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Dr. John Spear provides an overview of Modern Electron Microscopy: Atomic Imaging. There have been numerous recent advancements on the Titan platform TEM for high resolution imaging in both Materials Science applications and also cryo-EM for protein structure determination. Not only have there been improvements in the technology itself but also in the degree of automation in these instruments lowering the expertise needed for acquiring high quality datasets.

Dr. Ralph Jimenez provides an overview of Live Cell Fluorescence Imaging. Fluorescence imaging is a widely used method for resolving molecular events in cells and tissues. The development of genetically-encoded fluorophores and a detailed understanding of their photophysics is critical for quantitative bioimaging. Dr. Jimenez provides an overview of the properties of fluorescent proteins and biosensors and describes some of his research to quantify and improve the performance of these imporatnt biological probes. Dr. Jimenez also describes a new research direction aiming to dramatically enhance bioimaging by employing quantum optics techniques.

Dr. Dan Moorer provides an introduction to leadership and project management as a preview of courses offered in the Lockheed Martin Engineering Management Program and the University of Colorado Boulder. Leadership and project management skills are essential for a successful career in STEM across academia, industry, and government, yet many STEM trainees often overlook opportunities to build fundamental professional skills that will propel their success in their future careers. Dr. Moorer outlines the importance of leadership and project management, highlights their use in STEM careers, and shares information on formal training to improve these skills.

Dr. Markus Raschke presents a seminar on Seeing with the Nano Eye: Accessing Structure, Coupling and Dynamics of Matter on its Natural Length and Time Scales. To understand and ultimately control the properties of most functional materials, from molecular soft-matter to quantum materials, requires access to the structure, coupling, and dynamics on the elementary time and length scales that define the microscopic interactions in these materials. To gain the desired nanometer spatial resolution with simultaneous spectroscopic specificity we combine scanning probe microscopy with different optical, including coherent, nonlinear, and ultrafast spectroscopies. The underlying near-field interaction mediated by the atomic-force or scanning tunneling microscope tip provides the desired deep-sub wavelength nano-focusing enabling few-nm spatial resolution. I will introduce our generalization of the approach in terms of the near-field impedance matching to a quantum system based on special optical antenna-tip designs. The resulting enhanced and qualitatively new forms of light-matter interaction enable measurements of quantum dynamics in an interacting environment or to image the electromagnetic local density of states of thermal radiation. Other applications include the inter-molecular coupling and dynamics in soft-matter hetero-structures, surface plasmon/phonon interferometry as a probe of electronic structure and dynamics in 2D materials, and quantum phase transitions in correlated electron materials. These examples highlight the general applicability of the new near-field microscopy approach, complementing emergent X-ray and electron imaging tools, aiming towards the ultimate goal of probing matter on its most elementary spatio-temporal level.

Optical computational imaging seeks enhanced performance and new functionality by the joint design of illumination, optics, detectors, and reconstruction algorithms. In this talk we discuss how this approach helps overcome the diffraction limit in fluorescence microscopy. Abbe’s resolution limit has been overcome after more than 130 years enabling unprecedented opportunities for optical imaging at the nanoscale. Fluorescence imaging using photoactivatable or photoswitchable molecules within computational optical systems offers single molecule sensitivity within a wide field of view from far field measurements. The advent of three-dimensional point spread function engineering associated with optimal reconstruction algorithms provides a unique approach to further increase resolution in three dimensions. Compressive imaging techniques further enable resolution of dense emitters and enable acceleration of the super-resolution data collection.