Minnesota Nano Center

The Nano Center is Hiring

The MNC is looking for candidates to apply for two soon-to-be open positions:

1. The Administrator manages the daily business operations of the MNC, including financial, HR and payroll processes, grant reporting, acting as facilities liaison, and employee supervision. This position works closely with and is supervised by the Director of the Minnesota Nano Center. This position will be primarily in-person; office location is in the Physics and Nanotechnology Building on the East Bank Campus. For more information, go to the University job listings and search job ID # 365433.
2. The Educational Program Specialist manages the marketing, education, and outreach efforts of the MNC. This position works closely with and is supervised by the Director of the Minnesota Nano Center. The desired start date for this position will be January 6, 2025. Review of applications will begin in early November. For more information, go to the University job listings and search job ID # 365306. This position will remain posted until filled

New Materials Research at the MNC

Researchers at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science have experimented with a novel material that conducts electrons at high efficiency while remaining transparent in both visible and UV light. These properties open up a number of applications in high-power electronics and deep-ultraviolet (DUV) optoelectronics, and are possible thanks to minute interventions in the material's structure at the nanoscale. Experiments on the material were undertaken in the Minnesota Nano Center and the Characterization Facility.

We are proud to have research like this performed at the Nano Center, and are excited to see the new devices that may be built using this material. To read more about this research, follow the link below to its publication in Science Advances

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq7892

NSF Awards UMN $1.2 Million for Efficient Semiconductor Research

The Minnesota Nano Center is proud to be a part of a new $1.2 grant from the National Scientific Foundation aimed at creating more energy efficient semiconductors in order to support AI development and other energy intensive forms of computing. As readers may already know, while the potential applications of AI are immense but so too are the power needs of the computers which make up AI systems like Chat GPT. Consequently, creating more energy efficient semiconductors for computing would not only save money on existing forms of computing but potentially create new commercially viable applications of AI technology.  We are excited to work with the keen minds throughout the UMN and see what they come up with in response to this problem!

Read more at the link below from the UMN's Research Innovation Office!

https://cse.umn.edu/college/news/u-m-awarded-12m-help-improve-energy-efficiency-computer-systems-using-ai

You can also learn more at our website:  https://www.globalquantumleap.org/irte-program

Join MNC Staff at the Coffee Hour!

The Nano Center hosts a coffee hour for current and potential users on the first Tuesday of each month. These informal drop-in sessions offer MNC users the chance to meet with the staff of the Nano Center and discuss their projects or get pointers on using our nanofabrication tools. The Coffee Hour is held 2-3 PM in room PAN 130.  See you there!