Jonathan Bird - US grants

This proposal was received in response to the Spin Electronics for the 21st Century Initiative, Program Solicitation NSF 02-036. The proposal focuses on the application of semiconductor nanostructures in the emerging field of spin-based electronics. The program objectives are:

To explore demonstrations of the spintronic applications of nanostructures, including nanoscale implementations of the spin filter, the spin valve, and the spin transistor

To undertake experimental investigations of spin-polarized transport in semiconductor nanostructures

To perform theoretical studies of the spin-dependent electronic structure of semiconductor nanostructures, and of the mechanisms of spin decoherence.

The key outcome of this research is expected to be the development of a crucial understanding of the manner in which the unique properties of semiconductor nanostructures may be exploited in future spintronic devices. An important aspect of this program is its coordinated structure. The principal investigators have proven track records in the experimental and theoretical study of semiconductor nanostructures, and their collaboration is expected to result in a highly multidisciplinary interaction. The research program itself explores the implementation of complicated spintronic devices, such as the spin valve or the spin transistor, by integrating nanoscale implementations of the most basic of spin devices, the spin filter. Theoretical modeling explores the spin-resolved subband structure in these devices, the mechanisms for spin decoherence, and the transport properties of the structures being investigated.

In addition to its scientific importance, this program also contributes to the creation of a superior environment for graduate and undergraduate education at Arizona State University. Its pedagogic impact is further enhanced by the collaborations it promotes with researchers at national laboratories in the US (Sandia) and Japan (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, AIST). Graduate and undergraduate students involved in this project benefit greatly from the opportunities provided by these collaborations. A significant component of these collaborations, for example, is the opportunities they provide for student internship during this program. At the same time, undergraduate involvement in this program is encouraged by coordinating the research with the two-semester senior-design projects, which form one of the graduation requirements of the undergraduate program in the Electrical Engineering Department. As we have done in the past, we continue to make efforts to involve both underrepresented minorities and women in this program. A valuable opportunity for wider outreach is provided by the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program, which we have a record of involvement in and which actively encourages female high-school students to enter engineering programs. Dissemination of the results of this program is promoted through publications in the top peer-review journals, student and faculty participation in conferences, and the posting of related material on a central web resource that is being developed under an existing NSF-sponsored project.

Scientific Impact:
This NIRT proposal focuses on an exciting new materials system: self-assembled epitaxial silicide nanowires (NWs). These structures have many potential applications, including: low-resistance interconnects; non-linear circuit elements; nano-electrodes for an "on-chip molecular switch"; and chemical sensors. The scientific objectives are to: understand and control the self-assembly process; control the placement of NWs at desired locations; identify novel transport properties specific to NWs; attach/grow molecules at the junctions between NWs. Complementary experimental tools to be used include: scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), Low Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM), transmission electron microscopy (UHV-TEM) and surface X-ray diffraction. Experimental work will be closely coupled with first-principles calculations to help understand the electronic, transport and material properties of the NWs.
Achieving these goals would constitute a fundamental advance in silicon nano-fabrication and circuit functionality. The project involves exploratory interdisciplinary work that combines clean-room fabrication methods with UHV-based crystal growth and surface chemistry on nanoscale patterned structures. Demonstration of self-assembling metallic nano-electrodes and interconnects would comprise a fundamental enabling technology for a variety of research applications with silicon-based nanoscale devices.

Broader Impact:
An important goal of this project is the integration of research, education, and industrial outlook. Collaboration with an industrial partner, IBM, will assure that the research program reflects contemporary issues in silicon nano-technology, and, at the same time, allow high-risk, long term exploratory projects originating at the university. Graduate students will learn interdisciplinary teamwork at the boundary between the host departments of physics, electrical engineering and materials science. Some will be directly involved in collaborations with Motorola, IBM and Brookhaven National Lab, and they will gain the experience of working in industrial setting. Undergraduates will participate through REU or individual sponsors. Structural characterization on the nanoscale has a strongly visual component that lends itself to public outreach. This will be coordinated through a research experience for teachers (RET) program, a mobile "Patterns in Nature" van, and a web-based visualization program, with self-guided modules.

