Director's Message

by Emilio Mendez

Emilio Mendez, Director, Center for Functional Nanomaterials

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the CFN Newsletter, whose purpose is to inform you of new developments at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials and to foster a close relationship between the CFN users and the CFN staff scientists.  

We are a young organization -- and growing, with many of us coming to the CFN from outside Brookhaven National Laboratory. In fact, I just joined the CFN last November. I remain affiliated with Stony Brook University, where I have been a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy for the last twelve years, and where I maintain a small research program on the electronic properties of semiconducting nanostructures. But if you need to find me, look for me at the CFN.  

Overall, we are busy preparing for the CFN to be ready for full operations as a user-oriented science center by April 2008. By then, we will have a world-class facility for the fabrication and study of nanoscale materials open to all of you. If you are an active member of our jumpstart Users Program then you are already familiar with our proposal system to use our facility. But if you are a potential member unfamiliar with that system, I encourage you to get in touch with Grace Webster (gwebster@bnl.gov), the CFN User Administration Program & Outreach Coordinator, or visit our webpage.  

This is an exciting time for the CFN. Our gorgeous building is finished, grass and trees have been planted, the office furniture has been delivered, and fancy equipment is starting to arrive and be installed. And, even more important, we are accelerating the hire of key personnel.  

I invite you to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the CFN, and to the open house that will follow, on Monday, May 21. This is the first day of the annual Joint Users’ Meeting for the CFN and the National Synchrotron Light Source, which is described elsewhere in this newsletter. During the second and third days of the meeting, we will have escorted tours of the CFN for registered attendees, and CFN scientists will be on hand to describe the facilities and answer questions about them. I encourage you to register early and sign up for one of the tours.  

I am looking forward to meeting you in person, in May if you are coming to our Users Meeting or the next time you come to use the CFN facilities, or perhaps when I visit your institution in the near future.  

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