Welcome to the Nanoscale Physics Research Laboratory
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The Nanoscale Physics Research Laboratory was established in 1994 - the first centre for nanoscience in the UK - and formally opened in the Physics East building in May 1996 by Professor Sir John Cadogan FRS. The second phase of the Lab, the Nanoscale Science Facility, was opened in May 2004 by Professor Sir Michael Pepper FRS. The NPRL now encompasses a flourishing range of both fundamental and applied research programs. An interdisciplinary and international approach is central to the ethos of the Lab. Collaborations with other departments (Chemistry, Environmental Research, etc) are enhanced by their proximity on campus, while the Lab sustains international research collaborations with a whole series of partners in Europe and worldwide. The NPRL is also committed to the transfer of new concepts and technological innovations from the research lab into industry, including our spin-out companies, creating new opportunities for sustainable economic development. |
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News Archive |
 Monday 12 December 2011 The STEM image of a magic-number gold cluster (Au923) chosen by the IoP’s Electron Microscopy and Analysis Group as the logo of their national meeting in September 2011 (EMAG) has now made its appearance in the scientific literature (Wang & Palmer, Nano Letters, 2011,DOI). While the logo was no doubt chosen as much for its artistic merits as the science it discloses, the Nano Letter focuses on quantitative observations (including mass spectrometry and dynamical imaging) of gold adatoms and groups found to exist on top of the microfacets of the cluster itself, a new window on the nanoworld made possible by the aberration-corrected STEM, and possibly relevant to a number of catalytic processes. |
 Monday 25 July 2011 Richard Palmer and Lai-Sheng Wang (Brown University, USA) are chairing the 2011 edition of the two-yearly Gordon Research Conference on Clusters, Nanocrystals and Nanostructures at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. The Clusters GRC is the most popular Gordon Conference at the site this year with over 170 attendees; 20 delegates had to be rejected through lack of space. A spectacular cast of speakers includes the best of British - Sir Fraser Stoddart, once Head of Birmingham Chemistry and now at Northwestern, and Russell Cowburn from Cambridge. Richard Palmer comments "to be elected to Chair a Gordon conference is definitely a career highlight; working with Lai Sheng on the program has been a real pleasure". Martin Cuddy and Miriam Dowle present their posters this afternoon, and Ziyou Li is chairing a session. |
NPRL Recruits Promising Nano Researcher Sunday 9 October 2011 Here is the first official photo of our newest group member, Sophie, aged zero, presented by proud mum, our Experimental Officer Lin Tang, and dad, Lei Zu. NPRL News was also privileged to obtain Sophie`s first press interview:- NPRL News: Do you see your future in STM, like your mum, or perhaps in electron microscopy? Sophie: Meaningful silence. NPRL News: Where do you see the new SPELS technique making its biggest contribution? Sophie: Thoughtful pause. NPRL News: Which is your favourite Rugby team? Sophie: Wales! Well, with those wise thoughts we leave Sophie to press on with her blossoming scientific career. |
 Don Eigler meets the Queen!
He might have won the 2010 Kavli Prize for Nanoscience, presented by the King of Norway no less, but even our Honorary Professor Don Eigler knows his place in Birmingham's Victoria Square - 5 metres below the feet of Queen Victoria, to be precise! But Don did not visit Birmingham just for the sightseeing: a large crowd enjoyed a scintillating lecture on the prospects for computing via spin cascades in assemblies of metal atoms organised and probed with the STM, and Don also enjoyed numerous scientific discussions in the NPRL and across the School of Physics - an inspiration to us all... |
The Physics of Catalysis? Wednesday 5 October 2011 Not many people would give a talk about catalysis that included quantum tunnelling of electrons across thin oxide layers, nor suggest that electronic dopants in an oxide support could activate a catalytic nanoparticle. But our Honorary Professor Hajo Freund , Director of the Fritz-Haber Institute (FHI) of the Max-Planck Society in Berlin, is no ordinary catalytic chemist. Indeed Hajo`s literacy in solid state physics shone through a brilliant School Colloquium, a precursor to the Centenary Celebrations of the famous FHI later this month in Berlin. |
These (nano) boots were made for walking
The NPRL boasts a stellar cast of Honorary Professors! This month's visitor was ZL Wang from Georgia Tech, pioneer of zinc oxide nanostructures and their applications. ZL has now demonstrated not only the potential of piezoelectric structures to harvest energy from ambient mechanical motion (e.g. walking!) - for self-powered electrical devices - but also piezo-electric logic gates where mechanical strain generates the gate voltage... all since his last visit to Birmingham. We bask in a measure of reflected glory! |
