of MESA+ in a very important enabling area in nanotechnology, that is Scanning Probe Microscopy. In particular, Enabling Technologies aims to foster research and expertise in the field of nanoscale electrochemistry and electrical probing. For instance by means of group meetings and workshops, the strategic research orientation Enabling Technologies aims to stimulate cooperation between the research groups at MESA + that have a strong interest in nanoscale electrochemistry and electrical probing. AFM cantilever with in-situ renewable mercury microelectrode The mercury electrode is an exceptional landmark in electroanalytical chemistry because of its outstanding electrochemical performance which provided the basis for fundamental electrochemical techniques like polarography and voltammetry. In a collaboration between the MESA+ groups MTP and TST and spin-off company SmartTip an entirely novel type of mercury electrode based on a fountain pen probe was introduced recently. In proof of principle experiments chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry measurements were done in electrolyte testing the principle usability for electrochemical studies [1,2]. Our results enable to further integrate the in-situ renewable mercury electrode into the AFM setup, in particular to enable combined AFM electrochemical measurements to simultaneously probe forces and electrical/electrochemical signals. This might open novel avenues in areas where mechanics is coupled to electrochemical or electrical properties, for instance in biological membrane research. Program director: Dr. Peter M. Schön, phone +31 53 489 6228, p.m.schon@utwente.nl, www.utwente.nl/mesaplus/enablingtechnologies
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] P. Schön, J. Geerlings, N. Tas, E. Sarajlic, submitted, AFM cantilever with in-situ renewable mercury microelectrode. [2] P. Schön, J. Geerlings, N. Tas, E Sarajlic, AFM probe integrated dropping and hanging mercury
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electrode, European Patent application Nr. 13154988.3, submitted. [3] H. Wu, K. Sotthewes, A. Kumar, G.J. Vancso, P.M. Schön, H.J.W.
[strategic RESEARCH orientations]
Joint workshop on ‘SPM for Life Sciences and Soft Matter Research’ 2013 The joint workshop on ‘SPM for Life Sciences and Soft Matter Research’ 2013 was shared between the MESA+ SRO ‘Enabling Technologies’ and the EU-COST action TD 1002, a European network on applications of Atomic Force Microscopy to NanoMedicine and Life Sciences providing excellent opportunities for discussions and exchanging ideas.
Schematics of the AFM cantilever integrated mercury electrode and amperometric signal recorded upon mercury dropping and stop of dropping [1,2].
Zandvliet, Dynamics of decanethiol self-assembled monolayers on Au(111) studied by Scanning tunnelling microscopy, Langmuir 29(7) (2013) 2250-2257. [4] K. Sotthewes, H. Wu, A. Kumar, G.J. Vancso, P.M. Schön, H.J.W. Zandvliet, Molecular dynamics and energy landscape of decanethiolates in self-assembled monolayers on Au(111) by STM Langmuir 29(11) (2013) 3662-3667.
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[strategic RESEARCH orientations] Dr. ir. Séverine Le Gac:
"Nanotechnology is undoubtedly to play a decisive role in this revolution in the field of medicine”
Nanomedicine While populations are generally ageing and life expectancy continues to increase especially in developed countries, healthcare faces new challenges in the 21st century. For instance, new classes of diseases related to ageing must be addressed, and tissue/ organ failure is becoming more and more recurrent. Subsequently, a new paradigm of “healthy ageing” has been identified as a priority by the EU. This paradigm includes the development of policies towards more effective disease prevention as well as fundamental studies to understand biological factors playing a key-role in ageing and disease onset. Next, novel and more appropriate approaches must be developed for early disease detection and personalized treatment, as well as for tissue repair. Finally, the healthcare system must become more competitive, and drastically reduce its overall expenses. Nanotechnology is undoubtedly to play a decisive role in this revolution in the field of medicine. For instance, targeted and localized treatment and imaging are made possible using nanodrugs and nanoparticles. Nanosensors hold great promises for early disease detection, and for the development of miniaturized point-of-care and home therapy monitoring devices. Nanostructured materials are drawing much interest in the field of regenerative medicine. Finally, nanometer-sized tools are taking ever more prominent places in the investigation of molecular processes, allowing for more insightful understanding of what causes a disease. The SRO Nanomedicine was taken over in 2012 by Dr. ir. Séverine Le Gac. In the year that followed, an inventory was made on nanomedicine-related research at MESA+. Promising research topics have been identified and continue to be fostered, such as intracellular delivery using physical or chemical means and membrane protein studies in artificial membranes. The SRO Nanomedicine further works to strengthen collaborations within MESA+, as well as with research groups at MIRA and IGS Institutes at the University of Twente, through the organization of monthly meetings.
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[strategic RESEARCH orientations]
Microfluidic platform for experimentation on membrane proteins Membrane proteins represent > 60% targets for the development of new drugs: they are involved in a great variety of diseases (e.g., cystic fibrosis, cardiovascular diseases, etc.), they are easily accessible due to their position in the cell membrane, and they regulate various intracellular signaling pathways. Furthermore, abnormal protein-membrane interactions seem to be central in neurodegenerative diseases, although these mechanisms are not fully understood yet. In this context, new experimental platforms are needed to conduct drug screening assays on ion channels or to elucidate membrane-associated molecular processes involved in diseases. Researchers in the BIOS group have developed a microfluidic platform where planar lipid bilayers are formed in an automated way, and which are compatible with both electrical and optical detection, including confocal microscopy. Pore-forming species, widely used as models for ion channels, have been successfully inserted in the lipid bilayer and their activity monitored to validate the capability of the platform for experimentation on individual membrane proteins. These promising results have been published as the cover article in Small (April 2013). This platform will be applied for experimentation on biologically relevant ion channels, and in collaboration with NBP, for examining interactions between î Ą-synuclein with cell membrane models. Program director: Dr. ir. SĂŠverine Le Gac, phone +31 53 489 2722, s.legac@utwente.nl, www.utwente.nl/mesaplus/nanomedicine
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: V. C. Stimberg, J. G. Bomer, I. van Uitert, A. van den Berg, S. Le Gac, High Yield, Reproducible and Quasi-Automated Bilayer Formation in a Microfluidic Format, Small 9 (2013) 1076-1085.
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[strategic RESEARCH orientations] Dr. ir. Mark Huijben:
Breakthroughs in energy
applications can only be accomplished by manipulation of novel materials on the nano scale�
NanoMaterials for Energy The worldwide energy demand is continuously growing and it becomes clear that future energy supply can only be guaranteed through increased use of renewable energy sources. With energy recovery through renewable sources like sun, wind, water, tides, geothermal or biomass the global energy demand could be met many times over; currently however it is still inefficient and too expensive in many cases to take over significant parts of the energy supply. Innovation and increases in efficiency in conjunction with a general reduction of energy consumption are urgently needed. Nanotechnology exhibits the unique potential for decisive technological breakthroughs in the energy sector, thus making substantial contributions to sustainable energy supply. The goal of the Strategic Research Orientation (SRO) NanoMaterials for Energy is to exploit and expand the present expertise of the MESA+ groups in the field of nano-related energy research. Through multidisciplinary collaboration between various research groups new materials with novel advanced properties will be developed in which the functionality is controlled by the nanoscale structures leading to improved energy applications. The range of new research projects for nano-applications in the energy sector comprises gradual short and medium-term improvements for a more efficient use of conventional and renewable energy sources as well as completely new long-term approaches for energy recovery and utilization.
Micro- and nanoscale patterning of functional oxides for energy applications Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is a technologically important ceramic due to its outstanding properties, i.e. mechanical strength, chemical resistance, and high ion conductivity. It is used as electrolyte in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and oxygen sensors, and in thermal barrier coatings. Patterning of YSZ films on micro and nanoscale would enable the fabrication of electrolyte monoliths for micro-SOFCs. Moreover, patterning the electrolyte increases the interfacial surface area between electrodes and electrolyte, which may facilitate oxygen ion transport through the interface and, thus, improve cell performance. It was demonstrated how YSZ patterns
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[strategic RESEARCH orientations]
can be formed by a combination of micromolding and sol−gel solution processing. The shape and size of the resulting features are critically dependent on the concentration of the YSZ precursor, varying between micronscale ceramic structures and nanoscale ring structures. Similar patterning techniques can also be employed to form other microstructures on arbitrary substrates. An example are zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire rosettes on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics. ZnO is a semiconductor that is employed in organic photovoltaics (OPV), but it may also find applications in photocatalytic processes for solar fuel (hydrogen), for which very high surface areas are required. The wires shown in the figure are single-crystalline, and they were grown on a substrate onto which a prepattern was deposited by a soft lithographic process. Program director: Dr. ir. Mark Huijben, phone +31 53 489 4710, m.huijben@utwente.nl, www.utwente.nl/mesaplus/nme
Atomic Force Microscopy height images of YSZ pattern
Electron microscope images of ZnO
formation at different precursor concentrations,
nanowires grown on a flexible PET substrate.
illustrating the range from structures that can be formed.
The individual nanowires are ~3 µm long.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] S.A. Veldhuis, A. George, M. Nijland, J.E. ten Elshof, Concentration dependence on the shape and size of sol−gel-derived yttria-stabilized zirconia ceramic features by soft lithographic patterning, Langmuir 28 (2012) 15111-15117. [2] A. George, T.M. Stawski, S. Unnikrishnan, S.A. Veldhuis, J.E. ten Elshof, Micro- and nanopatterning of functional materials on flexible plastic substrates via site-selective surface modification using oxygen plasma, J. Mater. Chem. 22 (2012) 328 - 332.
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[commercialization]
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[commercialization]
Commercialization Nanotechnology offers chances for new business. Around knowledge institutions, stimulated by a dynamic entrepreneurial environment, nuclei of spin-off companies arise. The number of new businesses based on nanotechnology is growing rapidly. MESA+ plays an important role nationwide, being at the start of more than 50 spin-offs. Access to state-of-the-art nanotech infrastructure, shared facilities functioning in an open innovation model, is of crucial importance for both creation and further development of spin-off companies. These spin-off companies are important for the national and regional economy; SMEs will become increasingly important for employment and turnover. MESA+ intensifies and strengthens its commercialization activities to further increase the number of patents, the number and size of spin-offs and, consequently, its national and international reputation.
High Tech Factory MESA+ has established High Tech Factory, a shared production facility for products based on micro- and nanotechnology. High Tech Factory is designed to ensure that the companies involved can concentrate on business operations and focus their energies on growth rather than on realizing the basic production infrastructure required for achieving that growth. In 2012 the full production area of cleanrooms, labs and offices has become available and ready to use. At the start 13 parties of which 11 companies are located here.
High Tech Fund The technical infrastructure fund High Tech Fund offers an operational lease facility for companies in micro- and nanotechnology. Equipment is located in the production facility High Tech Factory. The 9 Mâ‚Ź fund, supported by the ministry of Economic Affairs, the province of Overijssel and the region of Twente, was launched successfully in June 2010. In 2012 investments have been realized for the companies SmartTip and SolMateS.
MESA+ Technology Accelerator With the MESA+ Technology Accelerator, organized in UT international ventures (UTIV), MESA+ invests in early stage scouting of knowledge and expertise with a potential interest from the market. The first phase of technology and market development is organized in so-called stealth projects. A successful stealth project is continued as a spin-off or license. Through the initiative Kennispark, the UT is applying the UTIV model more widely at the University.
Kennispark Twente Commercialization of nanotechnology research is one of the very strong drivers of MESA+. As illustrated in the topics above, key aspects of the MESA+ agenda encompass business development, facility sharing, area development, and growth towards a production facility. With these key commercialization projects MESA+ contributes strongly to the Kennispark agenda and the provincial and regional innovation systems.
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The Dutch Nano-landscape The Dutch Nano-landscape The Dutch Nano-landscape The Dutch Nano-landscape
The Dutch Nano-landscape
The Dutch Nano-landscape
The Dutch Nano-landscape The
The Dutch Nano-landscape
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Dutch Nano-landscape
The Dutch Nano-landscape
[the dutch nano-landscape]
The Dutch Nano-landscape Netherlands Nano Initiative The nanotechnology research area is comprehensive and still extending. The Netherlands continually makes choices based on existing strengths supplemented with arising opportunities, as is described in the NNI business plan ‘Towards a Sustainable Open InnovationEcosystem’ (2009) in micro and nanotechnology. Generic themes in which the Netherlands excel are beyond Moore and nanoelectronics, nanomaterials, bionanotechnology and instrumentation, while application lies within the areas of water, energy, food, and health and nanomedicine. These generic and application areas are, when applicable, covered by risk analyses and technology assessment of nanotechnology. NanoLabNL provides the infrastructure for the implementation of the NNI strategic research agenda.
Topsector High Tech Systems & Materials Since 2012 the Nanotechnology roadmap is hosted by the topsector HTSM, part of the innovation policy of the Dutch government. Each year there will be an update of this roadmap. The roadmap forms the basis for additional grants based on cash industrial investments.
NanoNextNL NanoNextNL, the 250 Mâ‚Ź innovation program has started in 2011. NanoNextNL, a collaboration of 120 partners, proposes to apply micro- and nanotechnologies to strengthen both the technology base and competitiveness of the high tech and materials industry and to apply them in support of a variety of societal needs in food, energy, healthcare, clean water and the societal risk of certain nanotechnologies. The main economic and societal issues addressed in this initiative are: n the societal need for risk analysis of nanotechnology; n the need for new materials; n ageing society and healthcare cost; n more healthy foods; n need for clean tech to reduce energy consumption, waste production and provide clean water; n advanced equipment to process and manufacture products that address these issues. NanoNextNL covers all relevant generic, application and social themes.
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National NanoLab facilities National NanoLab facilities National NanoLab facilities National NanoLab facilities National NanoLab facilities
National NanoLab facilities
National NanoLab facilities National
National NanoLab facilities
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NanoLab facilities
National NanoLab facilities
[national nanolab facilities]
National NanoLab facilities NanoLabNL NanoLabNL is listed on the ’The Netherlands’ Roadmap for Large-Scale Research Facilities’ as one of 29 large-scale research facilities whose construction or operation is important for the robustness and innovativeness of the Dutch science system. NanoLabNL provides access to a coherent, high-level, state-of-the-art infrastructure for nanotechnology research and innovation in the Netherlands. The NanoLab facilities are open to researchers from universities as well as employees from companies. NanoLabNL seeks to bring about coherence in national infrastructure, access, and tariff structure. Since its establishment in 2004 the NanoLabNL partners invested about 110 M€ in nanotech facilities through their own funding and additional public funding. The partners in NanoLabNL are: n Twente: MESA+ Institute of Nanotechnology at University of Twente; n Delft: Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology and TNO Science & Industry; n Groningen: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials at Groningen University; n Eindhoven, Technical University Eindhoven and Philips Research Laboratories (associate partner). Together, these four locations cover most of the country and offer the widest possible spectrum of nanotechnology facilities for researchers in the Netherlands to use.
MESA+ NanoLab MESA+ NanoLab has extensive laboratory facilities at its disposal, offering a wide spectrum of opportunities for researchers in the Netherlands and abroad: n a 1250 m2 fully equipped cleanroom, with a focus on microsystems technology, nanotechnology, CMOS and materials and process engineering; n a fully equipped central materials analysis laboratory; n a number of specialized laboratories for chemical synthesis and analysis, materials research and analysis, and device characterization. In 2012 MESA+ has invested largely in realizing its new BioNanoLab, part of the MESA+ NanoLab, for research in bionanotechnology, nanomedicine and risk analysis. The MESA+ NanoLab facilities play a crucial role in the research programs and in collaborations with industry. MESA+ has a strong relationship with industry, both through joint research projects with the larger multinational companies, and through a commercialization policy focused on small and medium sized enterprises.
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International Networks International Networks International Networks International Networks International Networks
International Networks
International Networks International
International Networks
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Networks
International Networks
[international networks]
International Networks (Inter)national position and collaborations MESA+ has a strong international position, several strategic collaborations and is active in international networks and platforms. MESA+ has strategic collaborations with: NINT (Canada), Ohio State, Materials Science Nano Lab (US), Stanford, Geballe Lab of Advanced Materials (US), Berkeley, nanoscience lab Ramesh group (US), California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA (US), JNCASR (India), NIMS (Japan), University of Singapore, and the Chinese Academy of Science CAS, and in Europe with: Cambridge, IMEC, Karlsruhe, Munster, Aarhus and Chalmers University.
EICOON EICOON is the FP7 Euro-Indo forum for nano-materials research coordination & cooperation of researchers in sustainable energy technologies. The consortium addresses the strategic assessment including synergy analysis of nano-materials research needs in the EU and India. It establishes and communicates the mutual interests and topics for future coordinated calls to enable decision and policy makers to make better informed decisions. Besides the assessment, the project also addresses the dissemination of the "nano-materials research acquis" in the field by organization of events. Finally, it brings together researchers to exchange ideas for joint projects for future research collaboration. Visit the EICOON website for more information: www.eicoon.eu.
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Impressions of MESA+ meeting
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[education]
Education Twente Graduate School/ MESA+ School for Nanotechnology MESA+ is a research school, designated by the Royal Dutch Academy of Science. All PhD students are member of the MESA+ School for Nanotechnology which is part of the University of Twente’s Twente Graduate School. The Graduate School is aiming to strengthen education and improve the skills of PhD students.
Master of Science Nanotechnology Access to the best research students worldwide is critical to the success of MESA+. In 2005 a master track nanotechnology was started as the first accredited master’s training at the University of Twente. MESA+ invests in information to students of appropriate bachelor’s courses, and brings the master’s nanotechnology to the attention of its international cooperation partners. The master Nanotechnology is incorporated into the MESA+ School for Nanotechnology.
Fundamentals of Nanotechnology Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary research field, and requires expertise from the field of electrical engineering, applied physics, chemical technology and life sciences. The course ‘Fundamentals of Nanotechnology’ is annually organized by MESA+ and provides an initial introduction to the complete scope of what nanotechnology is about. The course is set up for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows that are starting to work or are currently working in the field of nanotechnology. The workshop is given in an intensive one-week format; participants attend about 20 lectures and labtours on different subfields of nanotechnology. Each year about 25 students participate.
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Awards, honours and appointments
Prof. dr. ir. Rob Lammertink
ERC Starting Grant
VENI Grant
Prof. dr. ir. Rob Lammertink has been awarded with an ERC
The VENI grant is a prestigious grant for young scientists who
Starting Grant of € 1.5 million for his study of membrane inter
have recently gained their PhD.
faces. Lammertink is head of the Soft Matter, Fluidics & Inter
Dr. ir. Wiebe de Vos has been awarded with the VENI grant of
faces department, which was established just two years ago.
€ 250.000,- to develop polymeric thin layers as protein switches.
Dr. Nathalie Katsonis has been awarded with an ERC Starting
De Vos is member of the Membrane Science and Technology
Grant of € 1.5 million for her research on Photo-engineered
group.
helices in chiral liquid crystals. Katsonis is member of the Bio
Dr. ir. Maarten Smulders has been awarded with the VENI
Molecular Nanotechnology group.
grant of € 250.000,- for his research on responsive self-
ERC Proof of Concept Grant Dr. Pascal Jonkheijm has received the Proof of Concept Grant
George K. Batchelor Prize
a chip that enables printing of proteins (and even viruses) onto
Prof. dr. Detlef Lohse of the MESA+ Physics of Fluids group
various surface types. Jonkheijm is member of the research
has been awarded the George K. Batchelor Prize. This global
group Molecular nanoFabrication.
prize in the field of fluid dynamics is awarded once every four Press) and the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM). The George K. Batchelor Prize is worth
Valorization Grants in 2004. The Phase 2 award of € 200,000,-
$ 25,000 and is intended for excellent scientists who have made
is intended to enable the receiver to build up a viable business.
a substantial contribution to fluid dynamics over the past ten
Dr. Michel Versluis received the STW valorisation grant phase 2
years.
production of ultrasound contrast agents’. Versluis is member
YES! Fellow FOM
of the Physics of Fluids group.
The Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter has
Dr. Loes Segerink received the STW valorisation grant phase
awarded a Young Energy Scientist (YES!) Fellowship to Dr. MSc.
2 for her proposal ‘Cellanyzer BV, Somatic cell count systems
Richard Stevens of the Physics of Fluids group. He will carry
using Lab-on-a-Chip’. Segerink is member of the BIOS Lab-on-
out his research into the interaction between wind turbines at
a-Chip group
the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. YES! is aimed
VIDI Grant
at young, highly promising researchers with a PhD who have innovative ideas in the area of energy, generation, storage and
Prof. dr. Devaraj van der Meer has been awarded a VIDI grant
transport and who aspire to a scientific career in fundamental
of € 800,000. The aim of the grant is to give talented researchers
energy research.
the opportunity to develop their own line of research and to
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years by the Journal of Fluid Mechanics (Cambridge University
The Dutch Technology Foundation STW established the
for his proposal ‘A monodisperse microbubble generator for the
Dr. ir. Wiebe de Vos
Nanotechnology group.
worth € 150,000,-. Jonkheijm will research the marketability of
STW Valorisation Grants phase 2
Prof. dr. Devaraj van der Meer
assembled materials. Smulders is member of the BioMolecular
build their own research group. He will use the grant to study
Simon Stevin Gezel award
how raindrops behave as they fall on a layer of sand. Van der
Dr. Loes Segerink of the BIOS Lab-on-a-chip group received the
Meer heads the Physics of Granular Matter and Interstitial
Simon Stevin Gezel award for her research on a fertility chip for
Fluids group.
semen analysis. Last year she was already awarded with the Simon Stevin Student jury and audience award.
