NIST Technicalendar January 14 to January 18, 2008 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/.

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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No Scheduled Events

10:30 AM - Evacuation Experiments in Offices and Public Buildings

2:00 PM - Energy Gaps and their Control in Thiophene Based Polymers and Oligomers

10:30 AM - Surface Restructuring of Nanoparticles: An Efficient Route for Extended Charge Separation

10:30 AM - Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project
10:30 AM - Correlating Polymer Adhesion with Interface Composition – Towards Pragmatic Self-Assembly for Adhesives Design
1:00 PM - Materials, Properties, and Applications of N-Doped Organic Semiconductors
1:00 PM - Materials, Properties, and Applications of N-Doped Organic Semiconductors

1/14 -- MONDAY

No Scheduled Events

1/15 -- TUESDAY

10:30 AM - FIRE RESEARCH DIVISION SEMINAR: Evacuation Experiments in Offices and Public Buildings
In fire safety engineering, the performance based design concept relies strongly on the use of computer simulations of fire and evacuation processes. The validation of the simulation tools requires experimental information on the human behaviour during the evacuation situations. In this work, two different types of evacuation situations were studied. The first type was evacuation drills which are normally carried out as part of the safety training of the staff in public buildings and workplaces. The advantage of evacuation drills is that the building (and, if necessary, also the occupants) can be equipped with monitoring devices in order to observe the events during the evacuation. The drawback of the evacuation drills is that the building occupants are normally informed beforehand which may affect the decision making processes. The second type was actual evacuations which occur every now and then. The advantage of actual evacuations is that the decision making processes are likely to be similar to what they would be in case of a real fire. The main techniques used for the observation of evacuation drills were video cameras and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Both techniques were used in the evacuation drills in a public library and two office buildings. A large amount of information was obtained and the problems in the application of the observation techniques were identified. In particular, the results show that when the RFID technique is used, the placement of the antennas and tags is very important. With careful placement of the antennas and tags, the reliability of the RFID technique as applied in the current work may be sufficient for scientific purposes. The reliability is poor if the tags are placed under the clothing or other absorbing material. In the observation of an actual evacuation of a large shopping centre, the recordings of the surveillance cameras were used to measure the flow rates of people. The results are very promising and indicate that the collection of surveillance camera recordings from large evacuations should be started.
Dr. Timo Korhonen , VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
Bldg 224, Rm B245. (NIST Contact: Rodney Bryant, 301-975-6487, rbryant@nist.gov)


1/16 -- WEDNESDAY

2:00 PM - POLYMERS DIVISION SEMINAR: Energy Gaps and their Control in Thiophene Based Polymers and Oligomers
Miklos Kertesz , Georgetown University.
224 Bldg, Rm. B312. (NIST Contact: Tatiana Psurek, 301-975-8647, tatiana.psurek@nist.gov)


1/17 -- THURSDAY

10:30 AM - ,CNST NANOTECHNOLOGY SERIES SEMINAR: Surface Restructuring of Nanoparticles: An Efficient Route for Extended Charge Separation
Semiconductor photocatalysis using nanoparticlate TiO2 has proven to be a promising technology for use in photocatalytic reactions, in the cleanup of water, or as a photoactive material in nanocrystalline solar cells. We have found that reconstructed surface of metal oxide nanoparticles differs form the bulk by the presence of highly reactive under-coordinated surface. This can be viewed as a curse or as an opportunity. The under-coordinated surface metal atoms trap light-induced charges, but also exhibit high affinity for oxygen-containing ligands. As a result of this strong interaction, delocalized bands of metal oxide nanoparticles are electronically coupled to organic linkers, improving their optical properties in the visible region and photovoltaic response due to enhanced charge separation across nanoparticle interface. In the same manner we use photoinduced charge separation in order to control and manipulate processes within living cells.
Tijana Rajh , Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL.
Bldg. 215, Rm. C103-C106. (NIST Contact: Nikolai Zhitenev, 301-975-6039, nikolai.zhitenev@nist.gov)


