MRI

These short, intensive training modules are designed specifically to equip REU students with practical skills and foundational knowledge in core materials characterization techniques. Each course combines conceptual instruction with hands-on instrument experience, preparing students to design experiments, collect high-quality data, and interpret results relevant to their summer research projects.

MAY 28-29, 2026
X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) Training: Build a foundation in crystallography and powder diffraction analysis

LEO’s tool qualification feature ensures that only properly trained and safety-certified users can operate instruments autonomously. Staff can quickly qualify users—individually or in batches—and switch them between limited and full access with a single click. 

The Facilities Instrumentation Research Search Tool (DMR-FIRST), developed and managed by the 2DCC, is a federated database of materials instrumentation with global search of rich instrument metadata. Make your materials research instrumentation findable, accessible, and fully integrated into a growing network of data resources for materials research with over 130 instruments across the U.S. and growing. 

Visit dmr-first.org

Shuolong Yang, assistant professor at the University of Chicago, has leveraged the capabilities of the NSF-funded 2D Crystal Consortium–Materials Innovation Platform (2DCC-MIP) to probe the layer-by-layer electronic structure of complex magnetic topological insulators. Yang’s collaboration with the 2DCC began during a 2019 visit, when he learned how the national user facility supports new faculty through access to high-quality single-crystal chalcogenide materials.

Construction of the MRI Nanofabrication Laboratory expansion in the Millennium Science Complex is now underway, with Phase One moving into full swing. The cleanroom and all of our labs on the first floor are fully operational and accessible through the open corridor on the Pollock Road side of the building.

Materials Characterization Lab (MCL) operations and investment priorities. MCL priorities are generally guided by maintaining continuity of critical, high‑demand capabilities; expanding capacity when demand exceeds availability; aligning investments with MRI’s 2025–2030 strategic priorities; and ensuring long‑term operational sustainability.  Your perspective is essential in helping us identify gaps, emerging needs, and opportunities where MCL can better support your research endeavors. 

WHEN
May 12, 2026
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

WHERE
Millennium Science Complex
3rd Floor Café Commons 

Discover MCL’s capabilities, strategic plans, and share your feedback on lab operations, including technical resources, staffing, training, data management, and industry engagement. Refreshments provided.

The LEO platform offers robust sample tracking capabilities, designed to enhance research transparency and reproducibility. By tracking samples throughout tool runs and characterizations, users can easily access a detailed history of each sample’s journey—from creation to analysis. This feature not only supports process replication and troubleshooting but also ensures that every step is documented for future reference. 

Large single crystals with precise stoichiometry control are the cornerstones of modern-day microelectronics, global positioning systems, optical communications, energy harvesting, etc. In addition, fundamental research also relies heavily on ideal single crystals to access intrinsic properties. One central challenge in crystal growth by conventional techniques such as Czochralski and Bridgman is that large, high-quality crystals can be grown only for congruent melting compositions where the solid and liquid compositions are the same.

Frank Peiris, professor of physics at Kenyon College, is leveraging the capabilities of the 2D Crystal Consortium–Materials Innovation Platform (2DCC-MIP) at Penn State to engage undergraduates in cutting-edge studies of thin-film growth and electronic structure. Since 2018, Peiris and his undergraduate researchers—many of whom present at national conferences and pursue graduate study—have collaborated closely with 2DCC-MIP scientists.