Scanning Probe Microscopy for Fabrication and Analysis of Polymer Photovoltaics. Australian economic growth will depend increasingly on the provision of devices using materials designed at the molecular level. Scanning probe microscopy, which uses tips placed very close to surfaces to analyse or modify the surfaces with molecular precision, is an indispensible tool in designing such materials. In this project, scanning probe microscopy will be used to analyse and build structures on polymer sola ....Scanning Probe Microscopy for Fabrication and Analysis of Polymer Photovoltaics. Australian economic growth will depend increasingly on the provision of devices using materials designed at the molecular level. Scanning probe microscopy, which uses tips placed very close to surfaces to analyse or modify the surfaces with molecular precision, is an indispensible tool in designing such materials. In this project, scanning probe microscopy will be used to analyse and build structures on polymer solar cells in order to maximise the efficiency of the cells and build prototype nanoscale polymer devices. This will lead to the improvement in devices delivering sustainable energy production - a technology which has the promise of producing energy cheaply from sunlight.Read moreRead less
Radiation protection for space, aviation, and terrestrial applications: the development of novel radiation detectors and computational techniques. Personnel in space, aviation, and terrestrial applications may be exposed to potentially harmful levels of densely ionising radiation. This project will produce improved radiation detectors and computational techniques, addressing needs in the prediction and assessment of equivalent dose in these applications. The "preventative healthcare" priority go ....Radiation protection for space, aviation, and terrestrial applications: the development of novel radiation detectors and computational techniques. Personnel in space, aviation, and terrestrial applications may be exposed to potentially harmful levels of densely ionising radiation. This project will produce improved radiation detectors and computational techniques, addressing needs in the prediction and assessment of equivalent dose in these applications. The "preventative healthcare" priority goal of the National Research Priority "Promoting and Maintaining Good Health" will be addressed, serving to reduce the risk to personnel involved in such activities. This research will also enhance Australia's international reputation in this field, stimulate local expertise, and create a critical mass of researchers in this field. Read moreRead less
Gamma-ray burst astronomy in the Swift era and beyond. The study of gamma-ray bursts is one of the most active and exciting fields in astrophysics, and touches on subjects that are of interest to all humans: e.g., to what extent was life on Earth shaped by cataclysmic explosions in our Galaxy? Australia's ROTSE-III telescope is the only facility in the southern hemisphere capable of rapidly (within 10 seconds) finding optical light from gamma-ray bursts. It will provide Australian astronomers ....Gamma-ray burst astronomy in the Swift era and beyond. The study of gamma-ray bursts is one of the most active and exciting fields in astrophysics, and touches on subjects that are of interest to all humans: e.g., to what extent was life on Earth shaped by cataclysmic explosions in our Galaxy? Australia's ROTSE-III telescope is the only facility in the southern hemisphere capable of rapidly (within 10 seconds) finding optical light from gamma-ray bursts. It will provide Australian astronomers with a competitive advantage in this high-profile field. The project will involve and inspire some of our best physics and engineering students.Read moreRead less
Compact Low-Cost Tunable UV Lasers for Biosensing Applications. Detection and characterisation of micro-organisms such as airborne biological agents, parasites in domestic water supplies and micro-organisms used in the food and beverage industry, is of national importance. All biological systems have rich absorption signatures in the UV enabling detection of biological specimens with high sensitivity and selectivity using optical methods. For these applications compact and inexpensive tunable U ....Compact Low-Cost Tunable UV Lasers for Biosensing Applications. Detection and characterisation of micro-organisms such as airborne biological agents, parasites in domestic water supplies and micro-organisms used in the food and beverage industry, is of national importance. All biological systems have rich absorption signatures in the UV enabling detection of biological specimens with high sensitivity and selectivity using optical methods. For these applications compact and inexpensive tunable UV lasers are required; however to date tunable UV lasers have been limited to bulky and expensive systems. We propose to engineer novel, low cost, compact, tunable UV cerium lasers and demonstrate their applicability to selective optical detection of micro-organisms.Read moreRead less
High Precision Silicon Pixel Detectors for High Energy Physics , Synchrotron and Medical Imaging Applications. Australia participates actively in the frontier field of high-energy particle physics to understand the fundamental building blocks of matter, their origins and interactions. This field excites the best minds in the scientific world and provides excellent training. To maintain our position in this field we must continue the development of the powerful instrumentation required for high- ....High Precision Silicon Pixel Detectors for High Energy Physics , Synchrotron and Medical Imaging Applications. Australia participates actively in the frontier field of high-energy particle physics to understand the fundamental building blocks of matter, their origins and interactions. This field excites the best minds in the scientific world and provides excellent training. To maintain our position in this field we must continue the development of the powerful instrumentation required for high-energy experiments. This project will satisfy that role. The application of particle detector expertise to state-of-the-art X-ray imaging detectors for the Australian Synchrotron and medical imaging is a perfect example of fundamental science tools applied to other fields. Australian Synchrotron experiments stand to gain much.Read moreRead less