1/18 -- FRIDAY

10:30 AM - NIST COLLOQUIUM SERIES: Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project
The fossil record suggests that our species evolved in Africa, but when? Now the new tools of molecular genetics are being used to unearth clues that reveal how we populated the world. This research has culminated in the launch of the Genographic Project, the largest study of genetic anthropology ever undertaken. Dr. Wells takes us on a tour that spans the globe and 60,000 years, tracing the migrations of our ancient ancestors using genetic signposts carried in the DNA of people living today. The research reveals how the incredible tapestry of human diversity has been created through these epic journeys.
Spencer Wells , Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic Society.
Administration Building, Red Auditorium. (NIST Contact: Kum Ham, 301-975-4203, kham@nist.gov)
Special Assistance Available

10:30 AM - POLYMERS DIVISION SEMINAR: Correlating Polymer Adhesion with Interface Composition – Towards Pragmatic Self-Assembly for Adhesives Design
Adhesion of curable polymeric systems to various surfaces often relies upon interfacial segregation of adhesion promoting species. The interface structure and composition that evolves during curing is controlled by a complex combination of competitive reaction and diffusion events. Rational design and fundamental understanding of strongly bonded interfaces is hindered by the fact that a well-adhered interface, by definition, cannot be readily separated and exposed for analysis. Hence, the molecular mechanism of adhesion in such systems is often not well understood. A number of chemical strategies to control adhesion of silicone elastomers have been developed in our group. This talk will focus on our efforts to correlate interface composition with practical adhesion through a variety of analytical methods in a model polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based systems. Examples include a high throughput thermal gradient peel test methodology coupled with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and a non-linear optical technique known as sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy to study changes in the interface composition and structure as adhesion develops with increasing cure temperature. These methodologies reveal new insights to the underlying mechanisms of adhesion and suggest routes to control the formation of composition gradients through crude but industrially relevant forms of self-assembly.
Ahn (Shaun) Dongchan , Senior Research Engineering Specialist - Dow Corning Corporation, Midland, MI, d.ahn@dowcorning.com.
224 Bldg, Rm. A312. (NIST Contact: Christopher Stafford, 301-975-4368, christopher.stafford@nist.com)

1:00 PM - POLYMERS DIVISION SEMINAR: Materials, Properties, and Applications of N-Doped Organic Semiconductors
Calvin Chan , Princeton University.
224 Bldg, Rm. A312. (NIST Contact: Christopher Soles, 301-975-8087, christopher.soles@nist.gov)

1:00 PM - POLYMERS DIVISION SEMINAR: Materials, Properties, and Applications of N-Doped Organic Semiconductors
Calvin Chan , Princeton University.
224 Bldg, Rm. A312. (NIST Contact: Christopher Soles, 301-975-8087, christopher.soles@nist.gov)


ADVANCE NOTICE

1/22/08 10:30 AM - CNST ELECTRON PHYSICS GROUP SEMINAR: Homodyne Detection of Domain Wall Oscillations
Laterally confined magnetic domain walls behave like quasiparticles moving in an external potential well created by a geometrical constriction or a pinning defect. Spin torque effects allow to displace the domain wall quasiparticle electrically, by injecting an ac current the domain wall can be excited to resonate inside the potential well. As the domain wall oscillates, the resistance of the magnetic structure is modulated due to the anisotropic magnetoresistance in phase with the domain wall position. If the quasiparticle happens to be excited at the resonance frequency, the varying resistance will rectify the injected high frequency current and a DC voltage is developed across the structure. Using this technique we determined the resonance frequency of the domain wall. At resonance we observed a reduction of the depinning field of the domain wall for currents as low as $2\times10^{10}$ A/m$^2$, allowing us to determine the resonance frequency by a second independent method. The domain wall resonance frequency was measured for different external magnetic fields and was found to be proportional to the external field. By measuring the mean value of the resistance during excitation we identified the oscillation of the domain wall to be confined close to the potential minimum without any large-scale displacement.
Daniel Bedau , Dipl.-Phys, Scientist - University of Konstanz,.
Bldg. 217, Rm. H107. (NIST Contact: John Unguris, 301-975-3712, john.unguris@nist.gov)

