NIST Technicalendar July 30 to August 3, 2007 The NIST Technicalendar is issued each Friday. All items MUST be submitted electronically from this web page by 12:00 NOON each Wednesday unless otherwise stated in the NIST Technicalendar. The address for online weekly editions of the NIST Technicalendar and NIST Administrative Calendar is: http://www.nist.gov/tcal/.
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In this Issue: Meetings at NIST Meetings Elsewhere Announcements Talks by NIST Personnel NIST Web Site Announcements NIST Administrative Calendar (current)   NIST Vacancy Announcements (current)

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10:00 AM - Rough Surface Adhesion in Dry and Wet Environments

No Scheduled Events

10:30 AM - A Cooper-Pair Box as a Quantum Bit

No Scheduled Events

10:30 AM - Development of the DFT-D Method to Include Implicit Solvation and Applications to Steroid-Mineralocorticoid Receptor Interactions

7/30 -- MONDAY

10:00 AM - CERAMICS DIVISION SEMINAR: Rough Surface Adhesion in Dry and Wet Environments
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are currently used in industrial applications such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, and digital micromirror devices as a result of inherent performance enhancements and manufacturing cost reductions. One of the major hurdles preventing a larger number of MEMS-based products from entering the mainstream is unwanted adhesion, commonly called stiction, which prevents relative motion between structures. MEMS are particularly vulnerable to adhesion as a result of the large surface-to-volume ratio, small surface separations, and highly compliant components. The purpose of this work is to understand the role of the various interfacial forces via microcantilever experiments as a function of surface roughness and relative humidity (RH) and independent calculations using the measured surface topography. In dry ambients, van der Waals dispersion forces are the dominant adhesion mechanism. While the average surface separation Dave is governed by the contacting (highest) summits, the adhesion is mainly due to van der Waals dispersion forces acting across extensive non-contacting areas and is related to 1/Dave2. In wet ambients, capillary condensation of water has a significant effect on rough surface adhesion. Above a threshold RH, which is a function of the surface roughness, the adhesion jumps due to meniscus formation at the interface and increases rapidly towards the upper limit of ?=2?cos?=144 mJ/m2, where ? is the liquid surface energy and ? is the contact angle. A detailed model based on the measured surface topography qualitatively agrees with the experimental data only when the topographic correlations between the upper and lower surfaces are considered. In addition to van der Waals and capillary attractions, particulates can also strongly influence the interfacial adhesion between rough surfaces by changing their average separation. Above a threshold density, the particles introduce a topography that is more significant than the intrinsic surface roughness. As a result, the interfacial separation is governed by the particle size and the adhesion is lower but stochastic in nature. Based on the composition and mechanical properties, we determined that the particles on our micromachined surfaces are silicon carbide (SiC). High temperature annealing in the fabrication process allows residual carbon in the sacrificial oxide layer to migrate to the polysilicon surface and form the SiC particles.
Frank DelRio , University of California Berkeley.
Materials Building, Rm. B307. (NIST Contact: Robert Cook, 301-975-3207, robert.cook@nist.gov)


7/31 -- TUESDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/1 -- WEDNESDAY

10:30 AM - QUANTUM ELECTRICAL METROLOGY DIVISION SEMINAR: A Cooper-Pair Box as a Quantum Bit
In this talk, I will present some of our experimental studies on a Cooper-pair box (i.e. a superconducting charge qubit); a qubit is the basic element of a quantum computer. A Cooper-pair box (CPB) consists of a small superconducting island separated from superconducting leads by a tunnel junction or Josephson junction. The quantum states of the system correspond to a discrete number of excess Cooper pairs or to a superposition of such states. I will discuss our measurements of the lifetime of the first excited state; T1 is found to vary from less than 50 ns up to approximately 10 microseconds. These results are consistent with voltage or charge noise coupled to the island of the CPB. Sources of noise in our system will be discussed. Finally, I will present some recent measurements where we observe an avoided level splitting in the excited state spectrum due to the coupling of the CPB to a two-level system, which can be modeled by incorporating a charge two-level fluctuator in the Hamiltonian for our system.
Benjamin Palmer , Laboratory for Physical Sciences, College Park, MD.
Metrology Building, Room B365. (NIST Contact: Neil Zimmerman, 301-975-5887, neil.zimmerman@nist.gov)


