MIT.nano

Congratulations to Giuseppe Romano, PhD, research scientist at the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (MIT ISN), on receiving a RAITH Group Micrograph Award for his image—"Inverse Designed Thermal Energy Harvester." This nanostructure was fabricated using MIT.nano's Raith Velion focused ion beam (FIB), which allows for high fabrication precision, and imaged with MIT.nano's ultrahigh-resolution ZEISS Group Gemini 450 scanning electron microscope (SEM)! Romano and his collaborators took home second place in the competition, which celebrates nanostructures that were created using a RAITH system or lithography attachment. The award considers the uniqueness of the nanostructure, technical quality of the image, and description of the micrograph. The nanostructure pictured here is optimized to convert heat into electricity efficiently using topology optimization and a nanoscale thermal transport model. The minimum feature length scale is included in the optimization algorithm to ensure manufacturability. The Raith VELION FIB-SEM, a next-generation dual-beam nanofabrication platform, and the Zeiss Gemini 450, a field emission scanning electron microscope that offers imaging with sub-nanometer resolution, are both located in MIT.nano's characterization facility. Romano's collaborators are Marco Colangelo, MIT PhD ' 23, assistant professor at Northeastern University; Juan Ferrera, MIT.nano domain expert; Yang Yu, Raith application scientist; Steven G. Johnson, professor in the MIT Department of Mathematics; Keith A. Nelson, the Haslam and Dewey Professor in the MIT Department of Chemistry; Alexei Mazdev, MIT research scientist; Jude Deschamps, MIT graduate student; Francesca Incalza, MIT graduate student; and Karl Berggren, professor and Electrical Engineering Faculty Head at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Read more from Raith: https://lnkd.in/epXE5mme #awards #nanoscience #nanotechnology #nanoscale #imaging #micrographs #energy #engineering #science #technology #research

MIT.nano was thrilled to host a networking and career opportunity event with the Global Semiconductor Alliance GSA Women's Leadership Initiative last month! ? Navigate your way to a career in semiconductors featured two panel discussions and chances to connect with leaders from AMD, Analog Devices, Arm, Cadence, GlobalFoundries, Marvell Technology, Meta, Siemens, STMicroelectronics, and Teradyne. ? Over 150 students, postdocs, and alumni from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and nearby institutions gathered to discuss the future of the semiconductor industry and to learn how to best prepare to enter this exciting field. ? Photos by GSA WLI. ? #technology #nanotechnology #hardtechnology #hardtech #semiconductors #electronics #electricalengineering #mechanicalengineering #materialsscience #materials #science #careers #jobs #networking #academia #industry #chips #microelectronics #science #engineering #technology

With a pair of new methods, researchers in Professor?Ed Boyden’s lab at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research are expanding the capabilities of expansion microscopy — a high-resolution imaging technique the group introduced in 2015 — so researchers everywhere can see more when they look at cells and tissues under a light microscope. “We want to see everything, so we’re always trying to improve it,” says Boyden, the Y. Eva Tan Professor in Neurotechnology at MIT. “A snapshot of all life, down to its fundamental building blocks, is really the goal.” Boyden is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator and a member of the Yang Tan Collective at MIT. With new ways of staining their samples and processing images, users of expansion microscopy can now see vivid outlines of the shapes of cells in their images and pinpoint the locations of many different proteins inside a single tissue sample with resolution that far exceeds that of conventional light microscopy. These advances enable new ways of tracing the slender projections of neurons and visualizing spatial relationships between molecules that contribute to health and disease. Read more at MIT News: https://lnkd.in/e3buzqvi #microscopy #imaging #neuroscience #cells #brain #humanhealth #health #medicine #disease #science #technology #research

MIT.nano has launched a quarterly newsletter to share facility and tool updates, recent news, and opportunities to engage with us!

Join MIT.nano for our March Seminar: AI for 2D Materials and 2D Materials for AI Saptarshi Das, PhD Ackley Professor of Engineering, Engineering Science and Mechanics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Materials Science and Engineering, Materials Research Institute, Penn State University Monday, March 17, 2025 3PM - 4PM ET MIT Grier Room, and online Read more and register: https://lnkd.in/ekvQV3Da In this talk, Prof. Das will explore the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials, and novel computing architectures, focusing on the development of bio-inspired circuits for neuromorphic and edge sensing applications. By leveraging the unique properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as MoS2, WSe2, and graphene, Das will demonstrate their potential in enabling energy-efficient, scalable, and highly adaptable circuits that emulate biological neural systems. These circuits are particularly well-suited for edge computing and sensing tasks, where compactness and power efficiency are critical. Beyond bio-inspired circuit design, Das will delve into the transformative potential of monolithic 3D integration using emerging 2D field-effect transistors (FETs). Register! https://lnkd.in/ehq_t-Bu #2Dmaterials #artificialintelligence #AI #circuits #electronics #electricalengineering #materials #materialsscience #computing #sensing #sensingtechnologies #nanoscience #nanoscale #nanotechnology #research #science #technology

During MIT's Independent Activities Period (IAP) over 300 community members made their own 1x1 chip inside MIT.nano's cleanroom! Attendees learned how to gown up—essential for reducing the number of particles inside the cleanroom—and then worked together inside the lab to expose, develop, and etch their own images onto a layer of aluminum just 50 nanometers thick! Photos by Gretchen Ertl. #nanoscience #nanotechnology #nanoscale #nanoworld #cleanrooms #chips #science #technology #engineering #research

