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Brazil, Portugal and Spain Begin Major Collaboration at INL

A call for projects involving Brazilian companies as well as Brazilian research, technology and innovation organisations have been launched. This is the result of the Memorandum of Understanding signed at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), March 8th. The agreement signed between the governments of Brazil, Spain and Portugal is based on previous cooperation agreements and establishes the framework for the role of INL in the development of training and research activities in Nanotechnology. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed during the visit of the Brazilian and the Portuguese Ministers of Science and Education, Aloizio Mercadante and Nuno Crato, to INL and it will facilitate the access for Brazilian science, technology, and innovation centres as well as for students, researchers and companies to INL state of the art facilities. The main areas of cooperation are nanodevices, nanoelectronics, nanoparticles applied to nanomedicine, environment control and water and food quality monitoring. link to call Photo: (L-R) Jose Rivas, Director General of INL; Aloizio Mercadante, Brazilian Minister of Education and Science; Nuno Crato, Portuguese Minister of Education and Science; and Paulo Freitas, Deputy Director-General of INL – credit – WAPAphoto.

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INL involved in EC´s coordinated approach to promote the safety of nanomaterials

INL involved in EC´s coordinated approach to promote the safety of nanomaterials

The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) participates in the European Commission’s NANoREG project on the safety of nanomaterials. At INL, the goal of this four-year project is to establish and test specific measurement and characterization methods and offer a wide set of well‐characterized manufactured or engineered nanomaterials (MNMs). The industrial use of nanomaterials has grown significantly, therefore more knowledge about the health and environmental hazard impacts of nanomaterials is necessary. Interest in the use of nanomaterials is considerable, as they can be used to improve product characteristics; for example, nanoparticles help make a surface self-cleaning through a hydrophobic coat of paint; but the safety of these nanoparticles raises questions. The fast development of nanomaterials and their presence on the market make it necessary to evaluate their environmental and health impacts. The project aims at developing guidelines for safe usage, risk management and safety instructions while assessing the need for new legislation. NANoREG is a FP7 project aiming to deliver the answers needed by regulators and legislators on EHS by linking them to scientific evaluation of data and test methods. The NANoREG consortium joins governmental authorities, research institutes and companies from 14 European countries. With this project, we will get not […]

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INL facilities open to external users

INL facilities open to external users

The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory provides 22,000 m2 of laboratory space and state-of-the-art equipment for various research areas. INL scientific facilities are fully operational since the beginning of 2011 and cleanroom processes and laboratory equipment are now available for external users. The cleanroom provides class 100 and class 1000 laboratory space dedicated to nanolithography, photolithography, wet process, planarization, reactive Ion etching, deposition, and analytical instrumentation for process and device characterization. A separate biology bay completes cleanroom key capabilities. The central Biology and Biochemistry facility provides support for groups developing research in these areas, including specific facilities for molecular biology, microbiology, bio-imaging facility. The high accuracy laboratories offer a detailed structural characterization of thin films, interfaces, nanostructures, and biological structures. Available techniques include atomic force microscopy, surface analysis by XPS, electron microscopy including a probe corrected TEM, FIB and environmental SEM. Other support labs provide state-of-the-art equipment for optical imaging, spectral ellipsometry, magnetometry, radiofrequency device characterization, MEMS, and nanochemistry/spectroscopy. External users can check equipment and process availability at INL website, as well as the contact person for the particular item. Conditions of use are as follows: 1 -external users coming to INL within approved collaborative projects (FCT, CSIC, European union, companies, […]

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INL will award 21 COFUND fellowships

INL will award 21 COFUND fellowships

The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) will award 21 COFUND NanoTRAINforGrowth Fellowships. The fellowship programme supports promising postdoctoral researchers in their academic career development through integration into research groups, facilitating new co-operations in a stimulating and interdisciplinary research environment. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to plan a research project and work on their own research idea, at INL´s facilities. The Cofund fellowships will be awarded in the main focus areas of INL, respectively Nanomedicine (emphasis on cancer research) and Nanotechnologies for food safety and environmental control. The programme will also provide training on leadership and communication skills, project management and on obtaining research funding. INL´s NanoTRAINforGrowth fellowship programme will allow international researchers to develop their work over a period of two years.Researchers will be selected through a competitive call, expected to be launched in January 2013. The NanoTRAINforGrowth fellowship programme will run for four years (2013 – 2016) with an overall budget of 3.3M€ and is co-financed by the Marie Curie Actions of the European Union.