Abstract

This NIRT proposal focuses on the implementation of frequency-tunable terahertz (THz) sources and detectors based on nanostructured semiconductor systems. The common fea-ture of these active nanostructures is that the energy scales of their characteristic excita-tions lie within the THz range. To address the needs for technology over a wide fre-quency range, we explore devices that achieve their functionality by making use of plas-mons in confined geometries, as well as photoexcitation of electrons in quantum-point-contacts. These devices should be suitable for integration into large-scale arrays, provid-ing the capability to perform sophisticated temporal and spatial signal processing. The team assembled to pursue this research consists of faculty from the University at Buffalo, UC Santa Barbara, Queens College and Kingsborough Community College. It has wide expertise in the fabrication, DC and THz characterization, and theoretical modeling of semiconductor nanodevices. The group is complemented by collaborators at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN, Japan) and Sandia National Laboratories.

Intellectual Merit
This work should lead to the development of novel THz sources and detectors that are fully integrable with conventional microelectronics. These devices should show several improvements over existing technology, such as widely-tunable response frequency, low power consumption, and enhanced sensitivity. They should find use in many applications, including signal processing, homeland defense, pharmaceutical science and biomedicine.

Broader Impact
This NIRT provides training for graduate and undergraduate students in nanoelectronic sensors, a vital area to the economic and defense interests of the nation. It also increases the exposure of community-college students to nanotechnology, by means of internships and mini workshops. Opportunities to engage high-school teachers in the research are also planned.

This program addresses the theme of Nanoscale Devices and System Architecture.

Proposal Number: ECCS 0925941

Proposal Title: Development of a Low Cost Form of Maglev Transportation Using Electrodynamic Wheels
PI Name: Jonathan Bird

PI Institution: University North Carolina ? Charlotte


This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

The objective of this research is to experimentally and numerically verify that a low cost, high efficiency, maglev vehicle can be built. The approach is to electromechanically rotate Halbach magnetic rotor?s over flat passive aluminum guideways. The simultaneous rotational and translational motion of the rotors induces guideway eddy currents that can provide suspension, thrust and lateral forces for the vehicle. Each rotor?s speed and direction will be controlled in order to achieve optimal efficiency and dynamic stability. Custom designed 3D finite element code will be utilized to model the high-speed rotational and translational motion. An experimental setup utilizing at least four Halbach rotors will be built.
Intellectual Merit:
This research will involve the development of new electromagnetic optimizing techniques and control strategies for a fully 3D eddy-current electromechanical conversion device. Insightful trade-offs between stability requirements, efficiency, thrust and suspension levels will be considered. The research could lead to new methodologies for designing 3D eddy-current based machines. Novel multivariable control techniques will be employed in order to ensure stability of the complexly coupled device.

Broader Impacts:
The utilization of a maglev transportation system could significantly reduce the nation?s dependence on petroleum-based energy thereby mitigating airborne pollutants. The project will contribute to the education and awareness of power engineering as an exciting area for research. Undergraduate and graduate students will assist with this project at all levels. The PI will work closely with faculty advisors and the Multicultural Office to ensure underrepresented students are involved. The research will be published in leading magnetics and control journals.

This PIRE renewal award supports the expansion of a unique interdisciplinary U.S.-Japan research and education partnership focused on terahertz (THz) dynamics in nanostructures. The 0.1 to 10 THz frequency range of the electromagnetic spectrum is where electrical transport and optical transitions merge, thus offering exciting opportunities to study a variety of novel physical phenomena. By combining THz technology and nanotechnology, we can advance our understanding of THz physics while improving and developing THz devices. Nanotechnology is the study of nanostructures (between 1 to 100 nanometers long) and how they can be controlled, fabricated, or manipulated. New discoveries provide insight into the possibilities for novel electronic, photonic, mechanical, and magnetic devices that have huge potential for future technological applications including medicine, computation, and communications.

