Scott N. Goldie, PhD - NIST Research Experience

From July, 2001 to the present, I have been a National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD. The program is designed to "provide a select group of scientists and engineers an opportunity for research in…areas that are of deep concern to the scientific and technological community. Postdoctoral scientists and engineers of unusual promise and ability are provided opportunities for research on problems compatible with NIST programs thereby contributing to the overall efforts of the federal laboratories, to serve as a climax to formal career preparation."

From October 2001 to present, I have been working in the SM₃ Research Group of Dr. Lori Goldner, in the Laser Applications Group of the Optical Technology Division of the Physics Laboratory at NIST. While working with a group of scientists with a variety of educational backgrounds, I have been exposed to the fields of biochemistry, biophysics, chemical physics, analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, polymer chemistry and materials science. The work while at NIST is complimentary to my previous studies in local organization of condensed phases, as we use near-field scanning optical techniques (NSOM) and confocal techniques to investigate domain structure and dynamics in thin films and on surfaces. The thin films and surfaces we have chosen for study have applications and uses in biological and organic electronic areas.

The three main areas that I have been working on include:

Using a metrological near-field optical scanning optical microscopy instrument to extend measurements and standards infrastructure for the nanoscale optical characterization of thin films and interfaces. We have been investigating the strain, defect and domain structure of crystalline polystyrene films by simultaneously measuring the fluorescence, transmission and topography in this material.
Development of a UV laser-scanning confocal microscope to explore photophysics, photochemistry, and dynamical behavior of single molecules in various materials and local environments through the use of fluorescence spectroscopy and polarization anisotropy measurements. Currently, we are using an argon-ion laser (364 nm) as our excitation source, with appropriate optics. This instrument prototype is nearly complete, as the final combination of detection system, objective, sample and substrate are being evaluated for performance. We will use this system to examine the single molecular rotational behavior of molecules on surfaces and in thin polymer films.
Development of bulk and single molecule spectroscopic techniques to elucidate local environment characteristics in sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gels used in electrophoretic separations of proteins to better understand and optimize this widely used technique, with the intent of miniaturizing the system to the single cell level. Through a collaborative effort with scientists at the National Institutes of Health, we have been working to use near-field scanning optical techniques (NSOM) and confocal techniques to understand the role of sodium dodecyl sulfate and counter ions in the separation methodology.