1/22/08 10:30 AM - ATOMIC PHYSICS DIVISION SEMINAR: Metrology and QI applications of SET devices
This talk will be comprised of three parts: 1) I will introduce the basic concept of the Coulomb blockade, and how we can use this to form single-electron tunneling (SET) devices that can sense or control the motion of single electrons. 2) I will discuss the results of a recent metrology result, which answers the question: Is the charge quantum moved by an SET pump identical to a free electron in vacuum? In particular, is the charge of the SET quantum identical to 1 e? 3) I will briefly describe some applications of our recent work relevant for quantum information, and describe our (somewhat inchoate) thoughts on our future direction in the next couple of years.
Neil Zimmerman , Atomic Physics Division.
221 Bldg, Rm. B145. (NIST Contact: Mary Talbot, 301-975-3206, mary.talbot@nist.gov)

1/25/08 10:30 AM - NIST COLLOQUIUM SERIES: DNA: Not Merely the Secret of Life
We are all aware that DNA is the genetic material of living organisms. However, the same properties that make it such a good molecule for that purpose can be exploited to form structures on the nanometer scale. This effort utilizes synthetic DNA molecules with sequences designed to produce branched, rather than linear species. These branched species have been organized into objects, lattices, and nanomechanical devices. This research is aimed at control over the structure of matter: We are seeking to self-assemble macromolecular crystals that can act as hosts for macromolecular guests and enable crystallographic studies, as well as the organizing of nanoelectronic components.
Nadrian Seeman , Department of Chemistry, New York University.
Administration Building, Red Auditorium. (NIST Contact: Kum Ham, 301-975-4203, kham@nist.gov)
Special Assistance Available

2/7/08 10:30 AM - CNST NANOTECHNOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES: Understanding the surfaces of quasi-1D Metal Oxides: from spectromicroscopy of single wires to prototype chemical sensors.
The growing amount of exiting demonstration of photovoltaic, (photo-) catalytic and sensor devices based on quasi 1D and 2D metal oxide nanostructures requires the fundamental understanding of their surfaces affecting the transport and the optical properties. In conjunction with transport measurements, we have applied a range of spectroscopic and imaging techniques to individual metal oxide nanostructure to address the chemical and photochemical processes taking place on its surface. In particular, we use an array of scanning probe, electron, and synchrotron radiation based photoelectron emission spectro-microscopies to investigate in situ the evolution of structural, electronic and chemical particularities in an operating nanodevice under wide range of the experimental conditions such as temperature, chemical environments (including liquids) electrostatic field, sensitization with catalyst particles, radiation etc,. Benefiting from the gained knowledge, we develop the real world prototypes for nanowire based (photo-) catalytic and chemical sensor platforms.
Prof. Andrei Kolmakov , Physics Department, SIUC, Carbondale, IL, , akolmakov@physics.siu.edu.
Bldg. 215, Rm. C103-C106. (NIST Contact: Nikolai Zhitenev, 301-975-6039, nikolai.zhitenev@nist.gov)

2/21/08 8:30 AM - TECHNOLOGY SERVICES SEMINAR: Global Perspectives and Strategies for Education about Standardization Workshop
This workshop is to promote and support awareness of education about standardization worldwide. The two-day workshop will consist of an overview of activities and programs from standards professionals around the world as well as a discussion of key issues, needs and challenges facing those who are involved in standards education.
John Hill , Sun Microsystems. Additional speakers will be Dr. Richard Forselius, United Technologies; Mr. James Olshefsky, Director, External Relations and many more panelists
101 Bldg, Red Auditorium. (NIST Contact: Erik Puskar, 301-975-8619, erik.puskar@nist.gov) http://www.nist.gov/director/sco/index.cfm?ices-workshop.cfm
Special Assistance Available

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MEETINGS ELSEWHERE


1/14 -- MONDAY

No Scheduled Events

1/15 -- TUESDAY

No Scheduled Events

1/16 -- WEDNESDAY

No Scheduled Events

1/17 -- THURSDAY

No Scheduled Events

1/18 -- FRIDAY

No Scheduled Events

ADVANCE NOTICE

No Scheduled Events

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TALKS BY NIST PERSONNEL

KUSHMERICK, J. : ELECTRONIC AND VIBRONIC SPECTROSCOPY OF MOLECULAR JUNCTIONS.
The Center of Nanotechnolgy Seminar Series, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 1/8.