This PIRE project will (a) advance our quantitative understanding of THz dynamics in nanostructures, (b) fabricate novel nanostructures for THz study and applications, (c) advance cutting-edge experimental techniques in THz spectroscopy and imaging, and (d) provide new knowledge useful for developing novel THz devices. The projects explore THz dynamics in carbon nanomaterials, namely, nanotubes and graphene.

The U.S. and Japan are global leaders in both THz research and nanotechnology, and stimulating cooperation is critical to further advance THz science and develop commercial products from new ideas in the lab. However, obstacles exist for international collaboration - primarily linguistic and cultural barriers - and this PIRE project aims to continue breaking down these barriers. The project will also leverage large investments by both countries to achieve long-term scientific and societal impact by providing future generations of researchers with a better understanding of both the culture and the state-of-the-art technology in each country.

The strong educational portfolio of this project focuses on cultivating interest in nanotechnology among young U.S. undergraduate students, especially those from underrepresented groups, and encouraging such students to pursue graduate study and academic research in the physical sciences. This renewed funding will expand and strengthen the award-winning international research experience program for undergraduates called the NanoJapan Program. Recognized as a model for international education programs for science and engineering students, this program will provide U.S. undergraduates with structured research opportunities in Japanese university laboratories with Japanese mentors. This program includes a three-week orientation program with language and culture training as well as extensive use of information technologies as learning and community-building tools. U.S. graduate students, early career scientists, researchers and alumni will benefit from direct involvement in the PIRE research as well as from related follow-on educational projects at home institutions and in local communities. Other programs such as undergraduate and graduate research assistantships and the NanoAsia Graduate International Research Experience (IRE) are additional venues for international collaboration for U.S. students. The original PIRE had particular success with recruitment of females and African-American students; these recruitment efforts will continue and will be expanded to include first-generation college-attending students. This broad portfolio of PIRE educational activities should produce a diverse cadre of students with rich skill sets that span nanoscience specialties, international cultural awareness, and the intersection of culture, language, science, and technology.

Institutional impacts of this award include strengthening Rice University's leadership position in international research and education in THz science, materials science, and nanoscience. It places Rice at the hub of an exciting domestic and international collaborative network of researchers and educators, while leveraging the University of Tulsa's exceptional strength in international education, especially its expertise in developing international education programs for science and engineering students. An Introduction to Nanotechnology & Nanoscience Online Seminar will be developed within this PIRE and will be webcast live and archived online, enabling live or asynchronous participation of all U.S. and Japanese participants, thus enhancing the international curriculum at all institutions. In addition, the project will further strengthen and internationalize connections within and among campuses established through the original PIRE award, including those with international offices, IT units, and curriculum and assessment specialists. The project is also an innovative model that enables the participating universities to foster multi-disciplinary international collaboration among scholars in engineering, the sciences, and the humanities. Furthermore, by bringing undergraduates into international research, the project builds on the success of the original PIRE in strengthening the pool of potential globally-engaged graduate students for the PIRE institutions and the nation.

U.S. project partners include Rice University (TX), University of Florida, University of Tulsa (OK), State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and Texas A&M University. Japanese partners include Osaka University, Chiba University, Shinshu University, Tohoku University, University of Tokyo, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), National Institute of Materials Science (NIMS), Hokkaido University, RIKEN, and University of Aizu.

This award is cofunded by the Office of International Science and Engineering, the Division of Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems, and the Division of Materials Research.

The objective of this project is to develop resources for STEM learning by
redesigning and expanding the "Jonathan Bird's Blue World" website; adding
components to enable teachers and students to search episodes for specific
themes, locations, or scientific concepts; and enhancing the lesson plans to
explicitly match the content standards for teaching science.

One of the major objectives is to make the "Jonathan Bird's Blue World" web
site content more widely accessible as an open source via an internet
connection with a dynamic search capability. The project adds a significant
amount of educational material and uses ocean topics to illustrate nationally
accepted standards for science learning. It is applicable to both formal and
informal environments and contains a multi-faceted approach to achieve its
goal including the following objectives: (a) build a web site search
capability that includes National Science Educational Standards
(NSES) and Ocean Literacy Principles with a link to segments illustrating
specific NSES; (b) create webisodes that feature specific NSES and develop an
interactive map on the web site; (c) create a user survey tool and outreach for
these improvements.

