Future nanoscience and nanotechnologies, from quantum computation to light harvesting for energy and advanced medical therapies, will be based on new nanoscale materials and materials architectures that incorporate quantum dots, photonic crystals, laterally confined inorganic and organic thin films and single molecules. In this talk, I will highlight recent advances at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory in the synthesis, self-assembly, characterization and theory of nanostructured materials. I will emphasize how advanced x-ray techniques can address outstanding questions in nanoscale structure, dynamics and interface properties. Several recent examples include the x-ray visualization of magnetic domains and the surface chemistry of 2 nm semiconductor nanoparticle-DNA composites that exhibit charge separation and have the potential for future photovoltaic cells and in-vivo gene therapies.

Bio Sketch
Eric D. Isaacs is the Director of the Center for Nanoscale Materials Division at Argonne National Laboratory and Professor of Physics in the James Franck Institute at the University of Chicago. Prior to his current position, he spent 13 years at Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff (1990-2000), Director of the Materials Physics Research Department (2000-2001) and Director of the Semiconductor Physics Department (2001-2003). He received his PhD in physics from Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology in 1988 in the area of magnetic semiconductors and was a post-doc at Bell Laboratories (1988-1990) studying magnetism and superconductivity mostly with synchrotron-based x-ray techniques.

Isaacs’ current research centers on studies of novel electronic and magnetic materials with a particular focus on creating images of new phenomena in reciprocal and real space at the nanoscale. Recent accomplishments include the direct observation of the cross-over to quantum dominated spin dynamics near a quantum critical point in the model magnetic system chromium. In order to achieve many of his results he has been a developer of modern synchrotron-based x-ray scattering techniques including inelastic x-ray scattering, x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy and hard x-ray nano-probe.

Isaacs’ has been very active in scientific community service including numerous national review and advisory committees including the DOE Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (2002 - present), the National Synchrotron Light Source Scientific Advisory Committee (2004 present), and was an elected councilor for the American Physical Societyps Division of Materials Physics (2002-2005). ÊHe is a fellow of the American Physical Society (2001).

Eric plays a guitar and his hobbies include music, skiing and cooking.