State-Of-The-Art Microscopes
The Nanoscale Characterization Facility (NCF) supports state-of-the-art tools for electron- and ion-beam analyses for Penn, as well as other university and industry users in the Philadelphia region. Our new facility comprises a suite of rooms specifically designed to host current and next-generation scanning electron, transmission electron and atomic force microscopes. The facility includes an integrated sample preparation laboratory with complete sample coating and plasma cleaning capabilities, as well as cryogenic TEM sample preparation equipment. A computer suite for offline image and data analysis and office and meeting space for staff and industrial users round out the facility in the Singh Center.
The NCF is currently maintained by two full-time Ph.D. level research scientists with combined experience of 39 years in materials characterization. While serving the role as a university resource for materials characterization and nano-scale fabrication, we welcome users from other academic, corporate and government institutions.
Yates
Douglas Yates, Ph.D.
Director, Nanoscale Characterization Facility
Since 1997, Dr. Yates has been the director of the Nanoscale Characterization Facility, which houses instruments for advanced electron and atomic force microscopy and ion scattering. He has, cumulatively, twenty-seven years experience with the instruction, operation and maintenance of electron microscopes and related instruments.
Ford
Jamie Ford, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist, Nanoscale Characterization Facility
Jamie Ford received a BA in Chemistry from Reed College in 2002 and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009. His main duties include instrument maintenance and user training for the Scanning Electron and Atomic Force Microscopes in the NCF. He is also the lead developer of the Sigh Center’s Instrument Scheduling and Interlock System.
Bohn
Nicole Bohn
Electron Microscopy Trainer and Support Specialist
Nanoscale Characterization Facility
Nicole supports electron microscopes and related equipment in the Nanoscale Characterization Facility through user training and troubleshooting. She earned her BA in Science, Technology, and Society with a background in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019, where she began supporting electron microscopy users and equipment in 2018. Before her return to Penn, Nicole spent 4 years at MIT specializing in electron and x-ray microscopy at the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies and MIT.nano.
Stach
Eric Stach
Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
The Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM)
Nanoscale Characterization Oversight Committee Chair
Eric Stach is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He has held positions as Staff Scientist and Principal Investigator at the National Center for Electron Microscopy at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as Associate, then Full Professor at Purdue University, and as Group Leader at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
He is a Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Hummingbird Scientific. He is also Secretary of the Board of Directors for the Materials Research Society, and oversees the Nanoscale Characterization Facility in the Singh Center for Nanotechnology.
Murray
Christopher Murray
Richard Perry University Professor
of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering,
Chris Murray is the Richard Perry Professor in the Department of Chemistry, in the School of Arts and Sciences, and a Professor in the Materials Science Department in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Winey
Karen Winey
Materials Science and Engineering,
Chemical Biomelecular Engineering,
TowerBrook Foundation Faculty Fellow
Karen I. Winey is Professor, Chair and TowerBrook Foundation Faculty Fellow of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania with a secondary appointment in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
Professor Winey’s current interests include both polymer nanocomposites and ion-containing polymers. In nanocomposites, she designs and fabricates polymer nanocomposites containing carbon nanotubes and metal nanowires with the aim of understanding how to improve their mechanical, thermal, and especially electrical conductivity and resistive switching properties. Polymer dynamics in the presence of nanoparticles is also an area of interest. In ion-containing polymers, including block copolymers and polymers with ionic liquids, Winey combines imaging and scattering methods to provide unprecedented insights into their morphologies.
Davies
Peter K. Davies
Class of 1942 Term Professor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Peter Davies is Professor of the Materials Science and Engineering Department in the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Dr. Davies’ principal research interests lie in the design and nano-level structure characterization of functional inorganic solids. He is an expert in the synthesis, crystal chemistry, and properties of electronic ceramic materials, and has published seminal papers on the influence of nanoscale atomic ordering on the properties of ceramic resonators used in wireless communications.
Carpick
Robert W. Carpick
John Henry Towne Professor and Chair
Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics,
Materials Science and Engineering
Robert W. Carpick is a Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Appliced Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and is a member of the Physics Graduate Group.
Professor Carpick works at the intersection of mechanics, materials, and physics to conduct research into nanotribology (the atomic-scale origins of friction, adhesion, lubrication, and wear), nanomechanics, nanostructured materials, and scanning probe microscopy (SPM).
Drndic
Marija Drndic
Professor and Graduate Chair,
Physics and Astronomy Department
Marija Drndic, a Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy in the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts & Sciences.
Her research is focused on the exploration of mesoscopic and nanoscale structures in the areas of experimental condensed matter physics, nanoscience and nanotechnology. She studies the fundamental physical properties of low-dimensional and small-scale structures such as nanocrystals, nanowires and biomaterials and we develop their device applications.
Yodh
Arjun Yodh
James M. Skinner Professor of Science and the Director of
The Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM)
Physics and Astronomy Department
Arjun G. Yodh is the James M. Skinner Professor of Science and the Director of The Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM) at the University of Pennsylvania. Physics & Astronomy is his home department and he has a secondary appointment in the Department of Radiation Oncology in the Medical School.
His current interests span fundamental and applied questions in condensed matter physics, medical and biophysics, and the optical sciences. Areas of ongoing research include: soft materials, complex fluids and networks, carbon nanotubes, laser spectroscopy, optical microscopy & micromanipulation, biomedical optics, functional imaging and spectroscopy of living tissues, photodynamic therapy and nonlinear optics.
