Students will gain hands-on experience involving a wide variety of nanotechnology/nanoscience applications, using some of the most versatile nano-tools based on Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM). With an intensive one-week schedule and a low student to instrument and student to TA ratio of 4:1, deep and lasting learning will occur. The intense 40 hours one-week workshop will provide students with the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge from prior lecture courses. Three credits UG Workshop open to Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors in Engineering and Natural Sciences. Prerequisites - Either CHEM 142 or CHEM 145; either MATH 126, MATH 129, or MATH 136; PHYS 121 or equivalent and an introductory course in Nanoscience and/or Nanotechnology. For clarification contact the instructor. Course Material: Will be available through this site. Laboratory Units Lab Unit I: Spectroscopic SPM Analysis The students will be introduced to the two most common spectroscopic analysis methods in SPM, the AFM force displacement (FD) and the STM current-voltage (IV) analyses. Lab Unit II: AC-Mode imaging and Electrostatic Force Microscopy In this unit, we will review AC-mode imaging, and then introduce the students to the basics of force gradient imaging using electrostatic force microscopy (EFM), Fig. 2. Educational outcomes: Understanding of AC-mode and force-gradient imaging, fundamentals of electrostatics, and introduction to organic photovoltaics. Lab Unit III: Nanomechanical Characterization of Biological Hard Tissues The focus here is to determine nanomechanical properties, such as the elastic modulus, and hardness of hard organic tissues. Educational outcomes: An appreciation of the mechanical properties of biological tissues (e.g., mollusk shells, sponge spicules) and regenerated tissues (e.g., bone and enamel) and an understanding of mechanical parameters and nanoscale testing. Lab Unit IV: Biological Imaging of DNA and Bacterial Cells In this unit, the students will be introduced to AFM imaging of living biological systems, such as lambda DNA and bacterial-cells in air and aqueous solutions. Educational outcomes: Expose to liquid non-contact AFM imaging skills, exposure of engineering students to concepts from biology. Lab Unit V: Nanocomposites In this unit, students will be introduced to nanocomposites and the challenges involved in establishing material phase contrast with AFM. AFM and transmission electron microscopy will be employed to analyze materials. Educational outcomes: Familiarize students with nanocomposite materials and their potential in generating unique properties, such as reversed selectivity in membranes. Lab Unit VI: Molecular Mobility and Organic Electronics Students will be introduced to organic electronics and exposed to the challenges involved in non-linear optical organic polymer materials used for photonic applications. The aim is to achieve effective device performance by utilizing submolecular relaxations. Educational outcomes: The students will learn about molecular mobility in polymers, the concept of the widely used superposition principle, and an AFM based method. Lab Unit VII: Scanning Probe Lithography/Dip-Pen Nanolithography After demonstrating simple “scraping” based lithography on polymer samples, the students will learn Dip-Pen Nanolithography as a fast, easy-to-perform scanning-probe lithography (SPL) technique. Lab Unit VIII: Directed Assembly of Enzymes using Soft-Lithography Enzymes are proteins with specific functional properties, e.g., carry out reactions, and direct ions and molecules during cellular interactions. Usually enzymes are immobilized on solid surfaces either directly or by using synthetic molecules, both of which results in non-specific immobilization leading to loss of functionality. In this lab unit experiment, alkaline phosphatase (AP) that regulates phosphate release and concentration, and hence phosphate related activities (cell functions or mineralization) is immobilized using a genetically engineered protein that binds specifically on gold surfaces. The students will investigate with AFM the organization of the enzyme on the metal substrate and analyze the retention of its activity with an assay and compare it to a control using a non-specific immobilization. Lab Unit IX: Self Assembly Kinetics of Inorganic Binding Proteins The goal is to illustrate quantitatively the self-assembly characteristics of a gold binding protein, GBP1, using AFM imaging and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) kinetics analysis. The students will obtain an understanding of self-assembly kinetics from nucleation domains to monomolecular thin films using in-situ (SPR) and ex-situ (AFM) analytical tools.. Lab Unit X: Nanotribology and Nanorheology Students will be introduced to tribology (friction, adhesion and wear) and rheology (dynamic response of matter to stresses) . The will achieve a basic understanding of the underlying concepts of tribology and rheology using the AFM, a tool that provides a highly simplistic and illustrative view of two fields that are on a macroscopic scale very difficult to grasp. | 
