An $11.2 million materials science center created to investigate a new generation of novel materials for electronic devices, optical systems, sensors, video displays, lubricants and adhesives was established today at Stanford University, IBM's Almaden Research Center and the University of California, Davis, by the National Science Foundation. The center was one of 11 at universities nationwide announced by NSF. It marks the first time that a corporation has received full partnership in a NSF materials research center, although a number of centers have had significant industrial involvement in the past. The goal of the new center, called the Center for Polymer Interfaces and Macromolecular Assemblies (CPIMA), is to create and study novel thin films made from long molecules called polymers. These spaghetti-like molecules, of which plastics are the most familiar, are made by joining large chains of smaller chemical units. Other examples of polymers include rayon, epoxy glue, starch and cellulose. The unusual properties of these novel thin films, with layers only a few atoms thick, may make it possible to create optical and electronic devices that are significantly smaller than those that currently exist. They also hold promise in the development of new lubricants and adhesives. "The technology that we are focusing on will likely come into use 10 years down the road," said UC Davis center co-director Pieter Stroeve, a professor in the chemical engineering and materials science department. "Its success will depend on our understanding of how polymers behave at interfaces and how we can control that behavior." The polymer research center combines various research strengths at Stanford, IBM Almaden and UC Davis. Researchers at Stanford are leaders in the creation of new polymers and in efforts to understand how these materials respond to deformation. IBM Almaden, a center for technological innovation in microelectronics, also has a strong polymer research group. UC Davis researchers, drawn from the departments of chemical engineering and materials science, and electrical and computer engineering, are widely recognized for their innovative polymer work. In particular, they are known for their research in the transport of substances across polymer interfaces, their study of the optical properties of polymer films with and without semiconducting or magnetic particles slightly larger than molecules, and their study of how polymers respond to light. Members of the UC Davis team are also investigating the self-organizing and electronic properties of polymer interfaces. In addition to Stroeve, UC Davis researchers involved with the center are Nicholas Abbott, assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science; Brian Higgins, professor and chair of the chemical engineering and materials science department; Andre Knoesen, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering; Subhash Risbud, professor and vice-chair of chemical engineering and materials science; and Rosemary Smith, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. "The most exciting aspect of the new center, from our point of view, is that it represents a collaboration between an industrial research laboratory, a private university and a land-grant university to solve a pressing technological problem and to widely disseminate results," said M.S. Ghausi, dean of the UC Davis College of Engineering. "Center activities will also reach out to involve high-school students and teachers, undergraduates and graduate students." In addition to the NSF support, the UC Davis research team is receiving support from the following campus units: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Division of Graduate Studies, Vice Chancellor for the Office of Research, Dean of the College of Engineering, and Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.