By partnering with researchers and educators to incorporate nationally
accepted standards for science learning into the website redesign, the project
has a broad impact on professional development for teachers. It has the
potential to reach diverse audiences in schools, homes and afterschool
programs. "Jonathan Bird's Blue World" is designed to complement other
educational materials and provide a useful resource for teachers everywhere,
improving public scientific literacy in informal and formal settings.

Wind and rotary based marine hydrokinetic energy conversion devices often rely on a mechanical gearbox to increase their speed so as to match the requirements of the electromagnetic generator. However, mechanical gearboxes are creating reliability concerns and the maintenance of the gearbox can significantly add to the levelized cost of energy. Alternative approaches such as using a direct-drive generator become impractical at higher power levels due to their inherently low torque-per-volume capability. This research will investigate the theoretical and practical performance capabilities of using magnetically geared generation devices. A magnetic gearbox offers a number of advantages over traditional mechanical gearboxes in that a magnetic gearbox creates speed change without any physical contact, it does not require gear lubrication and has an inherent overload torque limiting capability. By coupling a magnetic gearbox to a generator the reliability of the generator system can be significantly improved and the volumetric size could potentially be comparable to its mechanically geared equivalent. By improving reliability a magnetically geared generator could reduce the levelized cost of wind and ocean power conversion. This could increase the utilization of renewable energy resources and consequently help reduce the emission of airborne pollutants associated with the combustion of fossil fuels.

The primary goals of this research are to (1) develop modeling tools to understand the scaling and cost/performance trade-offs of axial magnetic gears and radial magnetic gear topologies. (2) Construct and test a stator driven continuously variable magnetic gear and an axially driven direct-drive magnetically geared generator. (3) Experimentally assess the efficiency of the proposed magnetic gear devices over a wide speed and torque range. The practical performance trade-offs between axial and radial flux-focusing magnetic gear designs when using ferrite and rare-earth magnets will be determined in the context of cost. The power flow, efficiency and power factor characteristics will be characterized with respect to existing technology. This research will lead to a greater understanding of the energy conversion process when using magnetic gears, continuously variable magnetic gears and magnetically geared direct-drive electrical machines. The techniques required to achieve very high mass and volumetric torque densities when using flux focusing magnetic gear topologies will be carefully defined. The power flow and control equations for the integration of a continuously variable magnetic gear into the grid will be derived. Both undergraduate and graduate students will assist with this research. Underrepresented students will be actively involved in this research. Outreach activities and yearly summer research experiences for local high-school students will take place. The research results will be disseminated in leading journals, conferences, and workshops in order to benefit the scientific and industrial community.

The continued scaling of CMOS technology is being driven by various approaches including spin-based electronics (or 'spintronics') due to potential gains in low-power operation, and by the prospect of realizing new forms of non-volatile, on-chip data storage. However, spintronic devices typically exhibit poor magnetoresistive values, except at cryogenic temperatures, and there are often practical issues regarding their manufacturability. Consequently, the full potential impact of spintronics on technology and society has remained unrealized. The ability to induce a high degree of spin polarization in epitaxially-formed graphene layers, deposited on complex oxides, is a major goal of this research; one that will allow the development of high performance, non-volatile, spin-based devices, capable of operating above room temperature. Social and economic benefits of such advances is huge, allowing not only the continuation of smaller, cheaper, and faster computing, but also making possible the development of massively-parallel, yet low-power and fault-tolerant, computer architectures. Graduate students will be trained in the interdisciplinary aspects of understanding fundamental relationships between surface/interface chemistry, charge and spin transport, and device physics. This mentoring also extends to the recruitment of undergraduate and high school students through existing, proven programs at the University of Buffalo, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and at the University of North Texas.

