MIT Materials Research Science and Engineering Center

麻省理工学院材料研究科学与工程中心(MRSEC)支持由五个跨学科研究小组组织的广泛研究计划。该中心有一个广泛的教育项目，从K-12到研究生和博士后水平。这些活动包括本科生暑期研究体验项目，该项目在全国范围内宣传，竞争非常激烈。MRSEC开发了一个创新的科学和工程日营，目标是在附近公立学校就读的少数族裔群体中七、八年级的学生。该中心支持维护良好的共享实验设施，供更广泛的科学界使用。MRSEC通过支持一个充满活力的、经过竞争挑选的种子项目的计划来应对新出现的科学机会。与其他学术机构、产业界、国家实验室和其他部门进行了广泛的合作。研究微光子材料和结构的跨学科研究小组正在寻求开发一种新的材料类别，旨在用光取代电子，成为光学设备中信息的主要载体。这些被称为光子晶体的材料将允许在非常小的维度内控制光的传播。该小组使用理论和实验技术来开发和测试新的方法。第二个小组正在研究纳米结构聚合物，以确定电子活性聚合物如何在分子水平上组织和行为。该小组的目标是开发所需的化学和加工，以实现新的光学和电气应用所需的材料性能。第三组专注于介观半导体系统。这些系统可能只涉及几百个或数千个原子，是未来电子半导体设备的模型。该小组试图了解通过这种纳米结构和在这些纳米结构之间进行电子传输的基本物理原理。第四个小组正在研究聚合物材料的微观结构和机械性能。该小组的目标是通过定制结构聚合物材料的微观结构来实现机械性能的大幅改善。第五个小组研究基本的物理现象，重点是被称为莫特绝缘体的物质。这些材料包括高温超导体。这些材料拥有重大的但尚未实现的技术前景，但从基本的科学观点来看也是极其重要的。该小组致力于研究在这些固体中掺入其他成分的效果，这将增加对这些材料的基本了解，并提高开发它们用于技术应用的能力。目前，该中心的参与者包括43名高级调查人员、14名博士后助理、41名研究生、47名本科生和19名技术人员和其他支持人员。罗伯特·J·西尔贝教授是MRSEC的负责人。

9808941SilbeyThe Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology supports a broad research program organized through five interdisciplinary research groups. The Center has an extensive educational program, ranging from K-12 through the graduate and postdoctoral level. These activities include a Summer Research Experience for Undergraduate program, which is nationally advertised and highly competitive. The MRSEC has developed an innovative Science and Engineering Day Camp targeted at seventh and eighth grade students from underrepresented minority groups attending nearby public schools. The Center supports well maintained shared experimental facilities which are made available to the broader scientific community. The MRSEC addresses emerging scientific opportunities by supporting a vigorous program of competitively selected seed projects. There are extensive collaborations with other academic institutions, industry, National Laboratories, and other sectors.The interdisciplinary research group investigating microphotonic materials and structures is seeking to develop a new class of materials which aims to replace electrons with light as the chief carrier of information in optical devices. These materials, called photonic crystals, will allow the control of the propagation of light in very small dimensions. The group uses theoretical and experimental techniques to develop and test novel approaches. A second group is investigating nanostructured polymers to determine how electronically active polymers organize and behave at the molecular level. The objective of the group is to develop the chemistry and processing needed to achieve the materials properties desired for novel optical and electrical applications. A third group is focusing on mesoscopic semiconductor systems. These systems, involving perhaps a few hundred or thousand atoms, are models for the electronic semiconductor devices of the future. The group seeks to understand the fundamental physical principles which underlie the electronic transport through and between such nanostructures. A fourth group is investigating the microstructure and mechanical properties of polymeric materials. The goal of the group is to achieve large improvements in mechanical properties by tailoring the microstructure of structural polymeric materials. Fundamental physical phenomena are investigated by a fifth group, which focuses on substances called Mott insulators. These materials include high temperature superconductors. These materials hold significant, but yet unrealized, technological promise but also are extremely important from a basic scientific viewpoint. The group seeks to study the effect of doping these solids with other constituents, which will increase the fundamental understanding of these materials and the ability to develop them for technological applications.Participants in the Center currently include 43 senior investigators, 14 postdoctoral associates, 41 graduate students, 47 undergraduates, and 19 technicians and other support personnel. Professor Robert J. Silbey directs the MRSEC.