The nine Central Facilities play a major role in our Materials Center, providing crucial support to the evolving scientific and technical needs of the IRGs. Moreover, interactions that take place within these facilities often lead to the collaborative efforts between different research groups which are the hallmark of our program. From the training received, students acquire a broad interdisciplinary outlook on materials research, and this helps us transfer technical know-how from one generation of students to the next. Most of the facilities are headed by a professional staff member, and all are supervised by Materials Center faculty. Our technical staff maintains and improves the equipment, performs measurements or prepares samples, and especially, trains students, research associates, and faculty to use the equipment. Some of the major services and equipment are highlighted below. Additionally, the Materials Center provides access to specialized, affiliated facilities such as the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics nanobiology facility, scanning transmission electron microscopy and magnetic resonance imaging. In response to the needs of several of the IRGs, a number of facilities have been upgraded, reorganized, or newly established (such as the Microfluidics Facility). Additional upgrades are planned as the scientific needs of our Center evolve.
Computational Facility
Faculty Supervisor: T. Witten
Technical Staff: B. Busby, T. Indelli
This facility is operated jointly with the JFI and provides infrastructure support for computation and networking, centralized services such as multi-platform file sharing, e-mail, web hosting and printing for the MRSEC, as well as Macintosh, Windows and UNIX (Linux, Solaris, AIX, HP/UX and IRIX) operating system support for ~80 Unix/Linux- and ~140 Mac/Windows-based machines in MRSEC labs throughout the Research Institutes. Several Silicon Graphics and Sun workstations, Power Macs and Linux PCs, and a high-speed laser printer are maintained in a dedicated computer room for MRSEC members and their visitors.
Electronics Laboratory
Faculty Supervisor: N. Scherer
Technical Staff: D. Smith, G. Jendraszkiewicz
The lab provides professional consultation on problems regarding electronics design and operation. It also provides fee-based repair and equipment construction services to MRSEC members. In the recent past, it has designed and constructed specialized circuitry for laser power and timing stabilization, computer interfaces for electron energy spectrometers, and high-frequency quadrature signal demodulators. In addition, the lab maintains a pool of electronic measurement and test equipment that can be signed out by MRSEC members. Also see: http://mrsec.uchicago.edu/facilities/electronics_laboratory.shtml
Image Processing Facility
Faculty Supervisor: S. Nagel
The facility consists of portable high-speed video equipment to be signed out by MRSEC members. Due to the extremely high demand for high-speed imaging, this facility has recently been augmented by the purchase of 4 new cameras to supplement the two instruments that were available previously (a Kodak Motion Corder video camera and a Vision Research Phantom v7.0). The new cameras include a pair of Vision Research Phantom v7.3-turbo cameras that allow the reconstruction of 3-dimensional motion and structures, a Phantom v9.1 for increased resolution (at slower frame rates) useful for the high-speed X-ray imaging applications, and a color Phantom v7.1. The purchase of these cameras was leveraged through MRSEC and other University support.
This facility has been extensivelyy used in outreach activities as well as in research. For example, the high speed video is used to film the events at the annual "Physics with a Bang!" lectures so that the audience can see the surprising phenomena involved in explosions, fracture and fluid behavior that occurs too rapidly to be observed by the human eye.
Materials Preparation and Measurement Laboratory
Faculty Supervisor: H. Jaeger
Technical Staff: Dr. Qiti Guo
The Materials Preparation Laboratory provides facilities for sample fabrication, processing, patterning and characterization of many types of samples. Instrumentation encompasses scanning prope microscopes (AFM and STM), scanning electron microscopes (SEM), optical lithography and imaging, sample cutting-polishing, surface coating, thermal characterization, optical characterization via steady-state and time-resolved fluoresecence, absorbance, reflectance, FTIR, and light scattering.