In the interest of a new generation of post-CMOS nanoelectronics, technological challenges of spintronic devices include achieving high-fidelity spin-polarized carrier injection into a nonmagnetic semiconductor, and; realization of electrical schemes for the manipulation of magnetism while not compromising the possible energy gains offered by spintronics. This program provides a solution by realizing practical, graphene-based spintronic devices, based on industry-compatible graphene growth methods and operating at or above room temperature. These devices feature directly-grown, high-quality graphene on magnetic/multiferroic oxide substrates, and will exploit the spin polarization induced in the graphene channel through its interaction with the substrate, thereby obviating the need for efficient spin injection from ferromagnetic electrodes. The devices will furthermore be switched by means of the electric field applied across insulating oxides, thereby ensuring low-power operation. This project combines studies of the interfacial-chemistry of graphene/oxide hetero-junction formation, its effects on graphene spin polarization, and the development and testing of spin-field effect transistors. These devices are based on the direct growth of graphene/oxide heterojunctions, including Co3O4(111), Cr2O3(0001), and other ordered multiferroic oxides. The goal is to have a fundamental insight into how surface chemistry impacts spin transport, and also to yield manufacturable graphene-based spintronic devices, capable of exhibiting superior per-formance (MR>200%) in operation above room temperature.

There is a critical need for new technologies as the semiconductor industry reaches the limits of how small a transistor can be made and how much power can be used in an increasingly small space. This project will meet this need through the development of novel memory and logic devices. Continual interaction between academia and the semiconductor industry will ensure in new semiconductor device concepts that lead to faster and better electronics that use significantly less energy than current approaches. These advances will exploit the unusual magnetic properties of magnetoelectrics, a special class of materials that tie together magnetism and voltage. An important aspect of the devices will be their nonvolatility, a feature that makes them prime candidates for use in the emerging Internet of Things. Nonvolatility refers to the property that once written, information can be recovered, even if electrical power has been absent for an extended period. An example of such a situation is the shutdown of a computer. A computer equipped with this type of "instant on" circuitry will restart to the exact state when power failed. Nonvolatility will also lead to energy savings by enabling electronics to operate longer on smaller batteries with less need for recharge. Reducing the energy cost of consumer electronics could also lead to some world-wide energy savings, as new less energy expensive electronics become available.

This project develops novel device concepts to greatly extend the practical limits of energy-efficient computation, focusing primarily on magnetoelectric materials, enabling interfacial magnetism to be reversibly switched by voltage. This approach to the writing of magnetic information via voltage will result in a significant reduction in energy consumption, while improving the computing speed of integrated circuit technologies. To enable electronic applications based on these devices to come to fruition, the new concepts must allow for miniaturization, inexpensive fabrication on a huge scale, and long working lifetimes. Just as for conventional electronic circuits, to ensure reliable operations, the new devices will be capable of operating repeatedly at well above room temperature. By exploiting more than just electrical charge in each device, these new devices will have more function than a simple transistor, which in turn, will present new opportunities for the development of circuit ideas that go beyond existing technologies ? ideas that will also be explored as this research program develops.

Wireless data traffic has surged in recent years due to a change in the way society today creates, shares, and consumes information. Accompanying this change is an increasing demand for faster, more ubiquitous wireless communication networks. As a result, wireless Terabit-per-second (Tbps) links are expected to become a necessity within the next five to ten years. Terahertz (THz)-band (0.1 to 10 THz) communication is envisioned as a key technology to meet this demand. For many years, the lack of compact and efficient ways to generate and detect THz-band signals limited the feasibility of such communication systems. Ongoing advances in THz generation and detection schemes are making sources and detectors more readily available, but no platform currently exists to experimentally demonstrate wireless communication at true THz frequencies. The objective of this TeraNova project is to develop the first integrated testbed specific to ultra-broadband communication networks at true terahertz frequencies (i.e., 1 THz and above).