Rubicon Grant
Overijssel PhD award
The Rubicon program allows recently graduated scientists to
During the 51th Dies Natalis the Overijssel PhD award for the best
gain experience at a foreign top institute. This is an important
University of Twente thesis was rewarded to Dr. MSc. Richard
step up in a scientific career. Dr. Antony George, former PhD
Stevens, former PhD of the Physics of Fluids group. He received
student of the Inorganic Materials Science group, and Dr.
this award of € 5,000 for his thesis ‘Rayleigh-Bénard Turbulence’.
Menno Veldhorst, former PhD at the Interfaces and Correlated Electron Systems group both were awarded a prestigious
‘De Winter Prijs’ 2012
Rubicon Scholarship by the Netherlands Organization for
During the celebration of the Dies Natalis, Dr. Nathalie Katsonis
Scientific Research (NWO). The granted research proposal
of the BioMolecular Nanotechnology group received the Univer-
of Dr. George is concerned with the fabrication of nanoscale
sity of Twente ‘De Winter Prijs’ 2012. The Professor de Winter
graphene devices by soft patterning and related approaches.
Prize is named after Prof. Herman de Winter who was Professor
The proposal of Dr. Veldhorst relates to the storage and transfer
of Applied Physics at the University of Twente. The prize is in-
of quantum information in silicon chips, making use of such
tended for the best publication written by a female academic of
phenomena as quantum-teleportation.
the University of Twente and was awarded to Dr. Katsonis for her
Akzo Nobel Science Award 2012
publication in the Journal of Materials Chemistry, entitled “Controlling chirality with macroscopic helix inversion in cholesteric
Prof. dr. Detlef Lohse of the Physics of Fluids group received the
liquid crystals”. This paper was also highlighted as a “hot feature
2012 AkzoNobel Science Award, in recognition of his ground-
article” by the Journal of Materials Chemistry, earlier this year.
breaking research in the field of fluid dynamics. The AkzoNobel Science Awards are presented in recognition of outstanding
EUROTHERM Young Scientist Prize
scientific contributions by individuals in the fields of chemistry
Dr. Richard Stevens, post-doc researcher in the Physics of
and materials science.
Fluids group, has won the EUROTHERM Young Scientist Prize
IBM Faculty Award
2012. This prize, which is awarded every four years, is given to the European researcher who writes the best thesis in the field
Prof. dr. Jeroen Cornelissen of the BioMolecular Nanotechnology
of Thermal Science. The young MESA+ researcher received an
group has received an IBM Faculty Award of $ 20k. The IBM
amount of € 2,500.
Faculty Awards is a competitive worldwide program intended to foster collaboration between researchers at leading
Nottingham Prize
universities worldwide and those in IBM research, development
Dr. Daniël Schwarz of the Physics of Interfaces and Nanomate
and services organizations; and promote course ware and
rials group obtained the 2012 Nottingham Prize at the Physical
curriculum innovation to stimulate growth in disciplines and
Electronics Conference in Dallas (USA). This is a very important
geographies that are strategic to IBM.
achievement as this prize actually is the most prestigious one
Aspasia Premium
Prof. dr. Detlef Lohse
in the area of physics and chemistry of surfaces and interfaces.
to facilitate the promotion of female scientist to associate professor
Marcel Mulder Award for David Vermaas
or professor. Prof. dr. ir. Kitty Nijmeijer of the Membrane Science
MSc. David Vermaas, PhD Student of the Membrane Science
and Technology group received an Aspasia grant. She will use the
and Technology Group of the University of Twente and Wetsus,
grant of € 200,000 to further expand her research on polymer-mo-
Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology in
lecular organic framework (MOF) architectures for gas separation.
Leeuwarden, has won the Marcel Mulder Award of 2012. The
Nathalie Katsonis of the BioMolecular Nanotechnology group re-
award of € 5,000 is a remembrance to Prof. Marcel Mulder, who
ceived an Aspasia premium of € 50,000 to support her research
was, next to professor in Membrane Process Technology at the
on photo-engineered helices in chiral liquid crystals.
University of Twente, the originator of Wetsus.
Aspasia is an NWO (Dutch Science Foundation) program and aims
Dr. ir. Maarten Smulders
Prof. dr. ir. Kitty Nijmeijer
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Springer Thesis
Appointments
The thesis ‘Orthogonal supramolecular interaction motifs for
On April 20, 2012, Prof. dr. ing. Dave Blank has been appointed
functional monolayer architectures’ of Mahmut Deniz Yilmaz
as member of the ‘Advisory Council for Science and Technology
of the Molecular nanoFabrication group has been published as
Policy (AWT)’.
Springer Thesis, in the ‘best of the best’ series. Besides the honor Yilmaz received a prize of € 500.
On September 1, 2012, Prof. dr. ir. Kitty Nijmeijer, head of the Membrane Science and Technology group was appointed
MESA+ meeting 2012
professor Membrane Science and Technology.
During the MESA+ meeting in Cinestar on September 18, 2012, Dieter ‘t Mannetje of the Physics Complex Fluids group won the
On October 1, 2012, Prof. Erik Roesink was appointed part-
1st prize for the best poster. The 2nd prize was won by Remko
time professor Advanced membranes for aqueous applications.
Dijkstra of the NanoBioPhysics group, and the 3
prize was for
His research focuses on the design of membranes for e.g.
Chris Hellenthal of the Physics Interfaces and Nanomaterials group.
water purification, water treatment and for food and beverage
rd
applications. The research is part of the strategic research
MESA+ Young Business Award 2012
program of the research group Membrane Science and Techno
At the annual MESA+ meeting, the Young Business Award 2012
logy.
was awarded to David Fernandez Rivas and Bram Verhaagen, respectively PhD-students at the Mesoscale Chemical Systems and
On October 26, 2012, Prof. dr. ir. Albert van den Berg received
the Physics of Fluids group. During a 3 minute pitch, they presented
an honorary professorship from the SCNU in Guangzhou, China.
their business idea 'BµBCLEAN' for cleaning root canals and other spaces around teeth that are difficult to clean, using a novel tech
On October 29, 2012, Prof. dr. ir. David Reinhoudt, former
nique that can generate microbubbles in a controlled way. A three-
scientific director of MESA+, has received the gold medal of
experts jury considered this idea the most promising one in terms
honor of the University of Pécs.
of applicability, scalability and ease of entering the market. The entire nanolayer Surface & Interface physics (nSI)
Cum Laude distinctions
department, headed by Prof. dr. Fred Bijkerk , which is currently
In 2012 five PhD students received cum laude distinctions for
located at FOM’s DIFFER institute in Nieuwegein, is to become
their work:
part of the University of Twente/MESA+. The nSI department is
n Edward Bernhardi of the Integrated Optical MicroSystems
among the top groups in the field of nanotechnology. It excels
group with his thesis ‘Bragg-Grating-Based Rare-Earth-Ion-
in gearing fundamental research to the specific questions and
Doped Channel Waveguide Lasers And Their Applications’.
needs of science and industry. The department’s move to Twente
n Josée Kleibeuker of the Inorganic Materials Science group with
will take place gradually. The entire department will be settled in its new home by mid 2014.
her thesis ‘Reconstructions at complex oxide interfaces’. n Daniel Schwarz of the Physics of Interfaces and Nanomaterials group with his thesis ‘Visualization of nucleation and growth of BDA-films on Cu(001) and Au(111)’. n X iaofeng Sui of the Materials Science and Technology of Polymers group with his thesis ‘“Chameleon” Macromolecules: Synthesis, Structures and Applications of Stimulus Responsive Polymers’. n Menno Veldhorst of the Interfaces and Correlated Electron systems Prof. dr. Fred Bijkerk
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group
with
topological hybrids’.
his
thesis
‘Superconducting
and
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MESA+ ANNUAL REPORT 2012
[highlights] The Bio-molecular Electronic Structure (BES) group is a computational group in the field of electronic structure theory and focuses on the methodological
Prof. dr. Claudia Filippi
development of novel and more effective approaches for investigating the
“Electronic-structure theory has dramatically
electronic properties of materials. Our current research centers on the
expanded the role of computational modeling,
problem of describing light-induced phenomena in biological systems, where
enabling a detailed atomistic understanding of
available computational techniques have limited applicability. Deepening
real materials. Our research focuses on the
our physical understanding of the primary excitation processes in photoÂ
challenge to further enhance the predictive
biological systems is important both from a fundamental point of view and
power of these approaches while bridging to the
because of existing and potential applications in biology, biotechnology, and
length-scales of complex (bio)systems.�
artificial photosynthetic devices.
Biomolecular Electronic Structure Gas-phase retinal spectroscopy: Temperature effects are but a mirage Vision begins with the photo-induced isomerization of the retinal chromophore in rhodopsin, the photoreceptor in the vertebrate eye. Retinal represents a fascinating archetype of a photosensitive biological component since it functions as light detector over a remarkably wide range of absorption energies in visual and archaeal rhodopsins. To understand how the protein tunes absorption over so many wavelengths, it is important to establish the spectral behavior of retinal in the gas phase to discern intrinsic geometric and electronic features from the response of the chromophore to the biological environment. While photo-induced dissociation spectroscopy represents in principle an ideal experimental technique to probe retinal in the gas phase, rather distinct dissociation spectra have been recently obtained for retinal, which have in turn motivated many theoretical attempts to reproduce them. In particular, the unusual features of the dissociation spectrum were explained in terms of the multiple conformations which the flexible chromophore can visit at room temperature. With the use of state-of-the-art first-principle approaches, we investigate the complex dynamics of gas-phase retinal and, at variance with previous studies, provide compelling evidence that temperature effects cannot be responsible for the anomalous shape of the spectrum. Furthermore, our findings raise serious concerns on the interpretation of these model experiments, and call for further experimental investigations and careful characterization of the dissociation spectra.
Figure: Retinal conformers and their absorption properties.
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HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: O. Valsson, C. Filippi, Gas-phase retinal spectroscopy: Temperature effects are but a mirage, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 3 (2012) 908.
[HIGHLIGHTS] In the BIOS Lab-on-a Chip group fundamental and applied aspects
Prof. dr. ir. Albert van den Berg
of miniaturized laboratories are studied. With the use of advanced
“We try to do top-level research on
our Nanolab facilities, micro- and nanodevices for biomedical and
micro- and nanofluidics and new
environmental applications are studied and realized, such as chips
nanosensing principles, and to
for monitoring medication, counting sperm cells, mimicking organs
integrate that into real-life
on chip, discovery of new biomarkers and ultrasensitive detection
Lab-on-Chip systems that help
thereof. To realize this, we work closely together with (bio)medical
patients and doctors or are good
experts from our sister-institute MIRA, academic hospitals in the
for the environment.�
Netherlands and colleagues from the Wyss institute at Harvard.
and newly developed micro- and nanotechnologies, enabled by
BIOS Lab-on-a-Chip High-yield single cell encapsulation in droplets Recently, droplet microfluidics has evolved as a powerful platform for cell-based assays. Using microfluidic devices, droplets can be generated, merged, and sorted at kilohertz rates, enabling high-throughput single cell screening. However, the method suffers from one fundamental limitation, the variability in the number of cells per droplet. We overcome this drawback and present a new approach to deterministically encapsulate single cells in droplets using inertial ordering in a curved microchannel. The curvature introduces a second force, the Dean force, which causes particles to focus faster to a single equilibrium position. Matching the droplet generation frequency with the cell passing frequency leads to more than 100% increase in single cell encapsulation, at a speed of around 1000 droplets/s. Future work is focused on increasing the functionality of our device by implementing a droplet pairing, droplet fusion and droplet shrinkage module, making this platform attractive for a variety of biomedical applications.
Figure: Schematic drawing of the microfluidic chip consisting of a curved microchannel followed by an encapsulation part. The pictures are of the cell ordering and subsequent encapsulation. Scale bars are 50 Îźm.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: E.W.M. Kemna, R.M. Schoeman, F. Wolbers, I. Vermes, D.A. Weitz, A. van den Berg, High-yield cell ordering and deterministic cell-in-droplet encapsulation using Dean flow in a curved microchannel, Lab Chip 12 (2012) 2881.
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[highlights] The BioMolecular Nanotechnology (BNT) group is founded in 2009 by the appointment of it’s chair prof. Jeroen Cornelissen and acts on the interface of biology, physics and materials science coming from a strong chemical back ground. The research of the group centers around the use of biomolecules as building blocks for (functional) nanostructures, relying on principles from Supramolecular and Macromolecular
Prof. dr. Jeroen J.L.M. Cornelissen
Chemistry. Current research lines involve the use of well-defined nanometer-sized
“Using the building blocks from
the field of liquid crystalline materials are explored. The success of the multidisciplinary
Nature to make and understand
work of the group partly relies on intense interactions within MESA+ and with other
new technologies.”
(inter)national collaborators.
protein cages as reactors and as scaffolds for new materials, while new directions in
BioMolecular Nanotechnology Time-programmed helix inversion in phototunable liquid crystals Cholesteric liquid crystals are a topic of intense interest due to their potential use in helix-based materials such as smart windows, actuators and sensors. These types of liquid crystals are of particular interest, since their helical nature induces the selective reflection of light of a certain polarization over a narrow range of wavelengths. This range can be controlled by the inclusion of photo-responsive chiral dopants. In our studies we use overcrowded alkenes as dopants, which undergo a stable to unstable (cis-trans) isomerization upon irradiation with UV light. This results in an unwinding and eventual inversion of the supramolecular helix structure of the liquid crystals. Furthermore, in the absence of UV light the system relaxes back to its initial state. The modifications of the cholesteric helix during these processes are accompanied by changes of the selective reflection which we monitored using UV/Vis spectroscopy and Circular Dichroïsm spectroscopy. An important parameter for all liquid crystals is the relaxation time of the cholesteric helix, i.e. the time needed to go from one helical state to the other, which needs to be suitable for the envisioned application. We have studied cholesteric liquid crystals doped with overcrowded alkenes in an effort to find a general paradigm correlating relaxation kinetics of the dopants with the rate of helix modification. We have shown that the helix relaxation kinetics are fully determined by the kinetics of the light-sensitive dopants. The relaxation of the dopants from unstable to stable is unperturbed by the liquid crystalline environment. On the other hand, exchanging a dopant with a relatively slow relaxation rate against a faster relaxing dopant can dramatically accelerate helix inversion. Therefore the inversion can be time-programmed by a judicious choice of the dopant. These findings have great potential for the fine tuning of cholesteric liquid crystals for smart materials with sophisticated functions. Figure: Helix inversion of a cholesteric liquid crystal.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: S.J. Aßhoff, S. Iamsaard, A. Bosco, J.J.L.M. Cornelissen, B.L. Feringa, N. Katsonis, Time-programmed helix inversion in phototunable liquid crystals,
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Chem. Commun. (2013) Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C2CC37161H.
[HIGHLIGHTS] The Computational BioPhysics (CBP) group investigates how the thermo dynamic and rheological properties of a complex fluid emerge from its molecular constitution. Our computational studies focus on the mesoscopic level, i.e. the time and length scales of the macro-molecules determining the macroscopic behaviour, while the atomic details of these molecules are reduced to their bare essentials. By developing equations of motions and force fields that capture only the crucial molecular features, a complex molecule like a polymer or a protein can be modeled as a single particle.
Prof. dr. Wim J. Briels
This approach proves very successful in studying the emerging macroscopic
“There's plenty of room in the middle.”
properties of biological and non-biological soft condensed matter.
Computational BioPhysics Controlled assembly of colloids by external stimuli Entanglements of dissolved long flexible polymers endow simple liquids with visco-elastic flow properties. Colloids suspended in such
Figure 1: Snapshots of segregating large and small colloids
visco-elastic solutions behave markedly different from colloids in Newtonian fluids. The in-house developed technique of Responsive
in sheared visco-elastic solvent. The colloids are initially
Particle Dynamics (RaPiD) has made it possible to simulate and understand the dynamics of hundreds of colloids in large amounts
randomly distributed in the mid-plane of a rectangular three-
of visco-elastic solutions. In agreement with experiments, the colloids are seen to align under shear in some visco-elastic solvent
dimensional box. With increasing time the colloids arrange in
but not in others, nor in Newtonian liquids. The simulations indicate that flow reduces the polymeric concentration between adjacent
chains of large colloids and chains of small colloids.
colloids, thereby creating an attraction between the colloids. This flow induced depletion attraction varies with the size of the dissolved colloids, sometimes resulting in the segregation of colloids under shear. The work is part of a large international program aiming at controlled organization of mesoscopic systems by external agents and in micro-channels.
Figure 2: Forces between two colloids in a sheared viscoelastic solvent. For shear rates larger than about three reciprocal seconds the forces are attractive at all separations of the colloids (short range excluded volume forces are not shown).
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] I.S. Santos de Oliveria, W.K. den Otter, W.J. Briels, The origin of flow-induced alignment of spherical colloids in shear-thinning viscoelastic fluids, J. Chem. Phys. 137 (2012) 204908. [2] I.S. Santos de Oliveira, W.K. den Otter, W.J. Briels, Alignment and segregation of bidisperse colloids in a shearthinning viscoelastic fluid under shear flow, Europhys. Lett. 101 (2013) 28002.
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[highlights] Understanding the magnetic, optical, electrical and structural properties of solids in terms of their chemical composition and atomic structure by numerically solving the quantum mechanical equations describing the motion of the electrons is the central research activity of the group Computational Materials Science (CMS). These equations contain no input from experiment other than the fundamental physical constants, making it possible to analyze
Prof. dr. Paul J. Kelly
the properties of systems which are difficult to characterize experimentally or
”Computational Materials Science:
to predict the physical properties of materials which have not yet been made.
taking the guesswork out of
This is especially important when experimentalists attempt to make hybrid
NanoScience and Technology.”
structures approaching the nanoscale.
Computational Materials Science A new twist to an old problem A magnet can point up or down in a magnetic field. In magnetic materials, information is stored digitally by using two such "states" to represent ones and zeros. A proposal to store information in high-density "racetrack" memories has focussed attention on how electric currents in a magnetic material are affected by twisting of the magnetism in between regions - "domains" - where the magnetism is either all "up" or all "down". By performing extensive quantum mechanical calculations on a supercomputer, we find that a twist in the magnetism - a "domain wall" (Fig. 1) - makes a finite contribution to the resistance of a material no matter how slowly the twisting occurs, when a relativistic effect, the spin-orbit coupling, is taken into account. Our finding for domain walls in the technologically important Ni80Fe20 magnetic alloy, Permalloy, contradicts received wisdom for disordered materials and suggests that it should be possible to detect the number of domain walls in a nanowire with just electrical transport measurements. In this work, we investigated diffusive transport through a number of domain wall (DW) profiles (Fig. 1) of Permalloy taking into account simultaneously noncollinearity, alloy disorder, and spin-orbit-coupling fully quantum mechanically, from first principles. In addition to observing the known effects of magnetization mistracking and anisotropic magnetoresistance, we discovered a notpreviously identified contribution to the resistance of a DW that comes from spin-orbit-coupling-mediated spin-flip scattering in a textured diffusive ferromagnet. This adiabatic DW resistance, which should exist in all diffusive DWs, can be observed by varying the DW width in a systematic fashion in suitably designed nanowires.
Figure: Schematic illustration of the magnetic configurations of (a) Bloch, (b) rotated Néel, and (c) Néel DWs. (d) Sketch of the scattering geometry used in the calculations in which a finite thickness of Ni80Fe20 substitutional alloy is sandwiched between semiinfinite copper leads and alloy disorder is modelled using a lateral supercell periodically repeated in the x-y plane. Transport is in the z direction.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: Z. Yuan, Y. Liu, A.A. Starikov, P.J. Kelly, A. Brataas, Spin-Orbit-Coupling-Induced Domain-Wall Resistance in Diffusive Ferromagnets, Phys.
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Rev. Lett. 109 (2012) 267201.
[HIGHLIGHTS] The Complex Photonic Systems (COPS) group studies light propagation in ordered and disordered nanophotonic materials. We investigate photonic bandgap materials, random lasers, diffusion and Anderson localization of light. We have recently
Prof. dr. Willem L. Vos
pioneered the control of spontaneous emission in photonic bandgaps and the active
“COPS strives to catch light with
control of the propagation of light in disordered photonic materials. Novel photonic
nanostructures. But beware dear
nanostructures are fabricated and characterized in the MESA+ cleanroom. Optical
colleagues, since Shakespeare once
experiments are an essential aspect of our research, which COPS combines with a
said: ‘Light, seeking light, doth light of
theoretical understanding of the properties of light. Our curiosity driven research
light beguile’. In other words: the eye in
is of interest to various industrial partners, and to applications in medical and
seeking truth deprives itself of vision.”
biophysical imaging.