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News Archive |
Silicon: from chips to toothpaste... That was the message of the School colloquium given by one of our Lab's five Honorary Professors, Leigh Canham from Intrinsiq Materials. Not content with discovering visible light emission from nanostructured silicon films, a massively cited piece of work in opto/electronics, Leigh went on to show that nano-Si is biocompatible and used it as a drug delivery vehicle for cancer treatment. Now he's turned to health, wellness and beauty! That's where the toothpaste comes in... |
Love is in the air, once again Not content with its positively viral impact in Feb 2010, our Nano-Valentine reappeared in the public arena this month. The iconic image was chosen to appear in Science Magazine to publicise this year's series of Gordon Research Conferences, and in particular the meeting on Clusters, Nanocrystals and Nanostructures, of which Richard Palmer is a chair. |
Return of The Sloan Ranger Friday 17 December 2010 Guest of honour at this year's Lab Christmas dinner and bowling event was Peter Sloan, returning to Birmingham a mere 6 weeks after taking up his Lectureship at Bath. Peter joins Roger Bennett, Lidija Siller, Michael Hunt and Yu Chen as former group members who now hold academic positions in the UK. What next for Peter? More atomic manipulation, but also graphene and even fatherhood, it seems...! |
 Honorary Degree in Belgium
Friday 19 November 2010 Professor Richard Palmer, Head of the Nanoscale Physics Research Laboratory (NPRL) at the University's School of Physics and Astronomy, has been honoured "for his pioneering work in nanoscale physics and his contributions to bridging the gap between nanoscience and nanotechnology. He has published 300 scientific papers in the field and created four high tech spin-out companies in Birmingham. He set up the NPRL as the UK's first centre for nanoscience." Professor Palmer was awarded the doctorate today during the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Institute for Materials Research at Hasselt University. |
 Have you seen this man? Monday 1 November 2010 This suspicious man, spotted on a poster on the train, bears an uncanny resemblance to our esteemed Professor! |
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£3 million joint UK-US project to Study Nanoparticles in the Environment Monday 18 October 2010 Scientists at the University of Birmingham have secured £3 million to study the effects of nanoparticles on the environment. Read full article. |
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The University of Birmingham enters business partnership with Johnson Matthey Colour Technologies Friday 1 October 2010 The University of Birmingham has recently teamed up with Johnson Matthey Colour Technologies, a market leader in high performance materials, to investigate techniques in the characterisation of ceramic pigments. Read full article at UoB web site. |
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Local hero? Friday 3 September 2010 The 11 greatest-ever minds of the Midlands have been revealed in a competition which aims to highlight the region's scientific achievements. Read full article at Birmingham Post. |
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Quantum electron 'submarines' help push atoms around Friday 30 July 2010 IMAGINE a machine that can assemble an object atom by atom. That may be a step closer with the demonstration of electrons moving like a "quantum submarine" inside a material. For more information visit New Scientist web site. |
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On-the-spot diagnosis for prostate cancer patients Friday 23 April 2010 Inanovate, one of the spin-off companies from the EPSRC-funded Nanoscale Physics Research Laboratory (NPRL) at the University of Birmingham, has developed a nanoscale device which can diagnose prostate cancer with more accuracy than current tests. Read more at EPSRC web site. |
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Birmingham nanotechnology firm sets up at Longbridge Innovation Centre Friday 5 March 2010 Just over 50 years ago, the first Mini came off the conveyor at Longbridge, and became one of the world's greatest examples of efficient engineering in a small package. Now another company is hoping to revive the 'small is beautiful' ethos at the industrial site - through microscopic nanotechnology. Visit Birmingham Post web site for more information. |
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Atomic love, in 3 dimensions Friday 12 February 2010 It's Valentine's day - and they say that the best presents come in small packages. Scientists at Birmingham University's Nanoscale Physics Research Lab have taken this message to heart - their Valentine card, made of pure palladium, is only 8 nanometres in size; you can even see the atoms. Making the card was also a work of love; clusters of palladium atoms bonded together on the surface of carbon and spontaneously arranged themselves into the world's smallest heart. For further details see Phys Org article. |