Recent Group News 
Recent work featured on the cover of Integrative Biology
A recent paper on parylene peel arrays for cell patterning has been featured on the cover of Volume 1 Issue 10.
Parylene technology focus (15 Oct 2009)
Graduate student Christine Tan is interviewed and her work featured in a special article "Uses of Microarrays Increasing Rapidly", in the 15 Oct issue of Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN).
Piezoresistive transduction in multilayer polycrystalline silicon resonators (1 Oct 2009)
A new paper has been published by J. D. Cross et al. in the journal Applied Physics Letters. These resonators, fabricated from highly doped polycrystalline silicon layers separated by a dielectric layer, effectively transduces their mechanical motion as a vertical piezoresistor.
Poster award at Cornell NanoScale Facility Annual Meeting (17 Sept 2009)
Congratulations to Ben Cipriany for winning an award based his work "Single-molecule studies of native chromatin."
A method for nanofluidic device prototyping using elastomeric collapse (15 Sept 2009)
A new paper has been published by S.-M. Park et al. in the journal PNAS, demonstrating a technique for nanofluidic fabrication based on the controlled collapse of microchannel structures.
Labeling and purification of cellulose-binding proteins for high resolution fluorescence applications (3 Sept 2009)
A new paper has been published by Jose M. Moran-Mirabal et al. in the journal Analytical Chemistry, demonstrating a new protocol for labeling cellulases with three different fluorophores and their purification and separation of the labeled products.
Parylene peel-off arrays to probe the role of cell–cell interactions in tumour angiogenesis (27 Aug 2009)
A new manuscript has been published by C. P. Tan et al. in the journal Integrative Biology. This work uses parylene as a stencil in order to pattern arrays of material which cells preferentially bind to. By simply varying the size and spacing of these arrays, the communication between single and groups of cells can be studied as a function of cell number and spacing, which should continue to give insights into tumor cell behavior and angiogenesis.
Detection of prostate specific antigen with nanomechanical resonators (18 Aug 2009)
A new paper has been published by P. S. Waggoner et al. in the journal Lab on a Chip, demonstrating the detection of prostate specific antigen, a biomarker used for prostate cancer detection. The molecule could be detected at concentrations as low as 50 fg/mL (1.5 fM) in undiluted serum.
Prion Protein detection in serum using micromechanical resonator arrays (15 Aug 2009)
A new paper has been published by Madhukar Varshney et al. in the journal Talanta, demonstrating the detection of Prion proteins in serum using secondary mass labeling.
Micromechanical drumhead resonators for pressure sensing (22 June 2009)
A new paper has been published from D.R. Southworth et al. entitled, "Pressure dependent resonant frequency of micromechanical drumhead resonators," in Applied Physics Letters. These devices were found to be excellent pressure sensors, giving a linear response in frequency shift from pressures of roughly one hundredth of an atmosphere up to nearly 4 atmospheres.
Recent research selected for inclusion in the Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science and Technology (15 May 2009)
A paper recently published by P. S. Waggoner et al., High-Q, in-plane modes of nanomechanical resonators operated in air, has been chosen for virtual publication in the May 18th issue of the Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science and Technology, published by the AIP and APS in cooperation with others to compile outstanding research in this field across many journals.
This marks the second publication from the Craighead Group recently highlighted in this virtual journal, joining the recently published The relationship between material properties, device design, and the sensitivity of resonant mechanical sensors, included in the March 23rd issue.
New paper published on high-Q, in-plane resonators operated in air (05 May 2009)
Recent results showing that side-to-side vibration of nanomechanical resonators feature high quality factors at atmospheric pressures have been published by P. S. Waggoner et al. in the Journal of Applied Physics, DOI:10.1063/1.3123767. These trampoline-shaped devices are promising for sensor applications at high/atmospheric pressures, and suggest that this in-plane resonant mode can be beneficial for other resonator designs as well.
Recent aptamer publication featured as "Hot Article" by RSC (28 Apr 2009)
A recently published paper from S.-M. Park et al. in Lab on a Chip DOI:10.1039/b819905a has been featured on the Royal Society of Chemistry website as a "Hot Article." This work describes a microfluidic device used to select and purify aptamers using individually addressable sol-gel capture droplets which can capture specific aptamers but later be removed with integrated heaters. This chip-based method shows promising results for improving the way aptamers are developed and prepared.
Sugar-based microfluidics paper featured on cover of Soft Matter (07 Apr 2009)
A recently published paper from Leon Bellan et al. using cotton candy to form dense microfluidic channels for artificial tissue in Soft Matter DOI:10.1039/b819905a has been featured on the front cover of issue 7 (Vol. 5, 2009).
Relationship Between the Design and Sensitivity of Resonant Sensors (09 Mar 2009)
A new paper has been published by Philip S. Waggoner and Harold G. Craighead in the Journal of Applied Physics, DOI:10.1063/1.3079793, looking into how resonator design affects the detection mechanism and sensitivity of the sensor. Notably, traditional cantilever devices were shown to not always be the most sensitive, and it was suggested that in most resonant biosensing applications, only the bound mass would be detected rather than stiffness.
Update: This paper has been selected for inclusion in the 23 Mar 2009 issue of the Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science & Technology.
RSS News Feed Now Available (03 Mar 2009)
Now recent news and publications from the Craighead Group can now be read using RSS 2.0/XML news feed! Subscribe using the xml link above or here: .
Cotton Candy Can Help Labs Grow Tissue, featured in Discovery Channel News (25 Feb 2009)
In an effort to improve the relatively thick artificial tissue implants, a cotton candy based approach has been developed to form a widespread and interconnected network of microfluidic channels. The cotton candy, which is both quick and cheap to make, is then encased in a biodegradable polymer. To form the microfluidics, the implant is simply soaked in water for many days, which slowly removes the water-soluble sugar. This research was published by Leon M. Bellan et al. in the journal Soft Matter DOI:10.1039/b819905a
This work was also highlighted in a video feature on the Discovery Channel program Daily Planet.
Prion Protein Detection, featured in Nature News (27 Mar 2008)
Arrays of micromechanical resonators were fabricated and used as biosensors for detecting prion proteins, that when over-produced cause Mad Cow Disease and similar diseases in sheep (Scrapie) and humans (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease). In order to improve sensitivity to very low concentrations of prions, a nanoparticle-based technique was used to essentially make the prions heavier, and easier to detect with the resonators. This research was published by Madhukar Varshney et al. in the journal Analytical Chemistry DOI:10.1021/ac702153p
High-Q Nanoresonators, featured in the Cornell Chronicle (13 Feb 2008)
40 micron long nanoresonators with 100 x 200 nm cross-sections were demonstrated to have quality factors over 1 million at room temperature. This work was published by S. S. Verbridge et al. in Applied Physics Letters.
Nanotrophy to be Awarded Super Bowl Sunday, featured in the Cornell Chronicle (Jan 2008)
A nanoscale trophy was designed and fabricated by Phil Waggoner and Ben Cipriany for an online contest initiated by PhysicsCentral, an outreach division of the American Physical Society. The trophy would be awarded to the best submitted video describing the physics of football.
Update: The winning video as well as all other entries may be found on the PhysicsCentral Nanobowl page.