Complex Photonic Systems Looking through an opaque material The COPS group, in collaboration with NPB, AMOLF Amsterdam and the University of Florence, has succeeded in making sharp pictures
Figure 1: [a] The test object used was the Greek letter “p“, written
of objects hidden behind an opaque screen. This breakthrough in research has been published in the world-leading research journal
in fluorescent ink and 100x smaller than the one printed here.
Nature.
The test object was covered by a strongly scattering groundglass diffuser that completely hid it from view.
Materials such as skin, paper and ground glass appear opaque because they scatter light. In such materials light does not move in
[b] A laser beam was then scanned in angle, always hitting the
a straight line, but travels along an unpredictable and erratic path. As a result, it is impossible to get a clear view of objects hidden
diffuser on the same spot. The test object only yielded a diffuse
behind such media. Powerful methods have been developed to retrieve images through materials in which a small fraction of the light
glow of fluorescent light.
follows a straight path. To date, however, it has not been possible to resolve an image when all light has been completely scattered. The COPS team has now succeeded in doing just this. They hid a fluorescent test object behind an opaque diffuser (Fig. 1). Then they scanned the angle of a laser beam that illuminated the diffuser. At the same time, a computer recorded the amount of fluorescent light that was returned by the hidden object. While the measured intensity cannot be used to form an image of the object, the information needed to do so is in there, yet in a scrambled form. A computer program initially guesses the missing information, and then tests and refines the guess (Fig. 2). The team succeeded in
Figure 2: [a] The total intensity of this fluorescence was
making an image of a hidden fluorescent object just 50 micrometers across – the size of a typical cell. It is easy to guess from this high-
measured versus the angle of the laser beam and recorded by a
resolution image that the work may lead to new microscopy methods capable of forming razor sharp images in a strongly scattering
computer. The seemingly random pattern bears no resemblance
environment.
to the test object. [b] The computer then searched for similarities in the measured pattern which are used to calculate the true shape of the test object.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] J. Bertolotti, E. G. van Putten, C. Blum, A. Lagendijk, W. L. Vos, A. P. Mosk, Non-invasive imaging through opaque scattering layers, Nature 491 (2012) 232-234. [2] C. Blum, N. Zijlstra, A. Lagendijk, M. Wubs, A. P. Mosk, V. Subramaniam, W. L. Vos, Nanophotonic control of the Förster resonance energy transfer efficiency, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 (2012) 203601: 1-5. [3] A. P. Mosk, A. Lagendijk, G. Lerosey, M. Fink, Controlling waves in space and time for imaging and focusing in complex media, Nature Photon. 6 (2012) 283-292. [4] S. R. Huisman, R. V. Nair, A. Hartsuiker, L. A. Woldering, A. P. Mosk, W. L. Vos, Observation of sub-Bragg diffraction of waves in crystals, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 (2012) 083901: 1-5.
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[highlights] Prof. dr. ir. Leon Lefferts
The aim of the Catalytic Processes and Materials group (CPM) is to understand heterogeneous
“One of the most high impact
catalysis by investigation of catalytic reactions and materials on a fundamental level in
applications of nanotechnology
combination with their application in practical processes. Our research focuses on three themes:
is in the area of heterogeneous
1. Sustainable processes for fuels and chemicals, like catalytic conversion of biomass to fuels.
catalysis. The challenges are to
2. Heterogeneous catalysis in liquid phase.
improve the level of control over the
3. High yield selective oxidation.
active nanoparticles as well as the
The fundamental study of surface reactions in liquid phase requires the development of new
local conditions at those particles,
analysis techniques for which CPM is in the forefront of leading catalysis groups in the world.
and to understand the molecular
Moreover, we explore preparation and application of new highly porous, micro-structured support
mechanism at the surface.”
materials as well as micro-reactors and micro-fluidic devices, using the information obtained from in-situ spectroscopy studies.
Catalytic Processes and Materials Stable Ru nano-particles on carbon-nano-tubes: promising catalyst for hydrogen production from biomass Catalytic reforming of biomass derived waste streams in sub- and supercritical water is a promising process for the production of sustainable hydrogen. This type of process is called “aqueous-phase-reforming” and is very interesting from a point of view of energy efficiency because evaporation of water, and the consequent energy penalty, is circumvented. Acetic acid is a major component in many anticipated feed streams (e.g. the aqueous fraction of pyrolysis oil) and is therefore used as a model compound. Conventional supported (e.g. alumina) catalysts deactivate in presence of acetic acid rapidly due to conversion of alumina to boehmite and hence other catalytic systems must be developed to make this process industrially feasible. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are very resistant to deactivation during acetic acid reforming in supercritical water and are therefore very suitable as catalyst support. Supported Ru nanoparticles are very active for acetic acid reforming in sub- (195-340 °C, 225 bar) and supercritical water (400 °C, 250 bar). Even more important is the fact that Ru nanoparticles supported on CNT perform remarkably stable in acetic acid reforming in supercritical water.
Figure: Highly dispersed Ru nanoparticles supported on carbon-nano-tubes; stable in hot compressed water even at 400oC and 250 bar.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: D.J.M. de Vlieger, D.B. Thakur, L. Lefferts, K. Seshan, Carbon nanotubes: A promising catalyst support material for supercritical water
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gasification of biomass waste. ChemCatChem, 4 (12) (2012) 2068 - 2074.
[HIGHLIGHTS] Materials with exceptional, well-tailored properties are at the heart of many new applications. In the electronic/magnetic domains, powerful means to create such
Prof. dr. ir. Hans Hilgenkamp
properties are nanostructuring as well as the use of compounds in which the intrinsic
"The Interfaces and Correlated Electron
mobile charge carriers mutually and/or with the crystal lattice.
systems group (ICE) focuses on materials
In the ICE group, the fabrication and basic properties of such (nano-structured) novel
and interfaces with unconventional
materials are studied, and their potential for applications is explored. Current research
electronic properties, especially related
involves superconductors, p- and n-doped Mott compounds, topological insulators,
to interactions between the mobile
electronically active interfaces between oxide insulators and novel electronic materials
charge carriers."
and device concepts for low power electronics and neuromorphic circuitry.
physics involves ‘special effects’. These can arise from intricate interactions of the
Interfaces and Correlated Electron systems Conducting interfaces between oxide insulators Transition metal oxides in the perovskite crystal configuration display a variety of remarkable properties. These range from high-Tc superconductivity to colossal magnetoresistance, and from piezo-electricity to high-K dielectric behavior. Remarkably, interfaces between such perovskites can show even further effects, different from the abutting crystals. A prominent example is the conducting interface between the band insulators SrTiO3 and LaAlO3. In the past years, a research program has been conducted at MESA+ involving the CMS, IMS, NE, NEM, PIN, QTM and ICE chairs, in the frame of the national FOM research program ‘InterPhase’, coordinated by Prof. Hilgenkamp. In 2012, the research in Twente has focused on a further understanding of the properties of these interfaces, and their improvement toward applications. The latter especially involves the increase of the electron mobility by enhanced oxygenation techniques and the development of high-quality top-gating for the local application of electric fields (see figure).
Figure: Field-effect transistor structure using top-gating of the LaAlO 3 – SrTiO 3 2-dimensional electron gas. Figure courtesy of Peter Eerkes.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: H. Hilgenkamp, Device aspects of the SrTiO3-LaAlO3 interface: basic properties, nano-structuring- and potential applications, Functional metal oxides, edited by S. Ogale, M. Blamire, T. Venkatesan, Wiley Publ. (in press).
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[highlights] Research in the Inorganic & Hybrid Nanomaterials Chemistry (IHNC) group focuses on the development and understanding of novel processing routes for hybrid and inorganic nanomaterials, with emphasis on thin films, micro/nanopatterns and low-
Prof. dr. ir. André ten Elshof
dimensional nanostructures, for energy, electronic and biomedical applications.
“Development of new
sheets, new functional nanomaterials are assembled. The use of low temperature,
functional materials is key
energy and resource efficient processing routes is central to our strategy.
Starting from colloidal solutions of nanoparticles, complexes, nanowires or nano
to solving many of the technological challenges of the 21st century.”
Inorganic & Hybrid Nanomaterials Chemistry Elucidating the structural evolution on nanoscale in drying thin films Sol-gel derived ferroelectric thin films such as barium titanate BaTiO3 and lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 are known for their good Figure 1: Time-resolved small-angle x-ray scattering
ferroelectric properties. These films are typically prepared by a wet-chemical coating process using precursor solutions that contain
curves, showing the structural changes that take place
2 or more metals in the form of metal-organic complexes. Upon drying, these complexes must somehow transform into an as-dried
in a drying thin film of a BaTiO 3 precursor solution. The
precipitate that is subsequently annealed at high temperature to form a dense perovskite-type oxide film with desired properties.
evolving correlation peak at high q indicates the formation of
While the initial state of precursor solutions has been studied in detail by many researchers, and the microstructure of the final
agglomerates of polynuclear titanium oxo complexes.
oxide films is also well known, the structural transformations that take place between the initial and final states remained a mystery. We used time-resolved small angle x-ray scattering to study nucleation and growth in drying sol-gel thin films at the European Synchotron Radiation Facility in France, focusing on nanostructures that evolve on the 1-10 nm length scale. Our studies showed that Zr and Ti precursors have a strong tendency to form polynuclear clusters, thereby inhibiting the mixing of metal centers on atomic scale. Detailed TEM-EELS studies on dried films at the MESA+ CMA lab showed that the resulting spatial separation between Ba and Ti-rich domains in in as-dried films also depends on the water concentration in the film. These studies demonstrate that as-dried sol-gel films are not necessarily uniform on the nanoscopic and mesoscopic level.
Figure 2: Electron energy loss spectra (EELS) mappings of the distribution of Ba (red) and Ti (green) in as-dried films. The differences between the mappings show the influence of increasing water concentration on the distribution of elements.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] T.M. Stawski, S.A. Veldhuis, R. Besselink, H.L. Castricum, G. Portale, D.H.A. Blank, J.E. ten Elshof, Nanostructure Development in Alkoxide-Carboxylate-Derived Precursor Films of Barium Titanate, J. Phys. Chem. C 116 (2012) 425-434. [2] T.M. Stawski, R. Besselink, S.A. Veldhuis, H.L. Castricum, D.H.A. Blank, J.E. ten Elshof, Time-resolved Small Angle X-ray Scattering Study of Sol-Gel Precursor Solutions of Lead Zirconate Titanate and Zirconia, J. Colloid Interface
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Sci. 369 (2012) 184-192.
[HIGHLIGHTS] Activities of the Inorganic Membranes (IM) group evolve around energy efficient molecular separations under extreme conditions,
Prof. dr. ir. Arian Nijmeijer
for instance high temperature, elevated pressure, and chemically
“Inorganic material science on the
combines Materials Science in the Ă…ngstrom range length scale
Ă…ngstrom scale to make ceramic
with Process Technology on macroscopic scale. Particular topics
membranes that can be applied in
include sol-gel derived nano-porous membranes, ultra-thin hybrid
large scale industrial separation
membranes, dense ion conducting membranes, inorganic hollow
processes."
fibre membranes and inorganic porous scaffolds.
demanding environments, using inorganic membranes. The group
Inorganic Membranes Ultra-Thin Hybrid Polyhedral Silsesquioxane-Polyamide Films with Potentially Unlimited 2D Dimensions The group Inorganic Membranes aspires to make membranes for molecular separation under harsh conditions, such as high
Figure 1: Illustration of polymerization of ammonium
temperature, elevated pressure, and the presence of aggressive chemical components. Under such conditions organic membranes,
functionalized POSS to form freestanding and supported
based on polymers, cannot show prolonged high separation performance, due to swelling, plasticization, and degradation. Inorganic
iPOSS-amide films, applicable as high performance
membranes have superior stability, but their fabrication is challenging and costly. Hybrid inorganic-organic materials potentially allow
membranes for molecular separation under harsh conditions.
combination of the beneficial properties of organic and inorganic membranes. Recently, we have developed a facile method for formation of hybrid polyamides - polyhedral silsesquioxane (POSS), in the form of self-supporting or supported ultra-thin (~100 nm) films (see Fig. 1). The method is based on the principle of interfacial polymerization, in which thin film formation and polymerization are combined in a single step by dissolving two monomers in two different immiscible solvents. Film formation occurs at the interface between these two immiscible solvents where the monomers react. The formed interfacial thin film separates the two reactants causing the reaction to be self-terminating, innately avoiding the formation of thicker films, and promoting the self-healing of defects such as pinholes. The thin hybrid films combine intrinsic local ordering of inorganic and organic constituents on the molecular scale with potentially infinite lateral macroscopic dimensions, are robust and flexible, and exhibit molecular selectivity in gas and liquid permeation experiments. The developed method allows for macromolecular network design of ultrathin hybrid films, with high loading of POSS molecules, covalently linked to a variety of organic groups, distributed homogeneously on a molecular level. Future research activities within our group are aimed at such design, tuning independently the chemistry and network dynamics of these films for use as high-performance
Figure 2: Illustration of a high-pressure cell for simultaneous
membranes, and the detailed in-situ characterization of the thin film properties under relevant conditions (see Fig. 2).
permeation and ellipsometry analysis.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: M. Dalwani, J. Zheng, M. Hempenius, M.J.T. Raaijmakers, C. Doherty, A. Hill, M. Wessling, N.E. Benes, Ultra-Thin Hybrid Polyhedral SilsesquioxanePolyamide Films with Potentially Unlimited 2D Dimensions, Journal of Materials Chemistry 22 (2012) 14835-14838.
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[highlights] Prof. dr. ing. Dave H.A. Blank
The Inorganic Materials Science (IMS) group works at the international forefront
“The recent developments in controlled
of materials science research on complex metal oxides and hybrids, and
synthesis and characterization tools has
provides an environment where young researchers and students are stimulated
increased the applicability of inorganic
to excel. The research is focused on establishing a fundamental understanding
nanoscale materials enormously.
of the relationship between composition, structure and solid-state physical and
This holds especially for complex and
chemical properties of inorganic materials, especially oxides. Insights into these
functional oxide materials, enabling the
relationships enable us to design new materials with improved and yet unknown
development of new materials and devices
properties that are of interest for fundamental studies as well as for industrial
with novel functionalities. Our aim is to
applications. With the possibility to design and construct artificial materials on
consolidate our leading role in this field.�
demand, new opportunities become available for novel device concepts.
Inorganic Materials Science Enhanced Electrical Conductivity in Vortex Cores of Ferroelectric Domains Topological defects in condensed matter offer a powerful paradigm for nanoscale-device engineering owing to the combination of unique physical properties and the capability for their manipulation by external magnetic, electric, or strain fields without disruption of the host lattice. Examples include vortices in superconductors, defects in topological insulators, and domain walls in ferroics. The numerous examples of novel functionalities at the domain walls enabled by stabilization of a high-symmetry phase and order-parameter coupling include domain wall ferroelectricity in paraelectric materials, enhanced electronic conductivity, magnetoelectric coupling, magnetic phase transitions, and ionic phenomena. This potentially facilitates a broad spectrum of reconfigurable magnetoelectric, optoelectonic, and strain-coupled memory and logic devices through domain engineering. We have controllably created and probed the electronic properties of 1D topological defects. Specifically, we explored the physical properties of artificially engineered domain junctions forming vortex or antivortex states in 50 nm (001)-oriented multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films by local current detection using scanning probe microscopy, and deciphered the associated mesoscopic and atomistic conduction mechanisms to establish the origins of vortex conduction.
Figure: Electronic properties of topological defects in ferroelectrics. a, In-plane PFM image of vortex domain structure. b, c-AFM image at 2V dc, showing enhanced conductivity at the vortex core. c, Vortex after c-AFM shows no change in domain structure.
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Highlighted publications: [1] N. Balke, et al. Enhanced electric conductivity at ferroelectric vortex cores in BiFeO3, Nature Physics 8 (2012) 81-88. [2] P. Maksymovych, et al. Ultrathin limit and dead-layer effects in local polarization switching of BiFeO3, Phys. Rev. B 85 (2012) 014119.
[HIGHLIGHTS] The Integrated Optical MicroSystems (IOMS) group performs research on highly compact,
[A]
potentially low-cost and mass-producible optical waveguide devices with novel functionalities. After careful design using dedicated computational tools, optical chips are realized in the MESA+ cleanroom facilities by standard lithographic tools as well as high-resolution techniques for nano-structuring, such as focused ion beam milling and laser interference lithography. Integrated optical devices, including on-chip integrated light sources and
Prof. dr. Markus Pollnau
amplifiers, optically resonant structures, micro-mechanically or thermo-optically actuated
“Guiding light into the
based on these devices are developed for a variety of applications in the fields of optical
future!"
sensing, bio-medical diagnostics, and optical communication.
switches, spectrometers, and novel light generation, manipulation, and detection schemes
Integrated Optical MicroSystems
[B]
Figure 1: [A]Schematic of the dual-wavelength DFB cavity, along with the calculated longitudinal field distribution of the two respective
Intra-laser-cavity nano-particle sensor
laser wavelengths. [B] Electrical spectrum of the microwave beat signal centered at ~15 GHz measured with a resolution bandwidth of 50 kHz. The inset shows the same signal on a linear power scale. [2].
Masers and lasers were invented in the 1950s and 1960s, because they provide by far the most monochromatic, narrowest-linewidth, hence highest-quality optical light generated in our universe and, therefore, can be used as the most sensitive spectrometers.
[A]
We deposited rare-earth-ion activated Al 2O 3 layers on thermally oxidized silicon microchips by reactive co-sputtering and microstructured channel waveguides by chlorine-based reactive ion etching. Bragg gratings were inscribed to the SiO2 top cladding by laser interference lithography and subsequent reactive ion etching. Adiabatic widening of the waveguide close to the center of the Bragg grating creates a phase shift, resulting in an optical resonance, which allowed us to demonstrate distributedfeedback (DFB) lasers at 1.5 µm in Al 2O 3:Er 3+ and 1 µm in Al 2O 3:Yb 3+ with free-running linewidths of a few kHz, equaling optical coherence lengths of tens of km [1]. The implementation of two such adiabatic phase shifts results in the simultaneous oscillation of two frequencies whose longitudinal
[B]
optical modes are distributed unevenly over both phase-shift regions (Fig. 1A). Since the two phase-shift regions are close to each other on the same chip and pumped optically by the same pump laser, the two emitted laser lines react similarly on environmental changes, e.g. in temperature or pump power. Hence the electrical 15-GHz microwave beat signal generated by the two laser lines at a detector is highly stable in frequency (Fig. 1B) [2]. This dual-wavelength DFB laser can be used as a highly sensitive nano-particle sensor (Fig. 2A), e.g. in microfluidic environments. When disturbing the evanescent laser field in either of the two phase-shift regions by a borosilicate microsphere attached to
Figure 2: [A] Illustration of the Bragg-grating-based channel
the cantilever of an atomic force microscope, we observed a tiny frequency shift in the according laser line by reading out the
waveguide laser microparticle sensor. [B] Laser microwave beat
electrical beat signal with the second, unperturbed laser line. Even at its current state of infancy, this intra-laser-cavity optical
frequency detuning as a function of microsphere diameter. The
sensor is capable of detecting objects down to a diameter of 500 nm (Fig. 2B). We anticipate that further improvement of our device
red triangles were measured in the center of the phase shift on the
will enable the detection of particles down to a size of a few tens of nm [3].
pumped side, while the blue circles were measured in the center of the phase shift on the unpumped side of the laser cavity. [3]
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] E.H. Bernhardi, H.A.G.M. van Wolferen, L. Agazzi, M.R.H. Khan, C.G.H. Roeloffzen, K. Wörhoff, M.Pollnau, R.M. de Ridder, Ultra-narrow-linewidth, single-frequency distributed feedback waveguide laser in Al2O3:Er3+ on silicon, Opt. Lett. 35 (2010) 2394-2396. [2] E.H. Bernhardi, M.R.H. Khan, C.G.H. Roeloffzen, H.A.G.M. van Wolferen, K. Wörhoff, R.M. de Ridder, M. Pollnau, Photonic generation of stable microwave signals from a dual-wavelength Al2O3:Yb3+ distributed-feedback waveguide laser, Opt. Lett. 37 (2012) 181-183. [3] E. H. Bernhardi, K. O. van der Werf, A. J. F. Hollink, K. Wörhoff, R. M. de Ridder, V. Subramaniam, and M. Pollnau, "Intra-laser-cavity microparticle sensing with a dual-wavelength distributed-feedback laser", Laser Photonics Rev. 7 (2013) 589-595.
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[highlights] The Laser Physics and Nonlinear Optics (LPNO) group explores the generation and manipulation of coherent light in improved and novel ways. This includes new concepts for lasers and nonlinear optical interactions. Research comprises wide ranges of intensities, time scales and light frequencies.