Electro-active and migratory peptides in lipid bilayers: NMR and biophysical studies. All living things are characterized by the separation of inner space from the surrounding medium by a self-assembling membrane. Selective entry and exit of water, ions and solutes is a defining feature of each type of cell. Some proteins sense the voltage difference across the cell membrane and open or close in response to voltage changes. Others, like bacterial toxins assemble in the membrane as pores, while o ....Electro-active and migratory peptides in lipid bilayers: NMR and biophysical studies. All living things are characterized by the separation of inner space from the surrounding medium by a self-assembling membrane. Selective entry and exit of water, ions and solutes is a defining feature of each type of cell. Some proteins sense the voltage difference across the cell membrane and open or close in response to voltage changes. Others, like bacterial toxins assemble in the membrane as pores, while other peptides migrate across the membrane piggy-backing their peptide cargo. The aim is to understand the molecular mechanisms in examples of these membrane-active peptides and proteins with a view to enabling rational intervention into their operation in situ in normal and disease states.Read moreRead less
Scaling-up microstructured fibres for terahertz radiation. Terahertz radiation is the last region of the electromagnetic spectrum to be fully utilised. Many applications have been identified but their practicality has been limited by a lack of low-loss flexible waveguides. The waveguides to be developed in this project will build on Australia's existing international lead and investments in photonics as well as extend the dynamic field of microstructured optical fibres, indentified as the 'futur ....Scaling-up microstructured fibres for terahertz radiation. Terahertz radiation is the last region of the electromagnetic spectrum to be fully utilised. Many applications have been identified but their practicality has been limited by a lack of low-loss flexible waveguides. The waveguides to be developed in this project will build on Australia's existing international lead and investments in photonics as well as extend the dynamic field of microstructured optical fibres, indentified as the 'future' of optical fibres. Low-loss flexible waveguides will enable imaging and spectroscopy applications that can reveal and object's internal structure and composition. This will have immediate applications in security, quality control, medical imaging and other safety or industrial applications.Read moreRead less
Structure-Activity Relationships in Silicon-based Photovoltaics Through Atomic Scale Microscopy. This project aims to develop new design principles for silicon-based photovoltaics (PVs) through a comprehensive study of atomic-scale structures and phenomena in PV materials. The development of more efficient photovoltaic materials is of major global importance, given the pressing need for clean and renewable sources of energy. Australia has international leadership in developing solar cell technol ....Structure-Activity Relationships in Silicon-based Photovoltaics Through Atomic Scale Microscopy. This project aims to develop new design principles for silicon-based photovoltaics (PVs) through a comprehensive study of atomic-scale structures and phenomena in PV materials. The development of more efficient photovoltaic materials is of major global importance, given the pressing need for clean and renewable sources of energy. Australia has international leadership in developing solar cell technologies, and the ideal natural environment to exploit these technologies. The fundamental insights derived in this project, such as detailed 3D maps of dopant distributions at the atomic scale, will bolster Australia's international reputation in the field and provide better control in the design of PV devices. Read moreRead less
New quantitative methods in X-ray imaging using crystal optics. This project will enhance Australian science's international leadership in the area of x-ray imaging. This powerful type of X-ray imaging, which makes use of optical elements made of perfect crystals, is specially tailored to image samples which are invisible to conventional x-ray techniques. Such "extended x-ray vision" is extremely important for imaging in medicine, biology and materials science. Furthermore, we will train x-ray s ....New quantitative methods in X-ray imaging using crystal optics. This project will enhance Australian science's international leadership in the area of x-ray imaging. This powerful type of X-ray imaging, which makes use of optical elements made of perfect crystals, is specially tailored to image samples which are invisible to conventional x-ray techniques. Such "extended x-ray vision" is extremely important for imaging in medicine, biology and materials science. Furthermore, we will train x-ray scientists of tomorrow, whose expertise will allow Australia to capitalize on its investment in the Australian Synchrotron.Read moreRead less
Nanorheology: Hydrodynamic Slip in Newtonian Fluids. Understanding fluid flow across a surface is essential to a great number of technologies. For over one hundred years it has been assumed that the layer of fluid adjacent to the solid moves with the solid, this is known as the no-slip boundary condition. Recently direct force balance measurements of aqueous Newtonian solutions have indicated the presence of boundary slip. Using a newly developed nanorheology technique we will systematically inv ....Nanorheology: Hydrodynamic Slip in Newtonian Fluids. Understanding fluid flow across a surface is essential to a great number of technologies. For over one hundred years it has been assumed that the layer of fluid adjacent to the solid moves with the solid, this is known as the no-slip boundary condition. Recently direct force balance measurements of aqueous Newtonian solutions have indicated the presence of boundary slip. Using a newly developed nanorheology technique we will systematically investigate the conditions that control boundary slip. This information will be used to quantify, model and control boundary slip, progressing the fields of microfluidics, particle deposition, and colloid stability.Read moreRead less