MIT physicists report the unexpected discovery of electrons forming crystalline structures in a material only billionths of a meter thick. The work adds to a gold mine of discoveries originating from the material, which the same team discovered about three years ago. In a?paper published Jan. 22 in?Nature, the team describes how electrons in devices made, in part, of the material can become solid, or form crystals, by changing the voltage applied to the devices when they are kept at a temperature similar to that of outer space. Under the same conditions, they also showed the emergence of two new electronic states that add to work they reported?last year?showing that electrons can split into fractions of themselves. The physicists were able to make the discoveries thanks to new custom-made filters for better insulation of the equipment involved in the work. These allowed them to cool their devices to a temperature an order of magnitude colder than they achieved for the earlier?results. Referring to the material, known as rhombohedral pentalayer graphene, Long Ju, an assistant professor in the MIT Department of Physics who led the work says, “We found a gold mine, and every scoop is revealing something new.” This work was carried out, in part, using MIT.nano facilities! Read the MIT News article: https://lnkd.in/eUtPdkZJ Ju is also affiliated with MIT Materials Research Laboratory and Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT. In addition to Ju, other principal authors of the?paper are Zhengguang Lu, who conducted the work as a postdoc at MIT and is now on the faculty at Florida State University; and Tonghang Han and?Yuxuan Yao, both of MIT. Lu, Han, and Yao are co-first authors of the paper who contributed equally to the work. Other MIT authors are Jixiang Yang, Junseok Seo, Lihan Shi, and Shenyong Ye. Additional members of the team are Kenji Watanabe and Takashi Taniguchi of the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan. #physics #electronics #electricalengineering #materials #materialsscience #nanoscience #nanoscale #quantum #quantumphysics #electrons #electricity #carbon #graphene #nanotechnology #science #technology #research

In the coming days, weather permitting, Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers and scientists will send three payloads into space, on a course set for the moon’s south polar region. Scientists believe this area, with its permanently shadowed regions, could host hidden reservoirs of frozen water, which could serve to sustain future lunar settlements and fuel missions beyond the moon. The payloads include two novel technologies — a small depth-mapping camera and a thumb-sized mini-rover — along with a wafer-thin “record,” etched with the voices of people from around the world speaking in their native languages. The "record" is part of the Humanity United with MIT Art and Nanotechnology in Space, or?HUMANS project. Led by MIT AeroAstro alumna Maya Nasr, Ph.D.’18, SM ’21, PhD ’23, HUMANS is a 2-inch disc made from a silicon wafer engraved with nanometer-scale etchings using technology provided by MIT.nano! The engravings are inspired by The Golden Record, a phonograph record that was sent into space with NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Voyager probes in 1977. The HUMANS record is engraved with recordings of people from around the world, speaking in their native languages about what space exploration and humanity mean to them. “We are carrying the hopes, dreams, and stories of people from all backgrounds,” Nasr says. “(It’s a) powerful reminder that space is not the privilege of a few, but the shared legacy of all.” Read the MIT News article: https://lnkd.in/gtkKX_Wr #nanoscience #nanotechnology #space #spaceexploration #aeronautics #astronautics #moon #planetaryscience #engineering #technology #science #research

Nominate the 2025 Dresselhaus Lecturer! MIT.nano established the Mildred S. Dresselhaus Lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2019 to recognize a significant figure in science and engineering whose leadership and impact echo Professor Dresselhaus's life, accomplishments, and values. We are now accepting recommendations for an individual from anywhere in the world for consideration as this year’s honoree! To submit a nomination, please complete the online form by March 24, 2025: https://lnkd.in/eB4uPv78 You will need to provide the following information: - Nominee's name, title, and home institution/organization - Link to the nominee's website - Link to any articles or honors that help illuminate the nominee's career and impact - In up to 200 words, a statement on why you are nominating the individual There is no limit to the number of nominations you may submit! Read more about the lecture and watch past talks: https://lnkd.in/e_56w3-x Previous lecturers are: Clare Grey, Royal Society Research Professor and Geoffrey Moorhouse-Gibson Professor of Chemistry at University of Cambridge; Angela Belcher, the James Mason Crafts Professor in the MIT Department of Biological Engineering, MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), and the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research; Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor in the MIT Department of Physics; Jelena Vuckovic, the Jensen Huang Professor in Global Leadership in the School of Engineering; Professor of Electrical Engineering, and by courtesy of Applied Physics, at Stanford University; Evelyn Hu, the Tarr-Coyne Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; paul mceuen, the John A. Newman Professor of Physical Science at Cornell University. #engineering #science #nanoscience #electricalengineering #computerscience #physics #mechanicalengineering #materialsscience #physicalscience #biologicalengineering #energy #chemistry #chemicalengineering #technology #research

Eight Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers are among the 128 new members and 22 international members recently elected to the?National Academy of Engineering?(NAE) for 2025! Among the eight is Evelyn Wang ’00,?MIT's vice president for climate and Ford Professor of Engineering in the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE), who was honored for contributions to clean energy, water technology, and nanostructure-based phase change heat transfer, and for service to the nation. Congrats to Wang as well as Martin Bazant, Moshe Ben-Akiva, Charlie Cooney, Yoel Fink, Tomás Lozano-Pérez, Kristala Prather, and Eric Swanson! Read the MIT News article: https://lnkd.in/ebYrCjkh #nanoscience #nanotechnology #nanoscale #nanoengineering #engineering #mechanicalengineering #electricalengineering #computerscience #robotics #chemicalengineering #photonics #energy #electronics #technology #science #research