Figure 1: Self-heterodyne beat spectrum of the WECSL. The black dots show the measured RF-beat spectrum and the red
Prof. dr. Klaus J. Boller
Regarding laser concepts we investigate novel types of laser such as based on slow light in photonic
"Light displays the
bandwidth is investigated, such as for sensitive and specific detection of molecules. We devise
beauty of nature.
methods to implement such nonlinear generation in waveguides for use in integrated photonics.
We put light to work,
Nonlinear generation at extreme intensities is investigated, which generates ultra-short pulses in
for knowledge and
the XUV wavelength range. Such radiation in combination with nano-structured optics can enable
applications."
improved spectral control, microscopy and XUV lithography on the nano-scale.
structures or based on phase-locked diode arrays. Nonlinear generation of light with large spectral
Laser Physics and Nonlinear Optics
line shows a Lorentzian fit with a 3 dB bandwidth of 50 kHz. This corresponds to a laser bandwidth of 25 kHz.
Novel approach to on-chip spectral control of lasers Tunable diode lasers with narrow bandwidths well below 1 MHz are of interest for many applications, e.g., in coherent optical communications, where frequency tunability and narrow bandwidths can be used to increase data transfer density. The spectral bandwidth of free-running diode lasers without frequency selective feedback is on the order of GHz. We have applied spectral narrowing methods in order to reach bandwidths significantly below this value. Using a novel type of laser, which is a semiconductor laser coupled to a waveguide circuit based external cavity (WECSL), we have reached a record low spectral bandwidth of 25 kHz [1], see Fig. 1. The waveguide chip incorporates a double micro-ring resonator (MRR) structure, as depicted in Fig. 2, referred to as an MRR mirror. The resonance frequencies of both MRRs can be tuned by heating the MRRs, resulting in faster tunability than possible for mechanically tuning a free-space external cavity. Since the external cavity is integrated on a waveguide chip, mechanical stability is significantly increased compared to free-space external cavities. Also, entire arrays of such lasers might be integrated and phase
Figure 2: Schematic of the waveguide chip. (a) The complete
locked, while the general concept can be applied to semiconductor lasers over a large wavelength range, from the visible to the mid-
waveguide chip. The waveguides are depicted in white,
infrared range.
electrical contacts are in yellow, and heaters are in gray. The heaters are placed on top of the MRRs (for thermal tuning of the MRRs’ resonance frequencies), and on the straight waveguides after the MRR mirror (for changing the refractive index of the straight waveguides after the MRRs, such that a maximum output power can be achieved after the two straight waveguides are combined). (b) The waveguide chip without heaters and electrical contacts. (c) Zoom-in on the two MRRs, having radii R1 and R 2, and the coupler C.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: R.M. Oldenbeuving, E.J. Klein, H.L. Offerhaus, C.J. Lee, H. Song, K.J. Boller, 25 kHz narrow spectral bandwidth of a wavelength tunable diode
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laser with a short waveguide-based external cavity, Laser Phys. Lett., 10 (2013) 015804.
[HIGHLIGHTS] Prof. dr. Han J.G.E. Gardeniers
The research focuses on the themes:
"Research on electricity-driven activation
n Alternative activation mechanisms for chemical process control and process
mechanisms, with the electricity derived
intensification: Examples are: electrostatic control of surface processes and reac
from renewable energy sources, is a core
tions in liquids, photochemical mciroreactors for solar-to-fuel conversion, sono
activity. Combined with downscaling and
chemical microreactors and microreactors with integrated work-up functionality;
integration of unit operations in chemistry,
n Miniaturization of chemical analysis systems: Examples are: liquid chromatography
this leads to enhanced yield and selectivity
on a chip, microscale NMR, nanostructured gas sensors, micro optical absorption
of chemical reactions and product
cells (UV, IR); n Micro and nanostructured surfaces for biological studies: Chip-
purification, and improved analysis of mass-
based array of bioreactors with integrated electronic and microfluidic functionality
limited (bio)chemical samples."
are developed for the study of neurophysiologic responses of neuronal tissue.
Mesoscale Chemical Systems Taming acoustic cavitation In a collaboration with the Physics of Fluids group and the team of profs. Keurentjes and Schouten at the TU Eindhoven, research was performed with the goal to improve the efficiency of sonochemical reactors. The work done in the MCS group by PhD student David Fernandez Rivas has focused on the control of the nucleation sites of streams of bubbles in aqueous solutions, by using microfabrication techniques. It was demonstrated that one order of magnitude improvement in sonochemical yield, compared to a conventional sonoreaction system, is possible. The characteristics of the sonoluminescence and the sonochemiluminescence arising from the collapsing bubbles in the reactor have given useful information on the type of bubbles generated, and the sonochemical results could be coupled quite well to theoretical computational results. The bubble streams, originating from micromachined pits in a silicon substrates after the application of ultrasound, demonstrated a characteristic pattern, which depends on ultrasound power. Due to specific forces between the bubbles in combination with acoustic
Figure 1: Bubble streamer patterns, originating from
streaming, after a certain power threshold has been passed, the trajections of the bubbles switch to paths close to the substrate, as
micromachined pits, as a function of ultrasound power.
is shown in Fig. 1. In this mode, enhanced erosion of the substrate surface is observed (Fig. 2), a topic that was studied in detail for different types of silicon, leading to important insights useful for future reactor design strategies. The positive side of this is that the bubble streamers can be used for local surface cleaning, which effect will be exploited in a new spin-off company "Bμbclean", founded by Bram Verhaagen and David Fernandez Rivas.
Figure 2: Overview of the many processes occurring during ultrasound exposure of a surface immersed in a liquid.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] D. Fernandez Rivas, M. Ashokkumar, T. Leong, K. Yasui, T. Tuziuti, S. Kentish, D. Lohse, H.J.G.E. Gardeniers, Sonoluminescence and sonochemiluminescence from ultrasound generated microbubbles in a microreactor, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 19 (2012) 1252-1259. [2] D. Fernandez Rivas, B. Verhaagen, J. Seddon, A. Zijlstra, L.-M. Jiang, L. van der Sluis, M. Versluis, D. Lohse, H.J.G.E. Gardeniers, Localized removal of layers of metal, polymer or biomaterial by cavitating microbubbles, Biomicrofluidics 6 (2012) 034114.
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[highlights] The Molecular nanoFabrication (MnF) group, headed by Prof. Jurriaan Huskens, focuses on nano chemistry and self-assembly. Key research elements are: supramolecular and monolayer chemistry at interfaces, multivalency, supramolecular materials, biomolecule assembly and cell patterning, nanoparticle assembly, soft and imprint lithography, chemistry in microfluidic devices, and multistep
Prof. dr. ir. Jurriaan Huskens
integrated nanofabrication schemes. Application areas are: chemical and biosensing, tissue engineering,
"Molecular
electronic devices. The group has several collaborations within MESA+, e.g. on the assembly of proteins
nanoFabrication:
and cells on patterned surfaces (with the TR group) and on nanoelectronic and spintronic devices (with
assembling the future of
the NE group). Furthermore, the group actively participates in the Twente Graduate School program
molecular matter!"
Novel NanoMaterials, and in the national programs NanoNext, BMM and Towards BioSolar Cells.
heavy metal waste handling, catalysis and synthesis, solar-2-fuel devices, and nano-, spin- and flexible
Molecular nanoFabrication A Supramolecular System for the Electrochemically Controlled Release of Cells Our approach to design supramolecular coupling chemistry for binding proteins to surfaces works selectively and specifically. [1] We have recently extended this approach to the use of a specially designed supramolecular glue to electrically switch the behaviour of individual cells. [2] This occurs under the same physiological conditions as those found in the body. The latter finding is enormously important in terms of the highly specific and local administration of medication, at the molecular level. The success or failure of this approach is not simply a question of pure chemistry. It also depends on the, occasionally indefinable, “watery” conditions around the cell. The new method is exciting because it enables ligands to be presented dynamically to cells in contrast to many existing methods, but practically as Nature does herself. An external electric pulse determines whether the cells bind to the ligands or unbind from them. On a specially prepared surface, a “wound” inflicted on a cell-covered substrate healed significantly faster than it would under normal conditions in a healthy body. The key player in this supramolecular approach is a pumpkin-shaped macromolecule that can accommodate two guest molecules in its skeleton. One binds to a specially prepared gold surface, the other stretches its feelers out to a specific body cell. The links appear to be reversible. Reversing the electrical signal causes cells to bind or to unbind. This research opens the way to studies of fundamental aspects of cell biology as well as applications, together with researchers from the MIRA Institute and our partners in the BioMedical Materials programme. In the case of regeneration, for example, natural factors often play a decisive part. For instance, in the worst case, any infections that develop during treatment can lead to rejection. Figure: Artist’s impression of cells adhering to electrodes
In such situations, the ability to control events at the cellular level is a pivotal tool.
covered with a supramolecular glue (center), which allows, at the molecular scale, the binding of sticky ends within a small receptor molecule (bottom left) that can be electrochemically addressed to release the ends from the receptor providing triggered cell release (bottom right).
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONs: [1] L. Yang, A. Gómez-Casado, J.F. Young, H.D. Nguyen, J. Cabanas-Danés, J. Huskens, L. Brunsveld, P. Jonkheijm, Reversible and oriented immobilization of ferrocene-modified proteins, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134 (2012) 19199-19206. [2] Q. An, J. Brinkmann, J. Huskens, S. Krabbenborg, J. de Boer, P. Jonkheijm,
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A supramolecular system for the electrochemically controlled release of cells, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 51 (2012) 12233-12237.
[HIGHLIGHTS] The group Multi Scale Mechanics (MSM) studies fluids and solids, as well as granular systems, where various physical phenomena with different characteristic time- and length-scales are taking place simultaneously. At each length scale, the question arises how the mechanics and physics at that level is determined by the properties of the underlying level, and how, in turn, the current level affects the next level.
Prof. dr. Stefan Luding
Micro-Macro theory is one way to predict and describe this hierarchy, and
“How does contact mechanics at the particle
advanced numerical simulations supported by experiments and theory help us
level determine the macroscopic flow
understand the various levels and their couplings and solve many application
properties of granular matter?�
problems in industry and environment.
Multi Scale Mechanics Simulations of fluids confined in narrow slit nano-pores The properties of fluids confined to nanometer-sized geometries are known to deviate from classical bulk fluid properties. The atoms close to the walls arrange in layers, turning the fluid density and various other thermodynamic and hydrodynamic fields into (anisotropic) functions of the distance from the wall. Understanding and finding relations between these local fluid quantities near walls are still open research themes. Over the last decades, especially molecular dynamics simulations have advanced our understanding of strongly confined inhomogeneous fluids. These studies usually focused on one-dimensional profiles across a channel, assuming homogeneity in the two remaining directions. The figure shows a two-dimensional density distribution of a strongly confined fluid, flowing to the right under a large body force. Very close to the wall, the distribution of atoms displays inhomogeneities in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the wall. Our recent two- and three-dimensional analysis might provide the key to finding quantitative relations between the local state variables close to the walls with the goal to predict flow in nano-channels, -reactors, underground reservoirs, membranes, or biological, cellular and vascular systems.
Figure: Time-averaged and spatially smoothed density distribution of fluid particles flowing through a nanoslit, for the plane parallel to the flow and perpendicular to the walls.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] R. Hartkamp, A. Ghosh, T. Weinhart, S. Luding, A study of the anisotropy of stress in a fluid confined in a nanochannel, J. Chem. Phys. 137 (2012) 044711. [2] A.P. Markesteijn, R. Hartkamp, S. Luding, J. Westerweel, A comparison of the value of viscosity for several water models using Poiseuille flow in a nano channel, J. Chem. Phys. 136 (2012) 134104.
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[highlights] The research group Membrane Science & Technology (MST) focuses on the multidisciplinary topic of membrane science and technology for the separation of molecular mixtures and selective mass transport. We aim at designing polymer membrane chemistry, morphology and structure on a molecular level to control mass transport phenomena in macroscopic applications. We consider our expertise as a multidisciplinary knowledge chain ranging from molecule to process. The research program is divided into three application clusters: Energy, Water and Life Sciences.
Prof. dr. ir. Kitty Nijmeijer
The group consists of two separate entities: the academic research group Membrane
“Molecular membrane design to
Science and Technology (MST) and the European Membrane Institute Twente (EMI),
control mass transport.”
which performs confidential contract research directly with the industry.
Membrane Science and Technology Figure 1: Reaction mechanism of amination-crosslinking
Tailor-made anion exchange membranes for salinity gradient power generation using reverse electrodialysis
of PECH polymers designed for anion exchange membrane
Reverse electrodialysis (RED) or blue energy is a non-polluting, sustainable technology to generate power from the mixing of solutions
preparation.
with different salinity, i.e. seawater and river water. A concentrated salt solution (e.g. seawater) and a diluted salt solution (e.g. river
Gross power density / W m-2
1.3
--
1.2 1.1
Residence time / s 20 10 7
water) are brought into contact through an alternating series of polymeric anion exchange membranes (AEM) and cation exchange 5
PECH
33 μm
PECH
77 μm
AMX
for RED, while successful RED operation notably depends on the used ion exchange membranes. In the current work, we designed such ion exchange membranes and for the first time, we show the performance of tailor-made membranes in RED. More specifically we focus on the development of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) as these are much more complex to prepare. Here we propose
130 μm
a safe and more environmentally friendly method and used halogenated polyethers such as polyepichlorohydrin (PECH) as starting
PECH
1.0
membranes (CEM), which are either selective for anions or cations. Currently available ion exchange membranes are not optimized
material. A tertiary diamine (1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane, DABCO) was used to introduce the ion exchange groups by amination and for simultaneous cross-linking of the polymer membrane (Fig. 1). Area resistances of the series of membranes ranged from 0.82 to 2.05
0.9
Ω∙cm2 and permselectivities from 87 to 90%. For the first time we showed that tailor-made ion exchange membranes can be applied 0
1 2 3 Flow rate / cm3 s-1
4
Figure 2: Practically obtained gross power density in reverse
in RED. Depending on the properties, application of these membranes in RED resulted in a high power density of 1.27 W/m2, which exceeds the power output obtained with the commercially available anion exchange membranes (Fig. 2). This shows the potential of the development of ion exchange membranes especially designed for Blue Energy.
electrodialysis as a function of the flow rate for PECH membranes with various thicknesses. Cation exchange membrane: CMX. The values obtained for the commercially available anion exchange membrane AMX are shown as a reference.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: E. Guler, Y. Zhang, M. Saakes, K. Nijmeijer, Tailor-made anion exchange membranes for salinity gradient power generation using reverse
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electrodialysis, ChemSusChem 5 (11) (2012) 2262-2270.
[HIGHLIGHTS] Prof. dr. G. Julius Vancso
Current efforts in the Materials Science and Technology of Polymers (MTP) group revolve around
“Natural polymers, such as DNA,
platform level research in macromolecular nanotechnology and polymer materials chemistry.
proteins and polysaccharides enable
The applications are realized in collaborations with specialized teams. Ongoing projects aim at
life. Without synthetic polymers
controlled synthesis of stimulus responsive, “smart” polymers and novel organometallic poly
industrialized societies could not
mers, as well as fabrication of complex macromolecular architectures in combination with nano
exist. Soft matter nanoscience
particles, and semiconductor nanocrystals. Smart, designer surfaces are obtained by surface
and materials chemistry form the
initiated polymerizations and by electrostatic assembly. The structures obtained are used in tissue
scientific basis for these fields,
engineering scaffolds for regenerative medicine, at interfaces that exhibit low protein adhesion to
and provide exiting research
prevent marine biofouling, in fluidic devices as pumps, valves, sensors, and in catalysis. Sensing
opportunities for our group.”
and delivery of molecules are pursued by intelligent nano-hydrogels. The development of enabling tools such as scanning probe microscopes, complement this effort.
Materials Science and Technology of Polymers Smart polyionic liquids for controlled molecular release
Figure 1: The monomer unit of the novel redox-resonsive polyionic liquid PFS-PIL (left) and a section of the backbone
Polyionic liquids (PILs) consist of charged macromolecules and small-molecular counterions, have low melting temperatures, and can
(right) of the polymer featuring reactive groups for cross-
exhibit good water solubility. PILs provide new functions and enable numerous applications as dispersants, absorbents, surface-active
linking.
agents, and precursors for other advanced materials. We synthesized novel water-soluble PILs based on a redox responsive, smart, organometallic backbone chain that consists of ferrocenylsilane (PFS) repeat units featuring charged vinly imidazole side group, which also includes a reactive carbon-carbon double bond for cross-linking (Fig. 1). Using PFS-PILs, PFS microgel particles were obtained by a microfluidic system coupled with UV photopolymerization (Fig. 2). The microgel particles were loaded with fluorophores as model molecular guests, which could be released by oxidizing the PFS backbone chain. These redox responsive PFS microgel particles are very promising materials in controlled molecular release and catalysis.
Figure 2: Cross-linked redox-responsive organometallic microparticles. Top images: optical sections following loading with a fluorophore.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] X. Sui, M.A. Hempenius, G.J. Vancso, Redox-active cross-linkable poly(ionic liquid)s, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 134-9 (2012) 4023-4025. [2] Cum Laude Thesis: X. Sui, “Chameleon” Macromolecules: Synthesis, Structures and Applications of Stimulus Responsive Polymers, Defended on 29 June 2012.
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[highlights] The Mathematics of Computational Science (MaCS) group focuses on the mathematical aspects of advanced scientific computing. The two main research areas are the develop ment, analysis and application of numerical algorithms for the (adaptive) solution of partial differential equations and the mathematical modeling of multi-scale problems
Prof. dr. ir. Jaap J.W. van der Vegt
making these accessible for computation. Special emphasis is put on the development
“Mathematical analysis of
and the modeling of complex turbulent flows. Important applications are in the fields of
multigrid algorithms is the key
computational electromagnetics, free surface flows, (dispersed) two-phase and granular
to obtain excellent convergence
flows, turbulent flows (including particles, combustion, rotation and buoyancy), energy
rates.”
systems, and bio-fluid mechanics.
of discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods, efficient (parallel) solution algorithms,
Mathematics of Computational Science Efficient Multigrid Methods for Advection Dominated Flows Figure 1: Solution of the advection–diffusion equation at
Higher order accurate discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element methods are well suited to obtain very accurate numerical solutions
Re=1000 on a 128x128 Shishkin mesh for a rotating advective
of advection-dominated flow problems. Unfortunately, when thin boundary layers or singularities require highly stretched meshes
velocity field.approach.
the numerical efficiency of higher order DG algorithms is rather poor. This severely limits their application to complex flow problems. Recently, we significantly improved the computational performance of higher order DG methods for advection-dominated flow problems by developing the hp-Multigrid as Smoother (hp-MGS) algorithm. This algorithm combines several multigrid techniques (hand p-multigrid). In particular, the h-multigrid acts as smoother in the p-multigrid and efficiently removes the high frequency part of the numerical error. Using this approach a significantly better convergence rate can be obtained than with standard multigrid techniques. The key to the success of this novel multigrid algorithm is the use of a detailed multi-level analysis. Using this mathematical analysis technique it is possible to accurately predict the theoretical performance of the multigrid algorithm. The multilevel technique also allows the determination of optimal values of free parameters in the algorithm, such as the smoother coefficients. This makes it possible to develop optimized algorithms for specific classes of problems, such as the Navier-Stokes equations, which show a fast convergence rate. The hp-MGS algorithm was tested on a fourth order accurate space–time discontinuous Galerkin finite element discretization of the advection–diffusion equation for a number of model problems, which include thin boundary layers and highly stretched meshes, and a non-constant advection velocity. For all test cases excellent multigrid convergence was obtained.
Figure 2: Grid dependence of the convergence rate of the hpMGS, hp-MGS(1) and hp-multigrid algorithms for a 4th order accurate space–time DG discretization of the advection– diffusion equation at Re=1000 for a rotating advective velocity field.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONs: [1] J.J.W. van der Vegt, S. Rhebergen, HP-multigrid as smoother algorithm for higher order discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of advection dominated flows, Part I. Multilevel Analysis, Journal of Computational Physics 231 (2012) 7537-7563. [2] J.J.W. van der Vegt, S. Rhebergen, HP-multigrid as smoother algorithm for higher order discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of advection dominated flows Part II, Optimization of the Runge-Kutta smoother, Journal of
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Computational Physics 231 (2012) 7564-7583.