A key aspect of the Lab is extensive one-on-one training with experienced PhD-level staff. After extensive training that covers operational procedures and safety training, it is possible for all users, from undergrads, graduate students, and postdocs to external users of all levels, to operate instruments by themselves. Qualified users are given 24/7 access to the instruments. MPML staff may also provide direct service on an as-needed basis.
Several upgrades are planned for the next years: Acquisition of a Bruker Dektak 150 profilometer is contemplated to measure the roughness of sample surface in micrometer range. Acquisition of an Asylum Cypher AFM or a Bruker Catalyst AFM is envisioned for faster scanning, better environmental control and for incorporating Raman spectrometry with AFM.
For more information, see Materials Preparation and Measurement Laboratory
Microfluidics Facility
Faculty Supervisor: K.Y. Lee
The microfluidic facility has been completed. Work included renovation of the room, purchase of a Leica motorized fluorescent microscope with Metamorph control and analysis station, and acquisition of pumping equipment. A station for measurements of surface tensions at liquid-liquid interfaces has been designed and built. The microfluidics facility now includes equipment dedicated to characterization and operation of microfluidic channels and networks. This will include equipment for measuring fluid viscosities, liquid/liquid and liquid/surface interfacial energies, as well as set-ups for pressure-driven fluid pumping. Quantitative fluorescence optical measurements of millisecond kinetics on microfluidic chips are possible with a high-numerical aperture compound microscope. A fluorescent stereomicroscope for slower sub-second kinetics, and for evaluation of protein assays developed in IRG 4 is also available.
Quantum Transport Laboratory
Faculty Supervisor: W. Kang
Technical Staff: Dr. J. Jureller
The Quantum Transport Laboratory (QTL) maintains a Quantum Design Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS) for characterization of electrical, thermal, transport, and magnetic properties of materials down to cryogenic temperatures. The PPMS provides precise and continuous temperature control from 1.9K to 400K and is equipped with a 9-Tesla superconducting magnet for work at high magnetic fields. Installed accessories include DC resistivity, high vacuum (<10-5 Torr) cryopump operation, horizontal sample rotation, and a user-modifiable multifunction probe for custom sample assemblies. A Keithley 2636A Dual-channel system Sourcemeter is available as well as a BNC breakout box that allows direct electrical access to connections on sample pucks and the useer bridge of the Model 6000 controller. Experimental control is provided by MultiVu, Labview, or Python software packages. A Cryomech PT410 Helium reliquifier allows continuous operation with closed-cycle cryogen recovery.
In addition to the PPMS, the QTL provides technical consulting and instructs students in cryogenic techniques.
Rheometry Facility
Faculty Supervisor: H. Jaeger
We established this facility to characterize the stress/strain relationships and other rheological properties of complex fluids investigated in IRGs 1, 2, and 3. The facility maintains an Anton Paar MCR 301 rheometer with fully automated measurement capabilities in both stress and sheer rate control modes. Tools for parallel plate, cone, as well as Couette measurement geometries are available. The sample stage is temperature-stabilized and a solvent trap is available. The system also has capabilities for applying electric fields (up to 5kV) and magnetic fields (up to 1 T) to characterize electro-and magneto-rheological fluids.
Student Shop
Faculty Supervisor: P. Guyot-Sionnest
Technical Staff: H. Krebs
Our fully equipped student machine shop plays a vital role in the training of MRSEC members, from undergraduates and REU students to postdocs. The shop gives MRSEC students the flexibility to easily design and safely produce machined parts and research prototypes. Main equipment includes several Bridgeport mills, Hardinge lathes, a CADworkstation and a welding station. The shop has been tremendously successful over the last several years due to the availability of highly motivated, exceptionally qualified staff for consultation and training. Training classes on machine operation and safety are regularly offered during the year (passing of this class is a prerequisite for working in the student shop). A purchase of an industrial-strength milling machine for general use is planned for 2006, after the move to our new building, as well as radius stressors for a surface grinder, and an indexing head capable of measuring within 1 degree.