Q&A

To support the synthesis, processing, fabrication, and analysis at the nanoscale, the DOE Office of Science is developing, constructing, and operating five new Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs). Kristin Bennett is the Program Manager for the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRC).

What is the DOE’s interest in nanotechnology?

The DOE is a mission agency; it is not a regulatory agency. The mission is fourfold: to support energy, science, security, and the environment. Within the department of energy sits the Office of Science. The Office of Science is the nation’s largest supporter of the physical sciences R&D and overall, is a major contributor to basic research to underpin our mission: national security, economic prosperity, energy, and science.

Within the Office of Science sits the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Our nanoscience program resides in the BES under the Office of Science. It is a significant research program in nanoscience and technology that has evolved over the last 5-6 years from an approximate $50 million investment to presently a $200 million investment. The point is that the $200 million investment – minus about $9 million – goes to our office. Within the DOE the formally funded nano program is within the BES.

Our mission at the BES, in terms of nanoscience, is basically to support basic fundamental R&D in emerging areas of nanoscience that support our mission. To attack the challenges in nanoscience, these advances in R&D require advances in new analytical tools. The Office of Science is also a supporter of national user facilities and large analytical tools, and obviously we support national laboratories. So, within the Office of Science we support x-rays and light sources as an infrastructure to advance science. A large part of our nano program has leveraged these light and neutron sources, and also electron sources (electron microscopy centers), into our nano program. So a lot of that $200 million has evolved into not only supporting nanoscience research, but also supporting development of these five new DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs).

These NSRCs are the cornerstones that really make up what our contribution is to nanoscience R&D, but in addition to that, each year we support crosscutting through our chemistry, geo, biology, and materials programs. Within our office, for example through nanomaterials, we would support nanoscience in terms of solar energy conversion or investigations in more efficient lighting (organic light emitting diodes), or, for example, chemical and biological sensing, remediation and restoration, we support some really interesting work on using nanoparticles for toxic waste cleanup, which is work that is done out of Sandia.

A big cornerstone in our programmatic area as well as in the nanoscience arena is finding stronger, lighter materials for, i.e., transportation energy. There is, of course, a whole other side of renewable energy resources.