[HIGHLIGHTS] Prof. dr. Vinod Subramaniam
The Nanobiophysics group (NBP) focuses on research in molecular and cellular
“We are fascinated by
of neurodegenerative disease related protein aggregation, in protein-ligand inter
biophysical processes at
actions on cell surfaces, and in the emerging field of nanobiophotonics, where we
the nanometer scale, and
use the toolbox of nanophotonics to manipulate biological fluorophores. We develop
seek to gain new insights
cutting-edge technologies to enable us to visualize and manipulate molecules at
into fundamental molecular
the nanoscale. Functional imaging, involving quantitative measurements of dynamic
biophysical mechanisms,
biophysical processes at high spatial, temporal, and chemical resolutions, is an
related to cellular function
integral element of our work. We collaborate closely with other MESA+ groups and
and disease.”
national and international partners.
biophysics at the nanometer scale. We have intellectual interests in the mechanisms
Nanobiophysics Figure 1: Schematic representation of aggregation of
Getting a grip on -Synuclein oligomers
-synuclein monomers into oligomers. Using substoichiometric fluorescence labeling and single-molecule photobleaching we are able to ascertain the aggregation
Aggregation of the human -Synuclein protein is implicated in the onset and progression of Parkinson’s disease. There is compelling
number of the oligomers, and found stable oligomeric species
evidence that small oligomeric aggregates of the protein play a role in neurotoxicity, but very little is known about the molecular
composed of ~ 30 monomers.
details of these species. We have developed a method that uses sub-stoichiometric fluorescent labeling of a fraction of monomers in combination with single-molecule photobleaching to determine the aggregation number, that is, the number of monomers per oligomer (1). Using this method, we can determine the composition, probe the distribution in the aggregation number, and investigate the influence of the fluorescent label on the aggregation process. This work was featured on the cover of Angewandte Chemie.
How to control the energy transfer between molecules In a collaboration with the MESA+ Complex Photonic Systems (COPS) group, AMOLF, and Technical University of Denmark we have resolved a long-standing debate about whether one can influence the rate at which energy is transferred between a pair of two closely spaced molecules by changing the nanophotonic environment (2). We used a well-defined system constructed by attaching energy donor and acceptor molecules to both ends of a piece of DNA of exactly defined length, and controlled the nanophotonic environment by positioning the molecular pair with nanometer precision very close to a metallic mirror. We found a surprising outcome: the energy transfer rate is not at all influenced by changing the nanophotonic environment. Simultaneously, the efficiency of energy transfer can be quantitatively and predictively increased or decreased by purely changing the nanophotonic environment without changing the energy transfer system itself. This work was featured on the cover of Physical Review Letters.
Figure 2: Artist’s impression of energy transfer donor and acceptor pairs separated by DNA strands of well-defined length close to a metallic mirror.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] N. Zijlstra, C. Blum, G.M.J. Segers-Nolten, M.M.A.E. Claessens, V. Subramaniam, Molecular Composition of Sub-stoichiometrically Labeled alpha-Synuclein Oligomers Determined by Single-Molecule Photobleaching, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 51 (2012) 8821-8824 cover article. [2] C. Blum, N. Zijlstra, A. Lagendijk, M. Wubs, A.P. Mosk, V. Subramaniam, W.L. Vos, Nanophotonic control of the Förster resonance energy transfer efficiency, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 (2012) 203601 cover article.
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[highlights] Prof. dr. ir. Wilfred G. van der Wiel
The Chair NanoElectronics (NE) performs research and provides education in the field of nano
“Nanoelectronics
synergetically combining aspects of Electrical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, and
is where electrical
Nanotechnology. NE consists of more than 30 group members and is actively looking for people to join.
engineering,
The field of nanoelectronics comprises a mix of intriguing physical phenomena and revolutionary
physics, chemistry,
novel concepts for devices and systems with improved performance and/or entirely new functionality.
materials science
NE has some dedicated infrastructure including MBE deposition, scanning tunneling microscopy,
and nanotechnology
cryogenic measurement systems down to temperatures of 10 mK in combination with magnetic fields
inevitably meet.”
up to 10 tesla.
electronics. Our research involves hybrid inorganic-organic electronics, spin electronics and quantum electronics. The research goes above and beyond the boundaries of traditional disciplines,
NanoElectronics Ultrahigh-Frequency Surface Acoustic Wave Generation for Acoustic Charge Transport in Silicon Figure 1: Electrical generation of surface acoustic waves:
Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are propagating elastic deformations confined to the surface. This elastic waves can be electrically
An rf signal applied to the contact pads induces deformation
excited at GHz frequencies on a piezoelectric material by using interdigital transducers (IDTs). On semiconductors, SAWs can
in material surface due to inverse piezoelectric effect. Large
be used to modulate the optical and electronic properties by means of the associated lattice deformation and the respective
number of electrode pairs enables propagation of SAW with
piezoelectric fields. For piezoelectric semiconductors, the SAW-induced piezoelectric field leads to a periodic type II modulation
amplitude of less than 1 nm and velocity of a few km/sec.
of the conduction and valence band edges. Electrons and holes can be captured in the minima and maxima of the CB and VB edges. In this way, they can be stored, transported and intentionally forced to recombine at a remote position along the SAW’s path. Moving potential wells are also a good candidate for metrology as they allow for controllable charge pumping in the GHz regime. Recently, there have been some attempts to develop SAW-driven single-photon sources. Acousto-electric transport is mostly limited to III-V semiconductors (particularly GaAs). Group IV semiconductors such as silicon lack piezoelectricity and have a lower carrier mobility. In addition, the IDT operation frequencies usually do not exceed a few GHz due to the lithographical limitations of conventional fabrication methods. We have developed a novel CMOS-compatible approach to generate SAWs at ultrahigh frequencies on a silicon-based multilayer system, which consists of a thin ZnO layer sandwiched between SiO2 layers on a Si wafer (Fig. 1). We have used UV-based nanoimprint lithography (NIL) for the IDT fabrication. Finger electrodes with width and spacing down to 65 nm were realized with very high critical dimension control. SAW frequencies up to 23.5 GHz were reached, the highest ever reported for silicon systems.
Figure 2: Measured (circles) and calculated (squares)
The excited SAW modes were compared with numerical simulations and showed excellent agreement (Fig. 2). The acoustic and
frequencies of SAW modes. R1, R2 and R3 refer to first,
electric field distributions show that the electron and hole mobility in silicon are sufficiently large to realize efficient acousto-
second and third order Rayleigh modes, respectively.
electric transport.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: S. Büyükköse, B. Vratzov, J. van der Veen, P. V. Santos, W. G. van der Wiel, Ultrahigh-Frequency Surface Acoustic Wave Generation for
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Acoustic Charge Transport in Silicon, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 013112 (2013).
[HIGHLIGHTS] The aim of the NanoElectronic Materials (NEM) group is to advance the field of materials science, with a focus on nanomaterials for applications in electronic devices. The research is based on current trends in nanomaterials science and developments within MESA+, such as the controlled growth of materials, control of their structure, and understanding of the structure-property relations. The research is focused on three areas: Artificial Materials, Functional and Smart
Prof. dr. ing. Guus Rijnders
Materials for Devices, as well as In-situ Characterization of Film Growth and
"Recent advances in materials engineering at the
Interface Processes. These areas have in common that they find their basis in
atomic scale facilitated a significant revival in the
materials science, bridging major disciplines within MESA+, i.e., Chemical
field of functional complex oxide materials."
Engineering, Applied Physics, and Nanotechnology.
NanoElectronic Materials New Physical Phenomena in Oxide Multilayers by controlled Interface Engineering Perovskite oxides are well known for their wide range of properties and the possibilities of materials engineering to enhance these properties. Next to strain engineering, recently, research has focused on the engineering of the oxygen octahedra rotation patterns at the interfaces between perovskite thin films. It is shown that the specific oxygen octahedra pattern, which controls the film properties, depends on the strain in the layer and, especially at interfaces, also on the rotation pattern of the substrate. We have found a critical thickness of 10 unit cells below which the conductivity of La 0.67Sr 0.33MnO 3 films disappeared and simultaneously the Curie temperature increased to 560 K, indicating a magnetic insulating phase at room temperature. The
Figure 1: X-ray diffraction reciprocal space maps of the LSMO
canted antiferromagnetic insulating phase in ultra thin films coincides with the occurrence of a higher symmetry structural
thin films with thicknesses of (a) 9, (b) 10, and (c) 20 unit cells.
phase with a different oxygen octahedra rotation pattern. Such a strain engineered phase is an interesting candidate for an insulating tunneling barrier in room temperature spin polarized tunneling devices. Perovskite oxide heteroepitaxy receives much attention because of the possibility to combine the diverse functionalities of perovskite oxide building blocks. A general boundary condition for the epitaxy is the presence of polar discontinuities at heterointerfaces. These polar discontinuities result in reconstructions, often creating new functionalities at the interface. However, for a significant number of materials these reconstructions are unwanted as they alter the intrinsic materials properties at the interface. Therefore, a strategy to eliminate this reconstruction of the polar discontinuity at the interfaces is required. We show that the use of compositional interface engineering can prevent the reconstruction at the La0.67Sr 0.33MnO3/SrTiO3 (LSMO/STO) interface. The polar discontinuity at this interface can be removed by the insertion of a single La0.33Sr 0.67O layer, resulting in improved interface magnetization and electrical conductivity.
Figure 2: Constructed phase diagram showing the thickness dependence of the critical temperatures and the residual conductivity at 10 K of LSMO (110) thin films.
Highlighted publications: [1] G. Koster, et al. Structure, physical properties, and applications of SrRuO3 thin films, Reviews of Modern Physics 84 (2012) 253-298. [2] H. Boschker, et al. High-Temperature Magnetic Insulating Phase in Ultrathin La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 Films, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 (2012) 157207. [3] H. Boschker, et al. Preventing the Re足construction of the Polar Discontinuity at Oxide Heterointerfaces, Advanced Functional Materials 22 (2012) 2235-2240.
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[highlights] Prof. dr. Serge J.G. Lemay
The goals of the group Nanoionics (NI) are to add to fundamental
"The physics of ions in liquid are directly
understanding of electrostatics and electron transfer in liquid,
relevant to a surprisingly wide array of
and to explore new concepts for fluidic devices based on this new
research areas of current scientific and
understanding. Our experimental tools, which are largely dictated
societal interest. These include nanoscience
by the intrinsic nanometer scale of the systems that we study,
(the ‘natural’ length scale for ions), energy
include scanning probes, sensitive electronics, and lithography-
(fuel cells, supercapacitors), neuroscience
based microfabrication. Through its focus on nanoscience and its
(signal transduction, new experimental
multidisciplinary nature, this research is a natural fit for MESA+.
tools), and health and environment monitoring (new and better sensors)."
NanoIonics Measuring the smallest trickle We have developed a method for electrically measuring record-low flow rates of picoliters per minute in nanochannels, corresponding to one 30-microliter drop of water every few years. Our approach is based on a pair of nanogap electrochemical sensors located downstream from each other inside a nanochannel. When liquid is driven through this device, small statistical Figure 1: Silicon chip with lithographically fabricated
fluctuations in the local density of molecules are transported along the channel. We perform time-of-flight measurements of
electrochemical nanogap devices (purple, square
these fluctuations by comparing the current-time traces at the two sensors, from which it is straightforward to extract the fluid
electrical contact pads visible on the right) and microfluidic
velocity. More generally, we envision a broad range of uses for this electrochemical cross-correlation spectroscopy approach:
interconnects (transparent block).
similar to its direct optical analogue, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, it can be used to investigate local concentration, adsorptivity and reaction kinetics in fluidic devices. All-electrical detection without the need for a microscope further facilitates integration in microfluidic lab-on-a-chip systems, where multiple detectors in more complex nanochannel networks can also be realized.
Figure 2: Optical micrograph of a nanoscale flow meter. Visible are two nanogap sensors defined by the top electrodes (thick horizontal yellow lines), leading wires (thin yellow lines) and microchannel interconnects for fluid transport (aquamarine lines).
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: K. Mathwig, D. Mampallil, S. Kang, S. G. Lemay, Electrical Cross-Correlation Spectroscopy: Measuring Picoliter-per-Minute Flows in Nano
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channels, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 (2012) 118302.
[HIGHLIGHTS] Fluid flow on the nanoscale is fundamentally different from fluid flow on the microscale, since another set of forces becomes dominant. In the Nanofluidics for Lab on a Chip Applications group we explore fundamental phenomena
Prof. dr. Jan Eijkel
of nanoscale fluidics and apply them to subjects ranging
"The Nanofluidics for Lab on a Chip Applications
from green energy generation to single-molecule research
group aims to perform innovative fluidic research for
and from innovative separation methods to point of care
biomedical and energy applications."
diagnostics.
Nanofluidics for Lab on a Chip Applications
Figure 1: Schematic of a DNA molecule (in blue) and its surrounding electrical double layer (in red) entering (A) and leaving (B) a nanopore as occurring in nanopore DNA
Extreme nanofluidics: DNA movement through nanopores
sequencing. The diameter of the DNA is about 2 nanometer and the diameter of a typical nanopore about 5 nanometer. We derived that at the front of the entering DNA (A; between planes
One of the hot new methods that is in development for DNA sequencing is nanopore sequencing. For this purpose the DNA is drawn
1 and 2) ion depletion will occur and at the back of the exiting
through a membrane nanopore by the application of an electrical field. The pore has a diameter of just a few nanometers and a
DNA (B; between planes 3 and 4) ion-enrichment will occur.
typical length of a few tens of nanometers. The signal in this method will be the time-varying electrical current through the pore
The ion depletion and enrichment will modify the transpore
or across the pore, which is expected to be slightly different depending on the specific base pairs moving through the pore. This
electrical conductance, which will influence the current
method has the potential to revolutionize DNA sequencing, since just one DNA molecule would be needed and the data could be
finger足print of the DNA base sequence during translocation in a
rapidly obtained, like from an old-fashioned tape recorder. The method however at the same time poses very heavy requirements
manner as schematically shown in figure 2.
on the precision of current measurements and needs an exquisite control of the passage of the DNA through the nanopore. At present the fingerprint during DNA passage is not well understood and may contain a number of unknown contributions. Current overshoots after DNA passage are for example often observed. We decided to study this process on the basis of our experience with DNA electrophoresis in nanochannels. We showed by a theoretical analysis of the ionic transport during such translocation events, that concentration polarization will occur at the start and end of the DNA passage. Figure 1A and 1B illustrate this process. Ions are sucked away in the front of the entering DNA and enriched at the tail of the exiting DNA. Both processes will induce strong variations in local conductivity which will then affect the current signature during DNA passage. The processes thus have to be controlled or to be accounted for in the course of future nanopore sequencing. Recently, the group of Rohit Karnik in MIT has indeed reported current signatures during DNA translocation through nanochannels that show both phases. (Sen and Karnik, Proc. 25th IEEE MEMS, Paris (2012) 812-814). Figure 2: Current fingerprint of a DNA translocation event influenced by the processes shown in figure 1 (schematic). The fingerprint is altered at A and B by the concentration polarization occurring in translocation phases A and B (figure 1).
Highlighted publication: S. Das, P. Dubsky, A. van den Berg, J.C.T. Eijkel, Concentration Polarization in Translocation of DNA through Nanopores and Nanochannels, Phys.Rev.Lett. 108 (2012).
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[highlights] Optical Sciences (OS) is a dynamic and multidisciplinary research group, whose infrastructure and expertise ranges from near-field probing of (single) molecules and materials through nonlinear spectroscopy and imaging to nanostructure fabrication and ultrafast laser spectroscopy. The integration of phase-shaped
Prof. dr. Jennifer L. Herek
femtosecond laser pulses and adaptive learning algorithms within these themes is
“Fundamental research in
materials science. Applications include improving the efficiency of photovoltaic and
spectroscopy and imaging
photocatalytic devices, chemically-selective imaging in biology and pharmacology,
shines light on innovation and
and studying wave propagation and nonlinear phenomena in nanostructured
technology.”
materials.
leading to exciting new research at the interface of chemistry, physics and nano
Optical Sciences Active and passive shaping of the light-matter interaction Two approaches are used in the group: active control via pulse shaping and passive control via strategic manipulation in the periphery of the molecular structure. The objective of both of these control experiments is the same: to enhance the yield of the functional pathway and to minimize loss channels. In [1] the aim of the active control experiments is to increase the intersystem crossing yield in zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc), which is important for application in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Pulse shaping allowed an improvement in triplet to singlet ratio of 15% as compared to a transform-limited pulse. This effect is ascribed to a control mechanism that utilizes multiphoton pathways to higher-lying states from where intersystem crossing is more likely to occur. The passive control experiments are performed on ZnPc derivatives deposited onto TiO2, serving as a model system of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Modification of the anchoring ligand of the molecular structure resulted in an increased rate for electron injection into TiO2 and slower back electron transfer, improving the DSSC efficiency.
Figure: Photophysical principles of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) (A) and an asymmetric push–pull ZnPc photosensitizer with electron transfer directed towards the TiO2 (B).
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HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: D. Sharma, A. Huijser,J. Savolainen, G. Steen, J.L. Herek, Faraday Discuss (2013) DOI: 10.1039/c3fd20156b.
[HIGHLIGHTS] The group Philosophy of Science in Practice (PSP) aims at an integrated and workable account of how techno-scientific research produces technology and scientific knowledge that facilitates critical reflection on methodological issues. Textbooks by scientists usually repeat an inappropriate traditional picture of science that concurs with a
Prof. dr. ir. Mieke Boon
traditional philosophical view of science. A more refined philosophical
"Conceptual articulation enables us to entertain and
understanding is crucial for dealing with methodological difficulties
express previously unthinkable thoughts, and to
that result from increasing scientific fragmentation and technological
understand and talk about previously unarticulated
complexity, and for coping with the societal importance of techno-
aspects of the world." (Joe Rouse, 2011)
scientific research.
Figure 1: Design of the Cathedral of Chartres.
Philosophy of Science in Practice Scientific concepts as epistemic tools Figure 2: Photograph of the Cathedral of Chartres.
Nanotechnology and other techno-sciences aim at producing phenomena (materials, properties and processes) for specific technological functions. In a traditional view, science aims at explaining phenomena that exist in Nature. But how is it possible
How do scientific concepts relate to the world? Should we
to generate knowledge for technologically changing, controlling or even creating phenomena that do not exist as yet? This raises
firstly see them as true descriptions of ‘real hidden entities’, or
the question of how knowledge is related to the world. In a commonly accepted view, knowledge describes ‘matters of fact’ – it
rather, as descriptions (called ‘epistemic tools’) constructed
presents true descriptions or adequate pictures of how the world is. Yet, how we attain descriptions of the unobservable world
for epistemic uses? Is this relationship between concept and
is a controversial epistemological issue. ‘Believers in science’ assume that this is just a matter of successful conjecturing what
real world, metaphorically speaking, a relationship between a
‘the world behind the observable phenomena’ is like. One of the key-ideas of the alternative view presented here is that scientific
photograph and the real world, or rather, between a design and
explanations of phenomena are constructed in light of epistemic purposes - as epistemic tools for reasoning about the world.
the real world? The design for a cathedral is not a drawing or
Furthermore, the construction of scientific knowledge is constrained and enabled by both empirical and theoretical knowledge, as
photo of an already existing building. Instead, it is an ‘epistemic
well as technological devices and measurement instruments, and mathematical tools. As an alternative to the metaphor in which
tool’ constructed for epistemic uses (e.g., making calculations,
scientists discover the world behind the phenomena, the construction of scientific concepts such as ‘oxygen’, ‘temperature’ and
thinking of how to build it, planning the building-process,
‘electro-magnetic field could be understood metaphorically as a design process, which aims at fitting-together ideas, knowledge
etc.). Ideas, measurements, knowledge of materials and of
of technologies and materials, etc. Scientific concepts resulting from this process are epistemic tools which allow for epistemic
technologies for making a building enable and constrain the
activities such as creatively thinking up empirically testable hypotheses. Techno-scientific practices could advance from paying
designing. Similarly, scientific concepts of new technological
attention to how scientific concepts were constructed, instead of presenting them as if they are descriptions of ‘unobservable
phenomena (e.g. artificial photo-synthesis) are not determined
objects’ independent of technological instruments used to produce or investigate them.
(as in a photo) by how the world is. Their construction is enabled and constrained by relevant ideas, empirical data, theories, experimental instruments and measurement procedures, etc. Then, the scientific concept is used as an epistemic tool for technologically producing the phenomenon.
Highlighted publication: M. Boon, Scientific concepts in the engineering sciences: Epistemic Tools for Creating and Intervening with Phenomena. In: Scientific Concepts and Investigative Practice U. Feest and F. Steinle (eds.). Berlin, New York: Walter De Gruyter GMBH & CO. KG, Series: Berlin Studies in Knowledge Research (2012) 219-243.
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[highlights] Manipulating fluids and interfaces from the nano- to the microscale The goal of the Physics of Complex Fluids (PCF) group is to understand and control
Prof. dr. Frieder Mugele
the physical properties of liquids and solid-liquid interfaces from molecular scales
“Nanoscience and -technology are
up to the micrometer meter range. We are particularly interested in i) (electro)
characterized by large surface-to-volume
wetting & microfluidics, ii) nanoscale properties of confined fluids, and iii) soft matter
ratios. At PCF, we develop strategies to
mechanics. Our research connects fundamental physical and physico-chemical
understand and manipulate complex fluid
phenomena in interface science, nanofluidics, microfluidic two-phase flow, static and
flows on the micro- and nanometer scale
dynamic wetting, superhydrophobicity, drop impact, drop evaporation to practically
using various controls of wetting behavior
relevant applications including inkjet printing, immersion lithography, lab-on-a-chip
including in particular electrowetting.”
systems, optofluidics, as well as advanced methods of enhanced oil recovery.