8/2 -- THURSDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/3 -- FRIDAY

10:30 AM - PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES DIVISION SEMINAR: Development of the DFT-D Method to Include Implicit Solvation and Applications to Steroid-Mineralocorticoid Receptor Interactions
Kevin Riley , Dr./Junior Researcher, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic.
Physics (221) Bldg, Rm. A366. (NIST Contact: Denis Bergeron, 301-975-8768, denis.bergeron@nist.gov)


ADVANCE NOTICE

8/16/07 9:00 AM - ELECTRON AND OPTICAL PHYSICS DIVISION SEMINAR: What's New in Mathematica 6
A seminar about what's new in Mathematica 6 will be given by Paul Wellin, Manager of the Wolfram Education Group. The seminar will display and explain the visualization power and the groundbreaking dynamic capabilities new to Mathematica 6. Other topics will include high performance computing and gridMathematica.
Paul Wellin , Wolfram Research, Inc., Champaign, IL.
Administration Bldg, Employees Lounge. (NIST Contact: Charles Clark, 301-975-3709, charles.clark@nist.gov)
Special Assistance Available

8/16/07 1:30 PM - ELECTRON AND OPTICAL PHYSICS DIVISION SEMINAR: A Brief Introduction to Mathematica 6
This hands-on workshop will provide direct experience with all of the basic features of Mathematica 6 as well as a foundation for developing advanced applications of the system. Syllabus: hands-on instruction in performing basic operations, building up computations, and navigating the user interface; introduction to the Mathematica programming language emphasizing familiar programming tasks using procedural, functional, and rule- based programming; visualization and graphics including creation of dynamic and interactive graphics; importing and exporting data and files, file formats, file paths, working with data collections, visualization of large data sets.
Paul Wellin , Mananger, Wolfram Education Group, Champaign, IL.
Technology Bldg, Rm. B105. (NIST Contact: Charles Clark, 301-975-3709, charles.clark@nist.gov)
Special Assistance Available

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MEETINGS ELSEWHERE


7/30 -- MONDAY

No Scheduled Events

7/31 -- TUESDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/1 -- WEDNESDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/2 -- THURSDAY

No Scheduled Events

8/3 -- FRIDAY

No Scheduled Events

ADVANCE NOTICE

10/4/07 10:00 AM - NIST/DARPA WORKSHOP ON COMPACT X-RAY SOURCES BASED ON INVERSE COMPTON SCATTERING
Ronald Ruth , President and Chief Scientist, Lyncean Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, ronald_ruth@lynceantech.com. David Moncton , Director, MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, dem@mit.edu. Winthrop J. Brown, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Frank E Carroll Jr, CEO & Chief Medical Officer, MXISystems, Inc. Mathias Richter, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt PTB
Bldg, Rm. .
The Executive Conference Center (ECC) 3601 Wilson Boulevard Suite 600 Arlington, Virginia 22201. (NIST Contact: Uwe Arp, 301-975-3233, uwe.arp@nist.gov)

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TALKS BY NIST PERSONNEL

GAITAN, M. (Co-Authors: W.Vreeland L.Locascio ) : CURRENT AND FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES FOR MICROFLUIDIC-BASED FORENSIC DNA IDENTIFICATION.
The NIJ Conference, Marriott Crystal Gateway Arlington VA USA, 7/24.

EUSTIS, S. : GROWTH OF ZINC OXIDE NANOWIRES FOR SERIAL OPTICAL AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION.
Gordon Research Conference, Clusters, Nanocrystals & Nanostructures, South Hadley, MA, 7/30.