The main components of the testbed are as follows. In transmission, a Schottky-diode-based frequency multiplier and amplifier is used to generate a THz carrier signal in the first absorption-defined transmission window above 1 THz, i.e., between 1 and 1.075 THz. A sub-harmonic mixer based on the same technology is used to modulate the THz carrier signal with the broadband signal to be transmitted, which is generated by means of a broadband arbitrary-waveform generator. The waveform generator has two parallel channels with an analog bandwidth of 32 Gigahertz (GHz) per channel and high sampling rate with 8-bit resolution. Each waveform can be defined allowing precise control of baseband signals. In reception, the same setup is used to down-convert the modulated THz signal and recover the transmitted symbols. The downconverted signal is displayed and stored, prior to demodulation and signal processing, by means of a high performance digital oscilloscope, which has up to 63 GHz of analog bandwidth for one channel or 33 GHz per channel with two channels. The described TeraNova testbed enables new CISE-related research opportunities, including development and validation of (i) accurate THz channel models, (ii) ultra-broadband modulation and demodulation techniques, and (iii) ultra-massive MIMO communication schemes, among others. In addition, the TeraNova testbed serves as a unique platform to test and benchmark novel plasmonic THz devices for communications.

This cryogen-free system with its superconducting magnet and wide sample temperature range capabilities for magneto optical and magneto transport measurements in a wide range of frequency builds on faculty expertise at the University at Buffalo SUNY (UB), strongly supports existing research programs and will serve as a user facility for the current members of UB community and proposed new faculty hires in the general area of Material Science and Engineering. The system will allow UB researchers to expand their research activities into a broad range of new applications, such as new electronic, photonic, spintronic, and energy devices, and thus, enhance existing grants while positioning them well for investigation of novel materials. This system will allow interdisciplinary research training for the undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs. The proposed system will be accessible to researchers in the fields of nanoelectronics, semiconductor physics and energy related research from the community colleges and start-up companies in the Buffalo area. This training is valuable for the students in the western New York region for their future careers in high tech industry, academia and in national laboratories.

This Major Research Instrumentation award supports and enhances the interdisciplinary research activities of several research groups at the University at Buffalo, SUNY (UB) through the acquisition of a cryogen-free magnet cryostat system with optical and electrical measurement capabilities. The research activities range from transport measurements on nanoscale oxide materials near phase transitions, mesoscopic phenomena in semiconductors and two-dimensional (2D) materials, growth and characterization of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD), the interplay of disorder and topologically-protected transport in 2D materials, magneto reflectance and polarization measurements on TMDs, Hall effect in superconductors, THz emission from 2D materials and heterostructures, and next generation power devices. With a potential to perform concurrent optical (from UV to mid-IR frequency range) and transport (both AC and DC) measurements, the system will serve a wide user base with varied technical needs. This cryogen-free magnet system will enable all UB researchers, including underrepresented minorities and women within our diverse academic community, to access its state-of-the-art capabilities.

Title:
Electrodynamic Wheel Maglev Vehicle Control using an Integrated Eddy Current Approach

Abstract:
Maglev vehicles utilize magnetic fields in order to create suspension, propulsion and guidance forces without physical contact and thus speeds well in excess of 300 miles/hour are possible. Maglev can offer trip times that are competitive with air travel. The lack of frictional forces between the vehicle and the guideway, and maglev's low energy consumption compared to aircraft means that the operational costs, once the transportation system has been developed, should be low. Furthermore, whereas aircraft rely solely on petroleum and consequently create a large amount of air pollutants, maglev vehicles derive electric power from many renewable energy sources. Recently there has been renewed interest in maglev vehicle technology because of the SpaceX Hyperloop proposal to use high-speed vehicles within partially evacuated tubes or tunnels. By reducing air resistance, vehicle speeds up to 800 mile/hour could be achievable. Such speeds cannot be achieved using high-speed rail. Also, unlike high-speed rail, maglev vehicles have the ability to accelerate rapidly, climb steep grades, negotiate tight turns and operate in extremely adverse weather conditions. Maglev vehicles enable lighter weight and smaller vehicles to be utilized and their inherently quiet operation eliminates the need for costly noise abatement in urban environments. Despite maglev's many attractive characteristics U.S. firms and Transit authorities have been reluctant to invest in this technology. Overseas, high-speed rail has been extensively used rather than maglev. The reason for this is undoubtedly, in part, due to maglev's extremely high initial capital cost. This research seeks to use an electrodynamic wheel driven maglev vehicle to demonstrate that a low development risk, low capital-intensive maglev vehicle that is robust, affordable and energy efficient can be developed. The use of electrodynamic wheels could radically reduce maglev's system costs because the thrust, suspension and guidance force can be achieved by utilizing only flat non magnetic aluminum guideways. This also enables directional switching to be achieved in a simple low-cost way. This research project will contribute to the education and awareness of power engineering as an exciting area for research. High school and graduate students will assist with this project at all levels. The principal investigator will monitor the retention of minority students within the electrical engineering undergraduate program with the goal of increasing the retention rate through summer and academic semester research experiences. The research will be published in leading control and magnetics journals.