Physics of Complex Fluids Figure 1: In-plane atomic structure of liquid films confined between solid surfaces at distances of 1.0, 1.1, 1.5 and 2.0nm as seen in Molecular Dynamics simulations. The equilibrium structure reveals transitions between ordered and
High resolution atomic force spectroscopy and molecular simulations reveal origins of confinement-induced excess dissipation on the nanoscale
disordered arrangements depending on packing constraints. The top insets show the mean square displacements of the
On macroscopic scales the relevant material properties characterizing a liquid are its density and its viscosity. If confined between
diffusing molecules in plane (blue) and normal to the layers
solid surfaces at a distance of a few nanometers, however, a simple description based on continuum fluid dynamics is no longer
(red) showing alternating ‘stuck’ (b and d) and ‘diffusive’ (a
appropriate and molecular properties of the liquid start to matter. Geometric packing constraints induce a layered average arrangement
and c) behavior.
of the molecules and simultaneously hinder diffusion and site exchange of the molecules. The fluid becomes structured – and more ‘viscous’. To elucidate the properties of such ultra-confined liquids we have been performing high resolution Atomic Force Microscopy for several years. Recently, we developed a new technique that allows for extracting conservative and dissipative forces from the fluctuation spectrum of thermally driven AFM cantilevers in the vicinity of solid surfaces. With this ‘excitation-free’ method we impose minimal perturbations on the system and managed to improve the resolution of conventional driven AFM dissipation measurements by more than one order of magnitude revealing confinement-induced excess dissipation with unprecedented resolution. The results are consistent with Molecular Dynamics simulations of the same system carried out in collaboration with the Computational Biophysics group of Prof. Briels. The new AFM spectroscopy method was developed in the context of the FOM program ‘Fundamental Aspects of Friction’ coordinated by Prof. Frenken (Leiden).
Figure 2: Frequency shift (left) and quality factor of oscillating AFM cantilever vs. tip-sample separation extracted from spectral response (blue) and time autocorrelation (red) of force fluctuations. The oscillatory structure reflects the layered arrangement of the molecules.
Highlighted publications: [1] S. de Beer, W.K. den Otter, D. van den Ende, W.J. Briels, F. Mugele, Non-monotonic variation of viscous dissipation in confined liquid films: A reconciliation, EPL 97 (2012) 46001. [2] F. Liu, S. de Beer, D. van den Ende, F. Mugele, Atomic force microscopy of confined liquids using the thermal bending fluctuations
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of the cantilever, Phys. Rev. E 87 (2013) 062406.
[HIGHLIGHTS] Photocatalysis is based on the use of light activated catalysts in chemical conversion. Practical application is limited because of problems in light management, such as mismatch in catalyst
Prof. dr. Guido Mul
sensitivity and solar spectrum, the limited ability of photo-excited states to induce electron transfer
“We strive to be a major player
reactions, and lack of efficient light exposure of catalysts in reactors. Using advanced (infrared)
in the solar to fuel research
spectroscopies, the Photocatalytic Synthesis (PCS) group aim at understanding the role of both
arena, making use of the
the physical and chemical properties of innovative materials in establishing photocatalytic trans
expertise and outstanding
formations. We also study the effect of process conditions and reactor geometry on performance, to
facilities of the MESA+ institute
determine optimized operation conditions. Finally, we evaluate (photo)electrochemical methods for
to construct nanostructured
chemical conversion. Potential fields of application are: 1) conversion of CO2 and H2O to hydrocarbons,
materials and devices.“
2) alkane activation, and 3) purification of waste streams (air and water).
Photocatalytic Synthesis
Figure 1: [a] Scheme of the physical processes occurring in a silicon wafer of relevance to solar to fuel chemistry. The red arrows indicate the phenomena occuring upon excitation
Characterization of optically excited silicon by Attenuated Total Reflection InfraRed spectroscopy
(blue arrow, 1064 nm light) and which are probed by Infrared spectroscopy, i.e. formation of photoexcited electrons and their conversion into phonons by intraband relaxation. [b] schematic illustration of the applied Si wafer in the ATR
Photoexcitation, intraband conversion of photoexcited electrons to phonons, and interband electron relaxation are physical phenomena
accessory and the area illuminated by the 1064 nm laser.
occurring in solar to fuel devices. We succeeded for the first time to probe the first two of these phenomena in silicon by a relatively simple method, i.e. Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) Infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The optical phenomena, as well as the principle of ATR-IR spectroscopy are schematically shown in Fig. 1. The spectra obtained when exciting a silicon wafer with increasing laser light intensity are shown in Fig. 2. Three distinct signals can be observed at 1446 cm-1, 1385 cm-1 and 1296 cm-1, assigned to phonon absorptions. In addition we observe an increasing baseline intensity. This slope of the baseline is the result of the IR absorption of photo-excited electrons. When a transient from illuminated to dark conditions is applied, the slope in baseline disappears instantly, whereas the time dependent disappearance of the phonon absorptions can be spectroscopically resolved. Future studies are aimed at quantifying the observed IR spectral intensities when the silicon surface is in contact with solids and/or reactants. This could potentially provide important information on the probability of charge transfer steps of relevance to solar to fuel devices. Figure 2: ATR-IR absorption spectra as a function intensity of 1064 nm laser light. Three distinct signals can be observed at 1446 cm-1, 1385 cm-1 and 1296 cm-1, assigned to phonon absorptions. In addition we observe an increasing baseline intensity. The slope of the baseline is the result of the IR absorption of photo-excited electrons. The phonon absorption intensity and the slope of the baseline are a function of laser intensity.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: E. Karabudak, E. Yuce, S. Schlautmann, O. Hansen, G. Mul, H. Gardeniers, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 14 (2012) 10882-10885.
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[highlights] The research field of the Physics of Interfaces and Nanomaterials (PIN) group involves controlled preparation and understanding of interfaces, lowdimensional (nano)structures and nano足materials. We focus on systems that (1) rely on state-of-the art applications or (2) can potentially lead to future
Prof. dr. ir. Harold J.W. Zandvliet
applications. Our research interest is driven by the fact that on a nanometer
"The properties of electron systems
A key challenge of our research activities is to obtain control over the properties
become increasingly exotic as one
in such a way that we are able to tailor the properties for (device) applications,
progresses from the three-dimensional
ranging from nano/micro-electronics, nano-electromechanical systems and
case into lower dimensions."
wettability to sustainable energy related issues.
length scale the material properties depend on size, shape and dimensionality.
Physics of Interfaces and Nanomaterials Direct visualization of one-dimensional electronic states The physical realization of two-dimensional electron systems has revealed a cornucopia of novel and intriguing physics. It has been predicted that one-dimensional electron systems should also open a new realm of exotic physical phenomena, driven by the appearance of spin and charge collective modes. Until now, however, the exploration of this realm has barely begun, its promises have not yet been materialized, and the extent of its potential for new physics and devices has remained largely untapped. In a recent Figure 1A: Scanning tunnelling microscopy image (6 nm x 8
Nature Physics article [1] we have shown that one-dimensional electronic states can be mapped out in real space using dual imaging
nm) recorded at 77 K. Sample bias -0.1 V and tunnel current
of topographic (STM) and spectroscopic (dI/dV) information (see Fig. 1).
200 pA. The separation between the nanowires is 1.6 nm.
Direction observation of critical nuclei during crystallization
B: Spatial map of the 1D electronic state (dI/dV) recorded simultaneously with the topography. Red: high intensity, blue:
One of the highlights of the PIN group's experimental work of the year 2012 is the direct observation of critical nuclei during the
low intensity.
crystallization of 4,4'-biphenyldicarboxylic acid (BDA) molecules into two-dimensional (2D) crystals with our low-energy electron microscope (LEEM) [2]. The figure shows how condensed molecular islands (solid arrows) form as coverage the BDA increases (see inset). The energetics of the films is however such that the critical nucleus size is very large and we were able to directly visualize the appearance and disappearance (open arrows) right around the critical nucleus size. Because our LEEM also offers to measure Figure 2: LEEM images taken 40 s apart during the nucleation
the dilute density of molecules around the molecular islands, we were able to visualize and quantify the entire nucleation and growth
phase of a BDA film on Cu(001). Total BDA coverage is
process that normally occurs on atomic length scales.
indicated in the images and the nucleating domains are highlighted with arrows. Because of the large critical nucleus size, the appearance and disappearance of subcritical nuclei is directly visible, as indicated by the red arrows.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] R. Heimbuch, M. Kuzmin, H.J.W. Zandvliet, On the origin of the Au/Ge(001) metallic state, Nature Physics 8 (2012) 697-698. [2] D. Schwarz, R. van Gastel, H.J.W. Zandvliet, B. Poelsema, Size fluctuations of near critical nuclei and Gibbs free energy for nucleation of BDA on Cu(001), Phys. Rev. Lett.
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109 (2012) 016101.
[HIGHLIGHTS] Traditionally, in digital circuitry ever tinier transistors have been designed,
Prof. dr. ir. Hajo Broersma
built and integrated in ever larger quantities. This production method will
"We have entered a new era
different concepts. One alternative is offered and inspired by nature itself.
in which we are not always
Within the chair we explore the theoretical and experimental possibilities
able to build devices by first
of using systems of nanomaterials as a black box for computational tasks
designing them on the drawing
by developing genetic and evolutionary algorithms to control and modify
table. But nature itself has
the external impulses that will be used to (re)configure the computational
offered us a powerful solution
properties of the material.
face its limits very soon, and we have to prepare ourselves by looking at
Figure 1: The logo of the NASCENCE project
concept: evolution."
Programmable NanoSystems NASCENCE In the FP7 project "NASCENCE: Nanoscale Engineering for Novel Computation using Evolution" that started on November 1, 2012, the aim is to model, understand and exploit the behaviour of evolving nanosystems (e.g. networks of nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes or films of graphene) with the long term goal to build information processing devices exploiting these architectures without reproducing individual components. With an interface to a conventional digital computer we will use computer controlled manipulation of physical systems to evolve them towards doing useful computation. See www.nascence.eu for more details on progress. During the project our target is to lay the technological and theoretical foundations for this new kind of information processing
Figure 2: Some samples with thin films of carbon nanotubes
technology, inspired by the success of natural evolution and the advancement of nanotechnology, and the expectation that we soon
produced at Durham.
reach the limits of miniaturisation in digital circuitry (Moore's Law). The mathematical modelling of the configuration of networks of nanoscale particles combined with the embodied realisation of such systems through computer controlled stochastic search can strengthen the theoretical foundations of the field while keeping a strong focus on their potential application in future devices. Members of the consortium have already demonstrated proof of principle by the evolution of liquid crystal computational processors for simple tasks, but these earlier studies have only scraped the surface of what such systems may be capable of achieving. With this project we want to develop alternative approaches for situations or problems that are challenging or impossible to solve with conventional methods and models of computation. Achieving our objectives fully would provide not only a major disruptive technology for the electronics industry but probably the foundations of the next industrial revolution. Overall, we consider that this is to be a highly adventurous, high risk project with an enormous potential impact on society and the quality of life in general. Apart from the Programmable NanoSystems group, other UT groups involved are NanoElectronics, Multiscale Modeling and Simulation, Formal Methods and Tools, and Computer Architectures for Embedded Systems. The other EU consortium
Figure 3: The motherboard designed at Trondheim with the
partners involved in the NASCENCE project are located in Durham, Lugano, Trondheim and York.
interface hardware for evolving the material.
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[highlights] Prof. dr. Detlef Lohse
The Physics of Fluids (PoF) group is studying various flow phenomenona,
“The physics of fluids
numerical techniques and we do both fundamental and applied research. Our
is very different on the
main research areas are:
nano- and micro-scale
n Turbulence and Two-Phase Flow
as compared to the
n Granular Flow
macro-scale and offers
n Biomedical Application of Bubbles
various challenges of both
n Micro- and Nanofluidics
both on a micro- and macro-scale. We use both experimental, theoretical, and
fundamental and applied character.”
Physics of Fluids Two drops become one The coalescence of liquid drops is a fundamental process relevant for the formation of clouds, foams and emulsions. We have investigated coalescence for drops in contact with a substrate, as for example encountered during condensation or inkjet printing. After an initial phase where the drops spread over the surface (Fig. 1), two drops meet and start to merge (Fig. 2). Once coalescence is initiated at a first, singular point of contact, the two drops rapidly merge by the action of surface tension. We have found that the dynamics of the contact region exhibits scale-invariance and is characterized by power-law growth. The growth exponents subtly depend on the properties of the liquid and the wetting properties of the substrate. A theoretical analysis based on similarity solutions very accurately Figure 1: The initial stages of drop spreading revealed by (a)
predicts the coalescence dynamics and reveals how two drops become one.
Molecular Dynamics simulations and (b) high speed imaging.
Figure 2: Coalescence of two drops on a substrate. Experiments and theory reveal the growth dynamics of the bridge connecting the two drops.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] K.G. Winkels, J.H. Weijs, A. Eddi, J.H. Snoeijer, Initial spreading of low-viscosity drops on partially wetting surfaces, Phys. Rev. E. 85 (2012)
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055301(R). [2] J.F. Hernández-Sánchez, L. Lubbers, A. Eddi, J.H. Snoeijer, Symmetric and asymmetric coalescence of drops on a substrate, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 (2012) 184502.
[HIGHLIGHTS] Granular materials, like sand, flour or iron ore, are among the most frequent materials in nature and are the most processed substance in industry, second
Prof. dr. Devaraj van der Meer
only to water. Their often-counterintuitive behavior however is distinctly
"What fascinates me in granular matter
Physics of Granular Matter and Interstitial Fluids (PGMF) group employs a
is that in many aspects it resembles an
combination of experiments, analysis and numerical techniques to attain to
ordinary molecular fluid or solid. And at
a profound understanding of the physics of granular flow. Special attention is
the same time it adds a complete new
given to unraveling the intricate role of the interstitial fluid, the gas or liquid
dimension of unexpected or even mind-
that resides within the pores between the grains. The group is embedded into
boggling phenomena."
the Physics of Fluids group.
different from that of molecular matter and remains far from understood. The
Physics of Granular Matter and Interstitial Fluids Oscillations and stop-go cycles in a cornstarch suspension When an object is dropped into a container with an ordinary (so-called Newtonian) liquid, it slowly decelerates to a terminal velocity and continues until it comes to a full stop at the bottom of the container. This rather dull, continuously decreasing
Figure 1: Cornstarch particles observed through an optical
trajectory in velocity space changes radically when the liquid is replaced by a cornstarch suspension.
(left) and a scanning electron microscope (right).
Cornstarch consists of non-spherical particles that all have roughly the same size (20 μm). When mixed with water it turns into a suspension with remarkable properties: when stirred gently it flows like a liquid, but as soon as one tries to move through it in a more violent manner, it strongly resists, up to the point that it appears to fracture much like a solid material would do. As a result you can hit it with a hammer without splashing and you may even walk on it. That is, as long as you move fast enough: slowing down will inevitably make you sink in. To investigate the origin of this behavior we measure the velocity of a sphere while it settles into a cornstarch suspension and make two surprising observations: First, in the bulk of the liquid the velocity of the sphere oscillates around a terminal value, without damping. Secondly, near the bottom the sphere comes to a full stop, but then accelerates again towards a second stop. This stop-go cycle is repeated several times before the object reaches the bottom. We explain these stop-go cycles using a minimal
Figure 2: Velocity of a sphere of the size of a pingpong ball
model based on the jamming of the cornstarch particles in the suspension: The particles are squeezed in between the sphere and
settling in a cornstarch suspension as a function of time for
the bottom and in this way are able to exert a force exceeding that of gravity by an order of magnitude. This instantly stops the
different values of the volume fraction occupied by the
sphere. Subsequently the particles rearrange and unjam, as a result of which the sphere starts reaccelerating.
cornstarch particles. For larger ø one clearly observes the oscillations around a mean (terminal) velocity in the bulk (I) and the even more pronounced stop-go cycles of acceleration and sudden deceleration near the bottom (II).
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] S. von Kann, J.H. Snoeijer, D. van der Meer, Velocity oscillations and stop-go cycles: The trajectory of an object settling in a cornstarch suspension, Phys. Rev. E 87 (2013) 042301. [2] S. von Kann, J.H. Snoeijer, D. Lohse, D. van der Meer, Nonmonotonic settling of a sphere in a cornstarch suspension, Phys. Rev. E 84 (2011) 060401(R).
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[highlights]
Prof. dr. ir. Alexander Brinkman
The Quantum Transport in Matter group (QTM) is founded in 2011 by the appointment
“It is fascinating to exploit quantum
electronic transport effects of quantum phenomena in materials and electronic
effects such as entanglement
devices. The research in the group builds on recent nanotechnological and thin film
and non-locality in materials and
technological developments within MESA+ and with advanced electronic transport
electronic devices.”
experiments a quantum mechanical dimension is given to the research.
of its chair Prof. dr. ir. Alexander Brinkman. It is the aim of the group to explore the
Figure 1: Electron microscopy image of wo Nb superconducting rings, each interrupted by two topological insulator nano structures. Inset: the spacing between the Nb superconducting electrodes on top of the topological
Quantum Transport in Matter
insulator Bi2Te3 flake is 100 nanometer.
Topological Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices Topological insulators and superconductors are two very special electronic materials. Topological insulators are electrical insulators in the bulk but conduct at the surface. The surfaces conduction has the special property that the spin of the electrons is coupled to the direction in which they move. A superconductor conducts electricity without resistance. After having realized a sandwich Josephson nanostructure of a Bi2Te3 topological insulator in between two Nb superconductors, MESA+ researchers have now made superconducting rings interrupted by two of those topological Josephson junctions, a so-called topological SQUID (see Fig. 1). Even when the ring consists of a trivial superconductor (see Fig. 2), we have calculated that the nontrivial Majorana-type current-phase relation of the topological Josephson junctions can become visible in the magnetic field modulation of the critical current of the SQUID. These topological SQUIDs form an important step towards the detection of Majorana fermions in topological insulators. We hope to explore the feasibility of using Majorana fermions as non-Abelian anyons for topological quantum computation in the near future.
Figure 2: Schematic representation of the considered dc SQUID. The dc SQUID is composed of a superconducting ring interrupted by two Josephson junctions. Charge transport through the Josephson junction is characterized by standard Cooper-pair tunneling [sin()] and single-electron tunneling by virtue of the Majorana fermion [sin(/2)]. The relative contribution of these two processes is determined by the factor .
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] M. Veldhorst, M. Snelder, M. Hoek, T. Gang, V. Guduru, X. Wang, U. Zeitler, W.G. van der Wiel, H. Hilgenkamp, A. Brinkman, Josephson supercurrent through a topological insulator surface state, Nature Materials 11 (2012) 417. [2] M. Veldhorst, C.G. Molenaar, X.L. Wang, H. Hilgenkamp, A. Brinkman, Expe rimental realization of superconducting quantum interference devices with topological insulator junctions, Appl. Phys. Lett. 100 (2012) 072602. [3] M. Veldhorst, C.G.
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Molenaar, C.J.M. Verwijs, H. Hilgenkamp, A. Brinkman, Optimizing the Majorana character of SQUIDs with topologically non-trivial barriers, Phys. Rev. B 86 (2012) 024509.
[HIGHLIGHTS] The group of Semiconductor Components (SC) deals with silicon-based technology and integrated-circuit devices, in other words: the making of a microchip. The Nanolab provides an excellent facility to experiment with new materials and concepts for transistors, diodes and metallization; close cooperation with
Prof. dr. Jurriaan Schmitz
semiconductor industry (e.g. NXP and ASM) paves the way to application. With
"Miniaturization of transistors is
a focus on new materials for integrated circuits, we study a variety of devices,
reaching an end point; we therefore
spanning from steep-subthreshold switches and RF MEMS switches to GaN and
study new ways to improve the transistor
silicon power transistors.
performance for the advancement of integrated electronics."
Figure 1: Cross-section sketch of an LDMOS power transistor.
Semiconductor Components
The indicated voltages refer to so-called off-state stress, a common stress condition in modern applications.
Towards long-lifetime power transistors Solid-state lighting is a booming market. Rapid advances in the light-emitting diode of such light sources are accompanied by advances in the embedded electronics. LED lamps require ac-dc transformation and additional signal manipulation to optimize color, power efficiency and reliability. The long lifetime of the LED, about 30 years, leads to the requirement that the electronic parts last at least equally long. In a study conducted in close collaboration with NXP, we investigated the degradation phenomena of power transistors applied in LED lighting under long-term electrical stress. These power transistors have a unique dedicated design leading to an almost
Figure 2: The electric field distribution in this transistor. More
uniform internal electric field distribution at the most stressing operating condition. However, during electrical stress charges
damage can be expected in regions of high field.
build up in certain positions, thus distorting the electric field distribution, and leading to changing transistor performance. The main physical mechanism responsible for degradation in these transistors under different stress conditions was identified, as well as the location in the transistor where physical and chemical changes take place. A diagnostic technique and an analytical model were subsequently developed to allow the prediction of the transistor’s performance as a function of temperature and time, under given stress conditions. This work allows the prediction of the lifetime of the transistor and the lighting system, as well as a further improvement of the power transistor itself towards longer guaranteed lifetimes.