SEMANCIK, S. : ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF ARRAY-CONFIGURED CHEMICAL MICROSENSORS.
Gordon Research Conference on Chemical Sensors and Interfacial Design, Time: 5:00PM, Location: Salve Regina University, Newport, RI, 7/31.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

VISITOR REGISTRATION FOR NIST EVENTS
Because of heightened security at the NIST Gaithersburg site, members of the public who wish to attend meetings, seminars, lectures, etc. must first register in advance. For more information please call or e-mail the "NIST Contact" for the particular event you would like to attend.
NIST Contact: . ., ., .

PUBLICATIONS PRINTING DEADLINE AUGUST 17, 2007
August 17 is the last day in FY 2007 to submit materials using FY 2007 funds to the Electronic Information and Publications Group (EIPG) for printing at the Department of Commerce or Government Printing Office. To assure timely processing, bring your Editorial Review Board-approved document or administrative printing job and appropriate paperwork to the EIPG office by close of business on Friday, August 17. The office is located on the mezzanine floor of the NIST Research Library in the Administration Building, Room E215. Questions? Ilse Putman, x2780 or Barbara Silcox, x2146.
NIST Contact: Ilse Putman, 301-975-2780, ilse.putman@nist.gov

2007 U.S. WORLD STANDARDS DAY PAPER COMPETITION
The U.S. standards community will celebrate World Standards Day on Thursday, October 18, 2007, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. This year’s theme, “Standards and the Global Village” recognizes the global consensus-building capacity of standards developing organizations. Along with this event, the 2007 World Standards Day Sponsors, including NIST, will hold the annual paper competition. Papers are invited that show, using specific examples, ways that standards developing organizations have encouraged and created global consensus for the economic and social benefit of the global village. Paper competition winners will be announced and given their awards at the U.S. celebration of World Standards Day. Cash prizes are awarded by the Standards Engineering Society (SES) and the World Standards Day Planning Committee. The first place winner will receive a plaque and $2,500. Second and third place winners will receive $1,000 and $500, respectively, along with a certificate. In addition, the winning papers will be published in SES’s journal, Standards Engineering. ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to all U.S. individuals in the private sector or at government facilities. Papers may be co-authored. RULES: Entries must be original and not previously published. NIST papers must be processed through WERB or BERB. All paper contest submissions must be received with an official entry form by midnight August 31, 2007, by the SES Executive Director, 13340 SW 96th Avenue, Miami, Florida, 33176. Complete details and entry forms are available on the SES website www.ses-standards.org (follow the link for “2007 WSD Paper Competition.”) For additional information about the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day, or to register for the event, please visit www.wsd-us.org.
NIST Contact: Mary Donaldson, 301-975-6197, mary.donaldson@nist.gov

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NIST WEB SITE ANNOUNCEMENTS

DIGITAL LIBRARY OF MATHEMATICAL FUNCTIONS (DLMF) AVAILABLE FOR NIST BETA TEST
The DLMF is being developed as a Web and hardcopy replacement for the 1964 Handbook of Mathematical Functions, M. Abramowitz and I.A. Stegun, eds., published originally by the US Government Printing Office for NBS and subsequently by Dover. A beta version of the Web site is available now for testing within NIST. Important: This site is to be used only for testing and evaluation within NIST. It is not to be cited or released outside NIST. Please send comments by email to DLMF-feedback@nist.gov. http://dlmf-i.nist.gov NIST STAFF ONLY
NIST Contact: Daniel Lozier, 301-975-2706, daniel.lozier@nist.gov

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For more information, contact Ms. Sharon Hallman, Editor, Stop 2500, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg MD 20899-2500; Telephone: 301-975-TCAL (3570); Fax: 301-926-4431; or Email: tcal@nist.gov.

All lectures and meetings are open unless otherwise stated.

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