The research will focus on demonstrating the control and performance capabilities of electrodynamic wheel maglev vehicles. By electromechanically rotating Halbach magnetic rotor's over flat aluminum sheet guideways eddy currents are induced that can simultaneously provide both the suspension and thrust force. By actively controlling the rotational speeds lateral and angular stability can be achieved. The electrodynamic wheels will be controlled by making use of recently derived 3-D eddy current force, torque, magnetic stiffness and magnetic damping equations. The 6-degrees of freedom dynamic control will be validated by utilizing two existing sub-scale electrodynamic wheel maglev setups. Following this a full-scale electrodynamic wheel maglev setup will be constructed that will be capable of supporting and transporting a 100kg mass around a 108 foot oval-shaped test track. This research will involve the development of new integrated eddy current control strategies. By using exact 3-D analytic based eddy-current equations more precise and predictive control approaches can be utilized. Insightful trade-offs between stability requirements, efficiency, thrust and suspension levels will be considered. This research could lead to new methodologies for controlling 3-D eddy-current based machines. Multivariable state-space predictive control techniques will be employed in order to ensure stability of the complexly coupled device.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

The broader impact/commercial potential of this PFI project is related to the development of a highly reliable, low maintenance, low noise magnetic gearbox (MG) for electromechanical energy conversion applications. A MG can create speed change without any physical contact and therefore no gear lubrication is required. A MG has inherent overload protection capabilities as well as no backlash. By eliminating most mechanical losses MGs offer the potential for increased efficiency whilst providing a longer service life than its mechanical counterpart. This PFI will focus on translating the MG technology towards commercial application in the areas of renewable energy generation and robotic actuation. There is a growing need for a new power conversion approach that are more efficient and more reliable than existing mechanical gearboxes and direct-drive generators. For instance, one barrier to increasing the use of wind power generation is the reliability of the drivetrain. By developing a new type of MG, the reliability and efficiency of the drivetrain could be greatly improved, whilst still being compact in size. This would thereby reduce the levelized cost of power generation. In addition, robotic actuators are increasingly being sort that are more reliable and have compliant capabilities, a MG offers such capabilities.


The proposed project aims to demonstrate that a multistage MG has the potential to attain a competitive torque-to-mass ratio and torque-to-volume ratio with traditional gearboxes whilst also being more reliable, efficient and quieter than existing mechanical gearboxes. The proposed project will utilize 3-D printing to increase the rate at which design improvements can be made to a unique Halbach rotor MG typology. A series of MGs will be tested in order to refine and develop a greater understanding of the MG capabilities relative to their mechanical counterparts. Using prototype devices, a direct cost-performance analysis of the MG technology relative to equivalent mechanical gearbox counterparts will be completed for the first time. The demonstration that a MG can be performance competitive with a mechanical gearbox, whilst also have a significantly longer design life, could transform the way in which power conversion is accomplished. A MG could therefore find uses in a myriad of applications throughout society. The graduate and undergraduate student involved with this project will receive technology translation and entrepreneurship experiences through the prototype development and commercialization activities associated with this project.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