Figure 3: Electric field distribution after stress. The fields change, leading to changing transistor action.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONs: [1] B.K. Boksteen, S. Dhar, A. Heringa, A. Ferrara, R.J.E. Hueting, G.E.J. Koops, C. Salm, J. Schmitz, On the degradation of field-plate assisted RESURF power devices, IEEE-International Electron Device Meeting (IEDM), Technical Digest (2012) 311-314. [2] B.K. Boksteen, S. Dhar, A. Heringa, G.E.J. Koops and R.J.E. Hueting, Extraction of the Electric Field in Field Plate Assisted RESURF Devices, Proc. International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices and ICSs (ISPSD) (2012) 145-148.
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[highlights] The Soft matter, Fluidics and Interfaces group (SFI) is addressing interfacial phenomena that are relevant for transport processes. Careful interfacial design and fabrication will allow manipulating (multiphase)
Prof. dr. ir. Rob G.H. Lammertink
flow on a (sub)micrometer level. Fabrication of well-defined structures
"Many transport
phenomena. The connection between microfluidics and interfaces is
phenomena are very rich
evident as interfacial phenomena start to dominate at small length
at the microscale, offering
scales. A fundamental understanding at the microscopic length scale
great opportunities to
is required to understand and manipulate transport phenomena.
is a crucial aspect, in order to study the fundamentals of interfacial
exploit them."
Soft matter, Fluidics and Interfaces Contacting on the micron scale Numerous processes involve the contacting of a gas and liquid phase for the purpose of exchanging species. These include the oxygenation of blood, the dehydration of bioethanol, and the carbonation of soft drinks. The interfacial transport is greatly determined by the near interface fluid dynamics. To overcome transport limitations normally the fluid velocity near the interface is increased, obviously at the expense of increased energy input. Alternatively, we have attempted to modify the near surface fluid dynamics by using structured membranes. The structure of these porous membranes is such that they result in superhydrophobic surface properties. A microfluidic device was designed and fabricated that includes a porous, superhydrophobic, membrane. This membrane Figure 1: Microstructured porous membrane for enhanced
functions as an interface stabilizer between gas and liquid, while allowing facile passage of gas. At the same time, the microstructures
interfacial transport.
on the membrane surface effectively incorporating gas micro bubbles that the interface. The presence of these interface bubbles generates partial slip conditions at the gas exchanging interface. The size of the interface bubbles determines the absolute amount of slip that can be obtained at the interface. As the convective transport is enhanced by this partial slip condition, the mass transport increases as well. Combined this results in drag reduction and mass uptake improvement.
Figure 2: Exploded view of the microfluidic device containing a superhydrophobic porous layer.
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HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATION: E. Karatay, R. G. H. Lammertink, Oxygenation by a superhydrophobic slip G/L contactor, Lab on a Chip 12(16) (2012) 2922.
[HIGHLIGHTS] The department Science, Technology and Policy Studies (ST PS) investigates the dynamics and governance of science, technology and innovation from an inter
Prof. dr. Stefan Kuhlmann
disciplinary social science perspective. Our research covers ongoing dynamics,
“For nanotechnologies to move out of
historical developments and future-oriented studies. Studying such dynamics is a
the laboratories, they have to become
goal in itself, but also an important prerequisite for policy recommendations and
embedded into society –in business,
exploring strategic implications for innovation actors. In the area of nanotechnologies,
consumer and policy contexts. We
we investigate current innovation dynamics and develop future scenarios for
follow processes of embedding and
nanotechnologies in various domains, such as food and water (Constructive Technology
anticipate on possible (responsible)
Assessment). We study practices and conditions of responsible innovation, the role of
ways of embedding."
promises and concerns, sectoral implications and collaboration in science.
Science, Technology and Policy Studies Context matters: the domain-specific uptake of nanotechnologies’ promises and concerns While the general promise of nanotechnologies is acknowledged in many application domains, domain-specific features play a key role for the way how nanotechnologies are actually taken up - both in promises and concerns and in innovation strategies responding to them. Promises and concerns around novel technologies affect their development and uptake. Analyzing scientific journals, we compared the promises and concerns and the linkages between both, related to nanotechnologies in food and water (Te Kulve et al. 2013). We observed clear differences. In water, nanotechnologies are essentially portrayed as contributing to sustainable innovation; concerns about health, environmental and safety risks are treated, but rarely linked to the promise-oriented discussion. In contrast, in the food domain concerns about risks are related to the promises, and - in contrast to water - concerns about possible user concerns are a major issue. We suggest that these differences cannot simply be explained by differences in the technologies, but result from domain characteristics, such as prior experiences with emerging technologies, or different user-producer relationships. We conclude that domain-specific discourses may lead to undesirable lock-ins; but lock-in may be mitigated by opening up the discursive repertoires drawing on other domains or technology fields. Furthermore, we have investigated for organic large area electronics and drug delivery how nanotechnologies’ promises are taken up in the strategies of industry actors (Parandian et al. 2012). We found that despite a broad acknowledgement of the general promise of nanotechnologies not much is actually happening, but that actors are rather caught in a waiting game, expecting others to make the first step. This could be attributed to the particular characteristics and dynamics of open-ended ‘umbrella promises’, as well as to particular characteristics of the domains. Possible directions to overcome the waiting game in each domain were identified.
Figure: Domain-specific uptake of nanotechnologies.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] A. Parandian, A. Rip, H. te Kulve, Dual Dynamics of Promises and Waiting Games around Emerging Nanotechnologies, Technology Analysis and Strategic Management 24(6) (2012) 565-582. [2] H. Te Kulve, K. Konrad, C. Alvial Palavicino, B. Walhout, 'Context Matters: Promises and Concerns Regarding Nanotechnologies for Water and Food Applications', NanoEthics: 1-11 (2013).
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[highlights] At the Transducer Science and Technology (TST) group we specialize in 3D nano- and micro fabrication, combining top down lithography based methods with directed- and self-assembly. We invent new
Prof. dr. ir. Gijs Krijnen
fabrication techniques and acquire fundamental understanding of
“The fabrication of complex 3D micro-
the underlying physics. We demonstrate the techniques on various
and nano-systems is a main challenge
devices and develop the science of working principles and design,
for the near future. A combination of
with the aim to ultimately transfer this knowledge to industry. We
photo-lithography based technologies
work on three generations of fabrication technologies -MEMS,
with self-assembly is a potential
nanotechnology and self-assembly- thus covering the range between
solution to this challenge.”
fundamental research and application.
Transducer Science and Technology Figure 1: Fabrication scheme of a nano-wire trapping device.
Fabrication of 3D fluidic components by corner lithography
A) Patterning of silicon nitride mask layer and anisotropic etching of inverted pyramids. B) Conformal deposition of
Corner lithography is an emerging 3D nanofabrication technique which has been developed in the TST group in recent years. It
structural silicon nitride layer. C) Isotropic back etching
basically uses the residues of material that remain in sharp concave corners after conformal deposition and isotropic thinning, either
of the silicon nitride. D) Fusion bonding of a glass tube for
as structural material or as mask material in subsequent steps. We used this technique to fabricate nano-apertures at or near the apex
interfacing. E) SEM photo of the resulting structure, looking
of a pyramidal tip and to create micro pyramids comprising nanowires. Microarrays of these pyramids have been integrated into a
at the filter membrane.
cell-seeding device for entrapment of single cells (Fig. 1). Polystyrene microspheres could be efficiently captured from a suspension of homogeneously shaped spheres. The same procedure was done with a suspension of primary bovine chondrocytes ( in collaboration with the Tissue Regeneration Department), after which their phenotype was studied over 48 h. The electron micrograph (Fig. 2) shows the efficient entrapment of 1 cell per pyramid after 2 h of cell culture. Cells maintain their native round morphology during entrapment, while the onset of protein formation between these confined cells can be observed. These results, as well as the fact that cornerlithography is scalable to much smaller structures, holds potential for future bio-medical applications.
Figure 2. Primary bovine chondrocyte after 2 hours of culturing. Chondrocytes can be seen adhering to the ribs of the pyramid shaped nanowires while maintaining their rounded morphology. The onset of protein formation between the neighboring cells can be observed.
HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS: [1] J.W. Berenschot, N. Burouni, B. Schurink, J.W. van Honschoten, R.G.P. Sanders, R.K. Truckenmüller, H.V. Jansen, M.C. Elwenspoek, A.A. van Apeldoorn, N.R. Tas, 3D Nanofabrication of Fluidic Components by Corner Lithography, Small, 8 (24) (2012) 3823-3831. ISSN 1613-6810. [2] H. Droogendijk, J. Groenesteijn, J. Haneveld, R.G.P. Sanders, R.J. Wiegerink, T.S.J. Lammerink, J.C. Lötters, G.J.M. Krijnen, Parametric excitation of a micro Coriolis mass flow sensor, Applied physics letters, 101 (22) (2012) 223511 ISSN 0003-6951. [3] W.W. Koelmans, T. Peters, J.W. Berenschot, M.J. de Boer, M.H. Siekman, L. Abelmann,
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Cantilever arrays with self-aligned nanotips of uniform height, Nanotechnology, 23 (13) (2012) 135301-135309. ISSN 0957-4484.
MESA+ ANNUAL REPORT 2012
[SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS]
MESA+ Scientific Publications 2012 PHD THESES Agazzi, L. (2012, September 20). Spectroscopic excitation and quenching processes in rare-
Houben, R.J. (2012, September 27). Equipment for printing of high viscosity liquids and
earth-ion-doped Al2O3 and their impact on amplifier and laser performance. University of
molten metals. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. J.F. Dijksman & Prof.dr. D. Lohse.
Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. M. Pollnau & dr. K. Wörhoff. Iqbal, M. (2012, October 18). Synthesis and evaluation of potential ligands for nuclear waste Akça, B.I. (2012, December 5). Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography on a silicon
processing. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. J. Huskens & Dr. W. Verboom.
chip. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. M. Pollnau, Dr.ir. R.M. de Ridder & Dr. K. Wörhoff.
Ismail, N. (2012, February 08). Integrated Raman spectrometers for applications in health and medicine. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. M. Pollnau, Prof.dr. A. Driessen
Arayanarakool, R. (2012, October 18). Toward Single Enzyme Analysis in a Droplet-based
& Dr.ir. R.M. de Ridder.
Micro and Nanofluidic Systems. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. A. van den Berg & Prof. dr. J.C.T. Eijkel.
Jin, M. (2012, January 19). High Density Periodic Metal Nanopyramids for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. A. van den Berg & Dr.
Bernhardi, E.H. (2012, November 22). Bragg-grating-based rare-earth-ion-doped channel
E.T. Carlen.
waveguide lasers and their applications. University of Twente. Prom.: Prof.dr. M. Pollnau. Kann, S. von (2012, December 21). Dense suspensions: force response and jamming. University Beukers, J.N. (2012, May 10). Spectroscopy and transport on europium based ferromagnetic in
of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. R.M. van der Meer, Prof.dr. D. Lohse & Dr. J.H. Snoeijer.
sulators. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. A. Brinkman & Prof.dr.ir. H. Hilgenkamp. Khokhar, F.S. (2012, January 11). Organic molecular films on metal and graphene surfaces Chan, T.T.S. (2012, August 30). Dynamical wetting transitions: liquid film deposition and air
studied with LEEM. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. B. Poelsema, Dr. R. van
entrainment. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. D. Lohse & Dr. J.H. Snoeijer.
Gastel & Dr. G. Hlawacek.
Denis, T. (2012, December 14). Theory and design of microwave photonic free-electron lasers.
Kleibeuker, J.E. (2012, March 23). Reconstructions at complex oxide interfaces. University of
University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. K.J. Boller & Dr. P.J.M. van der Slot.
Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ing. A.J.H.M. Rijnders, Prof.dr.ing. D.H.A. Blank & Dr.ir. G. Koster.
Dimov, N.G. (2012, April 27). Biomicrofluidic Chemoemitter Systems: Towards Pheromone
Kutnyanszky, E. (2012, December 20). Addressable Macromolecular Architectures: Towards
Communication. University of Twente. Prom.: Prof.dr. J.G.E. Gardeniers.
stimuli promoted motion at the nanoscale. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. G.J. Vancso & Dr. M.A. Hempenius.
Fernandez Rivas, D. (2012, October 26). Taming acoustic cavitation. University of Twente. Prom.: Prof.dr. J.G.E. Gardeniers.
Lopez-Penha, D.J. (2012, September 27). Simulating microtransport in realistic porous media. University of Twente. Prom.: Prof.dr.ir. B.J. Geurts.
Galindo Millan, J.J. (2012, November 02). Metal complex-based templates and nanostructures
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for magnetic resonance/optical multimodal imaging agents. University of Twente. Prom./
Louis, E. (2012, November 23). Physics and technology development of multilayer EUV
coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. D.N. Reinhoudt, Prof.dr. J.J.L.M. Cornelissen & Dr. A.H. Velders.
reflective optics. University of Twente. Prom.: Prof.dr. F. Bijkerk.
Hoang, Thi Hanh (2012, January 25). Machining technologies for silicon-based nanochannels
Lucivero, F. (2012, July 19). Too good to be true? Appraising expectations for ethical technology
and some properties of aqueous solutions confined in these channels. University of Twente.
assessment. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. P.A.E. Brey, Prof.dr. T.E. Swierstra
Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. M.C. Elwenspoek & Dr.ir. N.R. Tas.
& Dr. M. Boenink.
[SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS] Luiten-Olieman, M.W.J. (2012, March 09). Inorganic porous hollow fiber membranes: with
Steenwelle, R.J.A. (2012, May 11). Strain and composition effects in epitaxial PZT thin films.
tunable small radial dimensions. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. A. Nijmeijer
University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ing. A.J.H.M. Rijnders, Prof.dr.ing. D.H.A. Blank
& Dr.ir. N.E. Benes.
& Dr.ir. G. Koster.
Mikhal, Y.O. (2012, October 19). Modeling and simulation of flow in cerebral aneurysms.
Stodolny, M.K. (2012, May 16). Cr-tolerance of the IT-SOFC La(Ni,Fe)O3 material. UT
University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. B.J. Geurts & Prof.dr.ir. C.H. Slump.
University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ing. D.H.A. Blank, Dr. B.A. Boukamp & Dr. F.P.F. van Berkel.
Moonen, P. (2012, July 04). Alternative lithography strategies for flexible electronics. University of Twente. Prom.: Prof.dr.ir. J. Huskens.
Sui, X. (2012, June 29). "Chameleon" Macromolecules: Synthesis, Structures and Applications of Stimulus Responsive Polymers. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. G.J. Vancso
Nazeer, H. (2012, April 20). Thin films on cantilevers. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.:
& Dr. M.A. Hempenius.
Prof.dr.ir. G.J.M. Krijnen, Prof.dr. M.C. Elwenspoek & Dr.ir. L. Abelmann. Sweers, K.K.M. (2012, May 16). Nanoscale Structural and Mechanical Properties of AlphaParadis, G.G. (2012, May 11). Novel concepts for microporous hybrid silica membranes -
Synuclein Amyloid Fibrils. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. V. Subramaniam &
Functionalization & pore size tuning. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. A.
Dr.ir. M.L. Bennink.
Nijmeijer & R. Kreiter. Ungureanu, F. (2012, September 06). Sensing with colors. University of Twente. Prom./ Peters, I.R. (2012, June 29). Free surface flow focusing. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.:
coprom.: Prof.dr. V. Subramaniam & Dr. R.P.H. Kooyman.
Prof.dr. D. Lohse & Prof.dr. R.M. van der Meer. Valsson, O. (2012, September 07). Understanding visual absorption from first principles. Pham, Van So (2012, June 1). Integrated optical sensors utilizing slow-light propagation in
University of Twente. Prom.: Prof.dr. C. Filippi.
grated-waveguide cavities. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. M. Pollnau & Dr. H.J.W.M. Hoekstra.
Veldhorst, M. (2012, September 19). Superconducting and topological hybrids, reducing degrees of freedom towards the limit. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. A.
Raza, M.A. (2012, February 24). Colloidal routes to functional substrates: from selective
Brinkman & Prof.dr.ir. J.W.M. Hilgenkamp.
metallization to superhydrophobicity. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. B. Poelsema & Dr. E.S. Kooij.
Verdoold, R. (2012, September 05). Scattering gold nanoparticles: strategies for ultra sensitive DNA detection. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. V. Subramaniam &
Rhijn, A.C.W. van (2012, July 20). Tailoring pulses for coherent raman microscopy. University
Dr. R.P.H. Kooyman.
of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. J.L. Herek & Dr.ir. H.L. Offerhaus. Wimbush, K.S. (2012, November 29). Supramolecular tunneling junctions. University of Sanli, C. (2012, July 06). Floaters on Faraday waves: clustering and heterogeneous flow.
Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. D.N. Reinhoudt, Dr. A.H. Velders & Drs. C.A. Nijhuis.
University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. D. Lohse & Prof.dr. R.M. van der Meer. Yazdchi, K. (2012, November 28). Micro-macro relations for flow through fibrous media. Santos de Oliveira, I.S. (2012, December 07). Simulations of flow induced ordering in viscoelastic
University of Twente. Prom.: Prof.dr. S. Luding.
fluids. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr. W.J. Briels & Dr.ir. W.K. den Otter. Yoo, C.-Y. (2012, September 12). Phase stability and oxygen transport properties of mixed Schwarz, D. (2012, November 21). Visualization of nucleation and growth of supramolecular
ionic-electronic conducting oxides. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. A.
networks on Cu(001) and Au(111). University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. B. Poelsema
Nijmeijer & Dr. H.J.M. Bouwmeester.
& Dr. R. van Gastel. Zhang, W. (2012, May 25). Synchrotron radiation studies of magnetic materials and devices. Song, C. (2012, October 17). Oxygen surface exchange and oxidative dehydrogenation on oxide ion
University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. W. van der Wiel, Prof. Y. Xu & Dr.ir. M.P. de
conductors. University of Twente. Prom./coprom.: Prof.dr.ir. A. Nijmeijer & Dr. H.J.M. Bouwmeester.
Jong.
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[SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS] ACADEMIC JOURNAL REFEREED (RANKED BY IMPACT FACTOR › 6)
E.M. Benetti, V. Causin and M. Maggini, Conjugated Polymers in Cages: Templating Poly(3-hexyl thiophene) Nanocrystals by Inert Gel Matrices, Advanced Materials 24 (41), 5636-5641 (2012).
F. Pitsch, F.F. Krull, F. Agel, P. Schulz, P. Wasserscheid, T. Melin and M. Wessling, An Adaptive G. Koster, L. Klein, W. Siemons, G. Rijnders, J.S. Dodge, C.B. Eom, D.H.A. Blank and M.R. Beasley,
Self-Healing Ionic Liquid Nanocomposite Membrane for Olefin-Paraffin Separations, Advanced
Structure, physical properties, and applications of SrRuO3 thin films, Reviews Of Modern Physics
Materials 24 (31), 4306 (2012).
84 (1), 253-298 (2012). D. Geskus, S. Aravazhi, S.M. Garcia-Blanco and M. Pollnau, Giant Optical Gain in a Rare-EarthJ. Bertolotti, E.G. van Putten, C. Blum, A. Lagendijk, W.L. Vos and A.P. Mosk, Non-invasive imaging
Ion-Doped Microstructure, Advanced Materials 24 (10), OP19-OP22 (2012).
through opaque scattering layers, Nature 491 (7423), 232-234 (2012). Q. An, J. Brinkmann, J. Huskens, S. Krabbenborg, J. de Boer and P. Jonkheijm, A Supramolecular M. Veldhorst, M. Snelder, M. Hoek, T. Gang, V.K. Guduru, X.L. Wang, U. Zeitler, W.G. van der Wiel,
System for the Electrochemically Controlled Release of Cells, Angewandte Chemie-international
A.A. Golubov, H. Hilgenkamp and A. Brinkman, Josephson supercurrent through a topological
Edition 51 (49), 12233-12237 (2012).
insulator surface state, Nature Materials 11 (5), 417-421 (2012). N. Zijlstra, C. Blum, I.M.J. Segers-Nolten, M.M.A.E. Claessens and V. Subramaniam, Molecular F. Mugele, Wetting Unobtrusive graphene coatings, Nature Materials 11 (3), 182-183 (2012).
Composition of Sub-stoichiometrically Labeled a-Synuclein Oligomers Determined by SingleMolecule Photobleaching, Angewandte Chemie-international Edition 51 (35), 8821-8824 (2012).
A.P. Mosk, A. Lagendijk, G. Lerosey and M. Fink, Controlling waves in space and time for imaging and focusing in complex media, Nature Photonics 6 (5), 283-292 (2012).