SHEN, V. : COMPUTATIONAL INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SINGLE PARTICLE DYNAMICS AND THERMODYNAMICS IN HARD-SPHERE MIXTURES UNDER CONFINEMENT.
International Workshop on Recent Advances in the Understanding of Confined Fluids: From Superfluids to Oil Reservoirs, Abingdon, Oxon, U.K., 1/9.

KARIM, A. : GUIDED SELF-ASSEMBLY OF BLOCK COPOLYMER NANOSTRUCTURES.
IBM Workshop on Nanopatterns from Block Copolymers, San Jose, CA, 1/15.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL FOR 2008 NOMINATIONS TO NIST PORTRAIT GALLERY
The NIST Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Scientists, Engineers and Administrators honors NBS/NIST alumni for outstanding career contributions to the work of NBS/NIST. Portraits and biographies of those selected are displayed in the corridor of the NIST cafeteria at Gaithersburg. Portraits of at most ten additional persons will be added to the Portrait Gallery in 2008. Any current or former NIST staff member may make a nomination. Nominations of alumni administrators of both programmatic and support units are welcome. Nominations are encouraged of distinguished women and minorities alumni, as well as of outstanding NBS staff members who retired before 1963. For the latter, it is understood that some requested data may no longer be available. For persons who were nominated last year, but not selected, a new nomination may be submitted. If a nominee is not selected after two successive years of nomination, the nominee will not be considered in the following year. Nomination instructions are available from the Standards Alumni Association, Room A-42 Admin, Mail Stop 0952, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0952; telephone 301-975-2486; by email: alumni@nist.gov; or from the SAA website: www.nist.gov/director/saa. Nominations shall be received by the Standards Alumni Association on or before February 15, 2008, by mail or by email to the above addresses. No exceptions will be made to this deadline. December 2007
NIST Contact: Anneke Sengers, 301-975-2463, alumni@nist.gov

FIFTEENTH SIGMA XI POSTDOCTORAL POSTER PRESENTATION
The NIST Chapter of Sigma Xi invites all Post-Doctoral Fellows to present a poster on their scientific research to their NIST coworkers and friends. Guest Scientists who have received their advanced degree in the last five years are also welcome. The poster presentation will take place on February 14, 2008 in Lecture Rooms A and B and the adjoining hallway in the Administration Building from 11 am to 3 pm and will be accompanied by refreshments. All the participating Post-docs and Guest Scientists will be invited to a special reception and lunch hosted by Sigma Xi in the following week when the award for the most outstanding poster will be announced. To participate, send a one page abstract of your poster in MS Word (TITLE all caps, followed by full authors' names, followed by text) and the author information listed below to both yuqin.zong@nist.gov and to barbara.levin@nist.gov Your abstract has to be approved by your mentor. The author information must include: Your Name, Mentor's name, Division, Laboratory, Room and Building address, Mail Stop, Telephone #, FAX #, email and whether you and/or your mentor are Sigma Xi members. You must choose a category that best describes your poster: Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Engineering, Materials, Mathematics, or Physics. The Sigma Xi Web page containing abstracts from previous years can be seen at http://www.nist.gov/sigmaxi THE DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS IS JANUARY 16, 2008. Posters are numbered according to the date of their receipt. Space this year is even more limited than last year, so please sign up early.
NIST Contact: Barbara C. Levin, 301-975-6682, barbara.levin@nist.gov

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: . ., ., .

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NIST WEB SITE ANNOUNCEMENTS

No Web Site announcements this week.

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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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