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Chad S. Korach delivered talk on the Mechanics of Dental Enamel and Mineralized Bio-Nanocomposites at INL

«Mechanics of Dental Enamel and Mineralized Bio-Nanocomposites» is the title of the talk delivered by Dr Chad S. Korach, June 28th, at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), in Braga. Dr Chad S. Korach is Assistant Professor and the Director of the Laboratory for Nanotribology and Wear Mechanics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stony Brook University. Abstract Enamel, the hardest substance in the human body, takes the form of a protective crown on teeth and is a human’s only exposed hard tissue. Though enamel is a robust biological composite with high hardness and rigidity, it is susceptible to significant localized wear in the form of cervical lesions. The aetiology of the lesions is attributed to high mechanical stresses in the cervical region and the abrasion of the surface combined with erosive. The unique hierarchical microstructure of enamel plays an important role in the wear process. Here, the mechanics of enamel is studied by instrumented micro scratching and atomic force acoustic microscopy (AFAM) to observe the effects of erosive application on surface damage formation. Relationships between applied stress and enamel erosion are developed. In addition, quantitative AFAM is used to measure the nanomechanical properties of enamel associated with microstructural […]

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Nobel Laureate Harold Kroto gave lecture at INL

Nobel Laureate Harold Kroto gave lecture at INL

Sir Harold Kroto, one of the co-recipients of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry delivered (June 1st) at INL, in Braga (Portugal) a lecture entitled «Carbon in Nano and Outer Space». The Nobel laureate stressed the importance of improving the general level of scientific understanding and awareness worldwide. «Acceptance of the truth» should go hand in hand with «understanding the truth». Harold Kroto invited the young scientists in the audience to address present challenges and to think out of the box, to focus their creativity and commitment in the subject they feel genuinely passionate about. Referring to the importance of the discovery of penicillin and anaesthetics and its impact on the improvement of human well-being, Kroto directed the attention to a present challenge: the decreasing effectiveness of antibiotics. Prof. Kroto began his lecture telling the story of his and his colleagues’ odyssey towards the discovery of C60. In 1970 his research group conducted laboratory began spectroscopic studies on long linear carbon chain molecules with colleague David Walton. This research led to radio astronomy searches with Takeshi Oka and Canadian astronomers (Lorne Avery, Norman Broten and John McLeod) at the National Research Council in Canada which made the surprising discovery that […]

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INL installs LPX Pegasus ASE, a Deep Silicon Etch (DRIE) with a broad range of challenging applications

INL installs LPX Pegasus ASE, a Deep Silicon Etch (DRIE) with a broad range of challenging applications

Advanced Silicon Etch (ASE) is a deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) technique used to rapidly etch deep and high aspect ratio structures in silicon. LPX Pegasus is the continuation of STS’ Advanced Silicon Etch (ASE) technology. Through an in-depth understanding of the Bosch process and with the required hardware, Pegasus is able to provide excellent profile control and selectivity. The increased etch rate and improved uniformity lead to higher throughput and device yield, resulting in increased productivity. This inductively de-coupled plasma (IDP) system uses fluorine-based gases for anisotropic deep silicon trench etching. The 13.56 MHz RF power supply produces high-density, low-pressure, low-energy plasma. This type of plasma allows high selectivity and aspect ratio etching for depths greater than 150 microns and has an expected etch rate better than 15 microns/ min. Used primarily for MEMs devices, the typical materials used in this etcher are silicon wafers covered with photoresist and thin films of silicon dioxide and silicon nitride. The performance improvements that Pegasus brings have numerous benefits for research as well as for end-users. At the moment, the tool is being installed in the INL’s facilities and it is expected that the final validation process will take place the first […]

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