H. Hattab, A.T. N'Diaye, D. Wall, C. Klein, G. Jnawali, J. Coraux, C. Busse, R. van Gastel, B. Poelsema, T. Michely, F.J.M.Z. Heringdorf and M. Horn-von Hoegen, Interplay of Wrinkles, Strain,
T. Gang, M.D. Yilmaz, D. Atac, S.K. Bose, E. Strambini, A.H. Velders, M.P. de Jong, J. Huskens and
and Lattice Parameter in Graphene on Iridium, Nano Letters 12 (2), 678-682 (2012).
W.G. van der Wiel, Tunable doping of a metal with molecular spins, Nature Nanotechnology 7 (4), 232-236 (2012).
B. Gjonaj, J. Aulbach, P.M. Johnson, A.P. Mosk, L. Kuipers and A. Lagendijk, Optical Control of Plasmonic Bloch Modes on Periodic Nanostructures, Nano Letters 12 (2), 546-550 (2012).
J.J.L.M. Cornelissen, Chemical virology Packing polymers in protein cages, Nature Chemistry 4 (10), 775-777 (2012).
Y. Ma, R.J.M. Nolte and J.J.L.M. Cornelissen, Virus-based nanocarriers for drug delivery, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 64 (9), 811-825 (2012).
N. Balke, B. Winchester, W. Ren, Y.H. Chu, A.N. Morozovska, E.A. Eliseev, M. Huijben, R.K. Vasudevan, P. Maksymovych, J. Britson, S. Jesse, I. Kornev, R. Ramesh, L. Bellaiche, L.Q. Chen
P.S. Singh, E. Kaetelhoen, K. Mathwig, B. Wolfrum and S.G. Lemay, Stochasticity in Single-
and S.V. Kalinin, Enhanced electric conductivity at ferroelectric vortex cores in BiFeO3, Nature
Molecule Nanoelectrochemistry: Origins, Consequences, and Solutions, Acs Nano 6 (11), 9662-
Physics 8 (1), 81-88 (2012).
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R. Heimbuch, M. Kuzmin and H.J.W. Zandvliet, Origin of the Au/Ge(001) metallic state, Nature
R. Kozhummal, Y. Yang, F. Gueder, A. Hartel, X. Lu, U.M. Kuecuekbayrak, A. Mateo-Alonso, M.
Physics 8 (10), 697-698 (2012).
Elwenspoek and M. Zacharias, Homoepitaxial Branching: An Unusual Polymorph of Zinc Oxide Derived from Seeded Solution Growth, Acs Nano 6 (8), 7133-7141 (2012).
F. Yan, A. Ding, M. Girones, R.G.H. Lammertink, M. Wessling, L. Boerger, K. Vilsmeier and W.A.
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Goedel, Hierarchically Structured Assembly of Polymer Microsieves, made by a Combination
K.K.M. Sweers, K.O. van der Werf, M.L. Bennink and V. Subramaniam, Atomic Force Microscopy
of Phase Separation Micromolding and Float-Casting, Advanced Materials 24 (12), 1551-1557
under Controlled Conditions Reveals Structure of C-Terminal Region of alpha-Synuclein in
(2012).
Amyloid Fibrils, Acs Nano 6 (7), 5952-5960 (2012).
P.F. Moonen, I. Yakimets and J. Huskens, Fabrication of Transistors on Flexible Substrates: from
H. Boschker, J. Verbeeck, R. Egoavil, S. Bals, G. van Tendeloo, M. Huijben, E.P. Houwman, G.
Mass-Printing to High-Resolution Alternative Lithography Strategies, Advanced Materials 24 (41),
Koster, D.H.A. Blank and G. Rijnders, Preventing the Reconstruction of the Polar Discontinuity
5526-5541 (2012).
at Oxide Heterointerfaces, Advanced Functional Materials 22 (11), 2235-2240 (2012).
[SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS] T.L.A. Tran, T.Q. Le, J.G.M. Sanderink, W.G. van der Wiel and M.P. de Jong, The Multistep
H.V. Unadkat, M. Hulsman, K. Cornelissen, B.J. Papenburg, R.K. Truckenmuller, A.E. Carpenter,
Tunneling Analogue of Conductivity Mismatch in Organic Spin Valves, Advanced Functional
M. Wessling, G.F. Post, M. Uetz, M.J.T. Reinders, D. Stamatialis, C.A. van Blitterswijk and J. de
Materials 22 (6), 1180-1189 (2012).
Boer, An algorithm-based topographical biomaterials library to instruct cell fate (vol 108, pg 16565, 2011), Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of
J.M. van den Broek, L.A. Woldering, R.W. Tjerkstra, F.B. Segerink, I.D. Setija and W.L. Vos,
America 109 (15), 5905-5905 (2012).
Inverse-Woodpile Photonic Band Gap Crystals with a Cubic Diamond-like Structure Made from Single-Crystalline Silicon, Advanced Functional Materials 22 (1), 25-31 (2012).
A. Gonzalez-Campo, B. Eker, H.J.G.E. Gardeniers, J. Huskens and P. Jonkheijm, A Supramolecular Approach to Enzyme Immobilization in Micro-Channels, Small 8 (22), 3531-3537 (2012).
G. Torricelli, P.J. van Zwol, O. Shpak, G. Palasantzas, V.B. Svetovoy, C. Binns, B.J. Kooi, P. Jost and M. Wuttig, Casimir Force Contrast Between Amorphous and Crystalline Phases of AIST,
E.J.W. Berenschot, N. Burouni, B. Schurink, J.W. van Honschoten, R.G.P. Sanders, R. Truckenmuller,
Advanced Functional Materials 22 (17), 3729-3736 (2012).
H.V. Jansen, M.C. Elwenspoek, A.A. van Apeldoorn and N.R. Tas, 3D Nanofabrication of Fluidic Components by Corner Lithography, Small 8 (24), 3823-3831 (2012).
L. Yang, A. Gomez-Casado, J.F. Young, H.D. Nguyen, J. Cabanas-Danes, J. Huskens, L. Brunsveld and P. Jonkheijm, Reversible and Oriented Immobilization of Ferrocene-Modified Proteins,
Q. An, C. Dong, W. Zhu, C.a. Tao, H. Yang, Y. Wang and G. Li, Cucurbit[8]uril as Building Block for
Journal Of The American Chemical Society 134 (46), 19199-19206 (2012).
Facile Fabrication of Well-Defined Organic Crystalline Nano-objects with Multiple Morphologies and Compositions, Small 8 (4), 562-568 (2012).
X. Sui, M.A. Hempenius and G.J. Vancso, Redox-Active Cross-Linkable Poly(ionic liquid)s, Journal Of The American Chemical Society 134 (9), 4023-4025 (2012).
A. Kumar, R. Heimbuch, K.S. Wimbush, H. Atesci, A. Acun, D.N. Reinhoudt, A.H. Velders and H.J.W. Zandvliet, Electron-Induced Dynamics of Heptathioether beta-Cyclodextrin Molecules,
M.B. van Eldijk, J.C..Y. Wang, I.J. Minten, C. Li, A. Zlotnick, R.J.M. Nolte, J.J.L.M. Cornelissen and
Small 8 (2), 317-322 (2012).
J.C.M. van Hest, Designing Two Self-Assembly Mechanisms into One Viral Capsid Protein, Journal Of The American Chemical Society 134 (45), 18506-18509 (2012).
C. Grivas and M. Pollnau, Organic solid-state integrated amplifiers and lasers, Laser & Photonics Reviews 6 (4), 419-462 (2012).
M. Valefi, M. de Rooij, D.J. Schipper and L. Winnubst, Effect of temperature on friction and wear behaviour of CuO-zirconia composites, Journal Of The European Ceramic Society 32 (10), 2235-
A. Marchand, S. Das, J.H. Snoeijer and B. Andreotti, Capillary Pressure and Contact Line Force
2242 (2012).
on a Soft Solid, Physical Review Letters 108 (9), (2012).
R. Mikkenie, O. Steigelmann, W.A. Groen and J.E. ten Elshof, A quick method to determine the
G. Ahlers, E. Bodenschatz, D. Funfschilling, S. Grossmann, X. He, D. Lohse, R.J.A.M. Stevens
capacitance characteristics of thin layer X5R multilayer capacitors, Journal Of The European
and R. Verzicco, Logarithmic Temperature Profiles in Turbulent Rayleigh-Benard Convection,
Ceramic Society 32 (1), 167-173 (2012).
Physical Review Letters 109 (11), (2012).
N.C. Rivron, E.J. Vrij, J. Rouwkema, S. Le Gac, A. van den Berg, R.K. Truckenmuller and C.A.
T. Tran, H.J.J. Staat, A. Prosperetti, C. Sun and D. Lohse, Drop Impact on Superheated Surfaces,
van Blitterswijk, Tissue deformation spatially modulates VEGF signaling and angiogenesis,
Physical Review Letters 108 (3), (2012).
Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 109 (18), 6886-6891 (2012).
S.G. Huisman, D.P.M. van Gils, S. Grossmann, C. Sun and D. Lohse, Ultimate Turbulent TaylorCouette Flow, Physical Review Letters 108 (2), (2012).
A.G. Marin, H. Gelderblom, A. Susarrey-Arce, A. van Houselt, L. Lefferts, J.G.E. Gardeniers, D. Lohse and J.H. Snoeijer, Building microscopic soccer balls with evaporating colloidal fakir
J. de Ruiter, J.M. Oh, D. van den Ende and F. Mugele, Dynamics of Collapse of Air Films in Drop
drops, Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 109
Impact, Physical Review Letters 108 (7), (2012).
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[SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS] S. Karpitschka, E. Dietrich, J.R.T. Seddon, H.J.W. Zandvliet, D. Lohse and H. Riegler, Nonintrusive
J.F. Hernandez-Sanchez, L.A. Lubbers, A. Eddi and J.H. Snoeijer, Symmetric and Asymmetric
Optical Visualization of Surface Nanobubbles, Physical Review Letters 109 (6), (2012).
Coalescence of Drops on a Substrate, Physical Review Letters 109 (18), (2012).
M. Burresi, V. Radhalakshmi, R. Savo, J. Bertolotti, K. Vynck and D.S. Wiersma, Weak Localization
N.M. Chtchelkatchev, A.A. Golubov, T.I. Baturina and V.M. Vinokur, Stimulation of the
of Light in Superdiffusive Random Systems, Physical Review Letters 108 (11), (2012).
Fluctuation Superconductivity by PT Symmetry, Physical Review Letters 109 (15), (2012).
J.H. Weijs, J.H. Snoeijer and D. Lohse, Formation of Surface Nanobubbles and the Universality of
K. Mathwig, D. Mampallil, S. Kang and S.G. Lemay, Electrical Cross-Correlation Spectroscopy:
Their Contact Angles: A Molecular Dynamics Approach, Physical Review Letters 108 (10), (2012).
Measuring Picoliter-per-Minute Flows in Nanochannels, Physical Review Letters 109 (11), (2012).
H. Boschker, J. Kautz, E.P. Houwman, W. Siemons, D.H.A. Blank, M. Huijben, G. Koster,
S.R. Huisman, R.V. Nair, A. Hartsuiker, L.A. Woldering, A.P. Mosk and W.L. Vos, Observation of
A. Vailionis and G. Rijnders, High-Temperature Magnetic Insulating Phase in Ultrathin
Sub-Bragg Diffraction of Waves in Crystals, Physical Review Letters 108 (8), (2012).
La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 Films, Physical Review Letters 109 (15), (2012). O.D. Perez, C.R. Logg, K. Hiraoka, O. Diago, R. Burnett, A. Inagaki, D. Jolson, K. Amundson, T. D. Schwarz, R. van Gastel, H.J.W. Zandvliet and B. Poelsema, Size Fluctuations of Near Critical
Buckley, D. Lohse, A. Lin, C. Burrascano, C. Ibanez, N. Kasahara, H.E. Gruber and D.J. Jolly,
Nuclei and Gibbs Free Energy for Nucleation of BDA on Cu(001), Physical Review Letters 109
Design and Selection of Toca 511 for Clinical Use: Modified Retroviral Replicating Vector With
(1), (2012).
Improved Stability and Gene Expression, Molecular Therapy 20 (9), 1689-1698 (2012).
A. Marchand, T.S. Chan, J.H. Snoeijer and B. Andreotti, Air Entrainment by Contact Lines of a
E. Lamers, X.F. Walboomers, M. Domanski, L. Prodanov, J. Melis, R. Luttge, L. Winnubst,
Solid Plate Plunged into a Viscous Fluid, Physical Review Letters 108 (20), (2012).
J.M. Anderson, H.J.G.E. Gardeniers and J.A. Jansen, In vitro and in vivo evaluation of the inflammatory response to nanoscale grooved substrates, Nanomedicine-nanotechnology
S. Das, P. Dubsky, A. van den Berg and J.C.T. Eijkel, Concentration Polarization in Translocation
Biology And Medicine 8 (3), 308-317 (2012).
of DNA through Nanopores and Nanochannels, Physical Review Letters 108 (13), (2012). F.C.J. van de Watering, J.J.J.P. van den Beucken, S.P. van der Woning, A. Briest, A. Eek, H. T.R.J. Bollmann, R. van Gastel, H.J.W. Zandvliet and B. Poelsema, Quantum Size Effect Driven
Qureshi, L. Winnubst, O.C. Boerman and J.A. Jansen, Non-glycosylated BMP-2 can induce
Structure Modifications of Bi Films on Ni(111) (vol 107, 176102, 2011), Physical Review Letters
ectopic bone formation at lower concentrations compared to glycosylated BMP-2, Journal Of
109 (26), (2012).
Controlled Release 159 (1), 69-77 (2012).
W. Bouwhuis, R.C.A. van der Veen, T. Tuan, D.L. Keij, K.G. Winkels, I.R. Peters, D. van der Meer,
H.L. Offerhaus, Noise-free spectroscopy cleans up images, Trac-trends In Analytical
C. Sun, J.H. Snoeijer and D. Lohse, Maximal Air Bubble Entrainment at Liquid-Drop Impact,
Chemistry 32, (2012).
Physical Review Letters 109 (26), (2012). S.D. Reilly, A.J. Gaunt, B.L. Scott, G. Modolo, M. Iqbal, W. Verboom and M.J. Sarsfield,
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Z. Yuan, Y. Liu, A.A. Starikov, P.J. Kelly and A. Brataas, Spin-Orbit-Coupling-Induced Domain-
Plutonium(IV) complexation by diglycolamide ligands-coordination chemistry insight into
Wall Resistance in Diffusive Ferromagnets, Physical Review Letters 109 (26), (2012).
TODGA-based actinide separations, Chemical Communications 48 (78), 9732-9734 (2012).
A. Marchand, S. Das, J.H. Snoeijer and B. Andreotti, Contact Angles on a Soft Solid: From
M. Brasch and J.J.L.M. Cornelissen, Relative size selection of a conjugated polyelectrolyte in
Young's Law to Neumann's Law, Physical Review Letters 109 (23), (2012).
virus-like protein structures, Chemical Communications 48 (10), 1446-1448 (2012).
C. Blum, N. Zijlstra, A. Lagendijk, M. Wubs, A.P. Mosk, V. Subramaniam and W.L. Vos,
D.F. Rivas, P. Cintas and H.J.G.E. Gardeniers, Merging microfluidics and sonochemistry:
Nanophotonic Control of the Forster Resonance Energy Transfer Efficiency, Physical Review
towards greener and more efficient micro-sono-reactors, Chemical Communications 48 (89),
Letters 109 (20), (2012).
10935-10947 (2012).
R. van Gastel, D. Kaminski, E. Vlieg and B. Poelsema, Phase Transition Driven Discontinuity in
O. Valsson and C. Filippi, Gas-Phase Retinal Spectroscopy: Temperature Effects Are But a
Thermodynamic Size Selection, Physical Review Letters 109 (19), (2012).
Mirage, Journal Of Physical Chemistry Letters 3 (7), 908-912 (2012).
[SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS] D.J.M. de Vlieger, B.L. Mojet, L. Lefferts and K. Seshan, Aqueous Phase Reforming of ethylene
patents
glycol - Role of intermediates in catalyst performance, Journal Of Catalysis 292, 239-245 (2012). R.A. Brookhuis, T.S.J Lammerink, R.J. Wiegerink, “Six-axis force-torque sensor”, US N. Katsonis, E. Lacaze and A. Ferrarini, Controlling chirality with helix inversion in cholesteric
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liquid crystals, Journal Of Materials Chemistry 22 (15), 7088-7097 (2012). W. van Hoeve, E. de Castro Hernández, J.M. Gordillo Arias de Saveedra, A.M. Versluis, D. D. Janczewski, J. Song, E. Csanyi, L. Kiss, P. Blazso, R.L. Katona, M.A. Deli, G. Gros, J. Xu and G.J.
Lohse, “Apparatus and method for mass producing a monodisperse microbubble agent”,
Vancso, Organometallic polymeric carriers for redox triggered release of molecular payloads,
PCT/NL2012/050179
Journal Of Materials Chemistry 22 (13), 6429-6435 (2012). T.J. Segers, A.M. Versluis, “Method for size-sorting micorbubbles and apparatus for the A. George, T.M. Stawski, S. Unnikrishnan, S.A. Veldhuis and J.E. ten Elshof, Micro and
same”, NL2008816
nanopatterning of functional materials on flexible plastic substrates via site-selective surface modification using oxygen plasma, Journal Of Materials Chemistry 22 (2), 328-332 (2012).
´ “Quantum secure device, system and method for verifying P. Pinkse, A.P. Mosk, B. Škoric, challenge-response pairs using a physically unclonable function (PUF)”, EP12005527
X. Sui, X. Feng, J. Song, M.A. Hempenius and G.J. Vancso, Electrochemical sensing by surfaceimmobilized poly(ferrocenylsilane) grafts, Journal Of Materials Chemistry 22 (22), 11261-11267
Y. Xie, J. Eijkel, “High efficiency energy conversion using the streaming potential”, US
(2012).
61/718,588
D. Wasserberg, T. Steentjes, M.H.W. Stopel, J. Huskens, C. Blum, V. Subramaniam and P. Jonkheijm, Patterning perylenes on surfaces using thiol-ene chemistry, Journal Of Materials Chemistry 22 (32), 16606-16610 (2012).
M. Dalwani, J. Zheng, M. Hempenius, M.J.T. Raaijmakers, C.M. Doherty, A.J. Hill, M. Wessling and N.E. Benes, Ultra-thin hybrid polyhedral silsesquioxane-polyamide films with potentially unlimited 2D dimensions, Journal Of Materials Chemistry 22 (30), 14835-14838 (2012).
A. George and J.E. Ten Elshof, Sub-50 nm patterning of functional oxides by soft lithographic edge printing, Journal Of Materials Chemistry 22 (19), 9501-9504 (2012).
G.G. Paradis, R. Kreiter, M.M.A. van Tuel, A. Nijmeijer and J.F. Vente, Amino-functionalized microporous hybrid silica membranes, Journal Of Materials Chemistry 22 (15), 7258-7264 (2012).
O. Yildirim, P.J. de Veen, M.G. Maas, M.D. Nguyen, D.N. Reinhoudt, D.H.A. Blank, G. Rijnders and J. Huskens, Dielectric behavior of self-assembled monolayers on conducting metal oxides, Journal Of Materials Chemistry 22 (6), 2405-2409 (2012).
Visit our website www.utwente.nl/mesaplus for the complete publication list.
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[ABOUT MESA+]
MESA+ Governance Structure MESA+ Governing Board
Dr. G.J. Jongerden - Managing Director Exergy
Prof. dr. ir. A.J. Mouthaan - Dean Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Ir. J.J.M. Mulderink - Consultant Sustainable Technology
Dr. A.J. Nijman - Director Research Strategy & Business Development Philips NatLab
Prof. dr. J.A. Put - Director Performance Materials DSM Research
Dr. J. Schmitz - Vice President, Manager Process Technology Lab NXP Semiconductors
Prof. dr. G. van der Steenhoven - Dean Faculty Science & Technology
MESA+ Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. J.G. Bednorz - IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, Switzerland
Prof. H. Fujita - University of Tokyo, Japan
Prof. M. MÜller - Rheinisch-Westfäische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH), Germany
Prof. C.N.R. Rao - Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, India
Prof. F. Stoddart - University of California, USA
Prof. E. Thomas - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
Prof. E. Vittoz - Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), Switzerland
Prof. G. Whitesides - Harvard University, USA
MESA+ Management
Prof. dr. ing. D.H.A. Blank - Scientific Director
Ir. M. Luizink - Technical Commercial Director
Contact details
MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology
University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, the Netherlands
+ 31 53 489 2715, mesaplus@utwente.nl, www.utwente.nl/mesaplus
Colophon Editing: MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Miriam Luizink, Annerie van Steijn-Heesink I Design: WeCre8 Creatieve Communicatie, Enschede, the Netherlands I Photography: Eric Brinkhorst, I Printed by: DeltaHage, The Hague, the Netherlands.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2012