This major research instrumentation project is to acquire a high-performance Electron Beam Lithography system for research, education and broader impact in the Western New York region. The system uses an ultra-narrow beam of high energy electrons (1.8 nm wide) to define features on the scale of tens of nanometers. The unique capabilities of this advanced nanofabrication tool will enable crucial research in a broad range of fields spanning engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science and biology. The state-of-the-art tool will be installed at the University at Buffalo and provide both onsite and remote access to a large number of students, faculty, researchers and entrepreneurs across the region. The unique feature of the tool is the ability to define sub-10 nm dimension structures with fast writing speed over large areas. This feature is very important for cutting edge research in electronics and photonics. The aim is to rapidly translate the fundamental knowledge gained in academic laboratories to real world applications. Another feature of the tool is the ability to define nm structures on flexible substrates that are essential for biomedical applications. Undergraduate and graduate students in the engineering and science disciplines will have access to the tool. They will be trained in its use through courses and programs offered by the electrical engineering department at the University at Buffalo. The tool will enable cutting-edge research across computing, communications, healthcare, and education. The research opportunity given to undergraduate and graduate students will help build the skills of the future workforce for knowledge-based economy and maintain the economic competitiveness of the US. The tool will improve the research infrastructure in the western New York region and positively impact the economy of the region. The remote access feature will enable students to submit their designs for fabrication from any location. The instrument will also contribute to strong outreach programs in engineering and applied sciences. Investigators will provide mentorship to underrepresented students in science and engineering.

Electron beam lithography is an indispensable tool for advanced research in electronics, photonics, physics, and materials science. The tool will enable research in a broad range of topics: low power non-volatile high speed ferroelectric and magneto-electric based logic and memory devices for energy efficient data intensive computing applications; emerging low power and efficient quantum devices; nano-electronics based on two-dimensional (2D) materials; high power flexible electronics based on widebandgap semiconductors; room temperature THz devices based on coupling of optical phonons in III-V semiconductors to graphene plasmonic structures; understanding of the fundamental physics in correlated electron systems; THz plasmonic structures for chemical and biological sensing; graphene plasmonic array for THz communication; and characterization of 2D materials, heterointerfaces, and devices. These high impact research have applications that range from computing, communication, energy and health. It will also help in understanding fundamental physics in correlated materials and the switching dynamics in technologically important antiferromagnetic oxides. The proposed tool to be acquired will have large acceleration voltage, sub-10nm lithographic resolution, high beam position resolution, sub-20 nm stitching and overlay accuracy, tunable field size up to 3000 micrometers for high throughput writing, and height correction feature for writing on flexible substrates. These unique features are essential to carry out the proposed research.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Project Summary The detection of sound in the cochlea requires hair cells and their mechano-sensitive organelles, called stereocilia. The long-term goal of this laboratory is to study how stereocilia grow and how their integrity is maintained over a lifetime. These are critical processes and are commonly disrupted in hereditary forms of human hearing loss. In this proposal, we investigate a molecular motor called myosin 15 (MYO15A) that sets the size of the actin filament core that is the structural foundation within each stereocilium. Mutations in the MYO15A gene cause human hereditary hearing loss, DFNB3. Our initial experiments have revealed a novel mechanism that allows MYO15A to control the actin core, and we hypothesize that the hair cell regulates stereocilia architecture using different MYO15A isoforms. To test this, we will investigate the molecular properties of MYO15A to understand how it influences growth of the actin core, reveal how these activities are regulated within the hair cell, and examine how mutations cause hearing loss in a mouse model. In Aim 1, we use purified proteins and spectroscopy / single-molecule assays to extensively characterize how MYO15A accelerates actin polymerization. As part of this, we will introduce mutations to explore candidate regions within MYO15A that underlie this activity. In Aim 2, we expand our study to different isoforms of MYO15A and use biochemical assays and cryo-electron microscopy to investigate key differences in their enzymatic activity and how these are regulated. In Aim 3, we characterize a mutant mouse where a novel MYO15A isoform has been removed using CRISPR genetic engineering, and study how these animals lose their hearing using a combination of high- resolution electron and light microscopy. Overall, our proposal will provide critical new information into basic mechanisms of stereocilia plasticity, in addition to revealing the distinct pathologies that cause deafness in patients suffering with DFNB3.