Professor of Chemistry
Physical and Analytical Chemistry
Office: Reem-Kayden Center 132
845-752-2353
[email protected]
Education
2010 NIH TEACRS Post-Doctoral Fellow Tufts University
2006 PhD Chemistry University of Maryland College Park
2001 BS Chemistry University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Courses
Research Interests
Our group is interested in developing new tools to fabricate devices and perform chemical analysis at the microscale.
Specific Projects
1) We are improving the resolution of direct laser writing (DLW) lithography using a 532 nm laser by using chemical additives and also by incorporating a second near-IR laser.
2) We are investigating the use of DLW to pattern the growth of metals.
3) We are combining DLW and conventional lithography to take advantage of their benefits while minimizing the shortcomings of each.
Current Lab Members
Sophie Cherif ('24)
Harper Serringer ('25)
Lab Alumni
Katie Lowney ('24) physics masters program, RPI
Lucas Rodriguez ('24) postbac Fordham
Anders Dollard ('23) PhD program Univ. Maryland
Tahmid Siddique ('22) paramedic, NYC
Cecily Rosenbaum ('21) PhD Program U. Washington (Seattle), NSF GRF
Frank Rybicki ('21) Bard MAT, Chem Engineering Program PhD Tufts
Vishrut Tiwari ('22) Columbia 3+2 Operations Research
Stella Schneeberg ('21) PhD Program U. Vermont
Curtis Sirkoch ('20) Columbia 3+2 Chem. Eng., PhD program Earth and Environmental Engineering Columbia
Xiaofei Guo ('19) PhD Program U. Washington (Seattle)
Kyle Zigner ('19) Masters Program Mech. Eng. BU
Sarah Morris ('19) Lab tech, Newport, RI
Matthew Murphy ('18) employed Baltimore
Praiz Anyanwu ('18) PhD Program U. Washington (Seattle)
Garret Clifton ('17) TG Therapeutics, Inc.
Miles Lim ('17) PhD program UCLA
Zhe Mei ('16) PhD Yale
Paul Lawrence ('16) PhD Tufts
Eric Will ('16) employed
Ayda Gonzalez ('16) Masters Emory
Olja Simoska (’15) PhD UT Austin, Prof. Univ. South Carolina
Hannah Otto (’15) employed
Shuyi Weng (’15) PhD Northwestern (Mathematics)
Jasper Williams (’14) PhD UC San Francisco
Ian Pelse (’14) PhD Georgia Tech
Clare Wheeler (’14) employed
Miles Ingram (’14) Wyss Institute Harvard Medical School
Min Shinn (’14) PhD Biophysics Univ. Washington (St. Louis)
Eric Reed (’13) MD SUNY Upstate Medical University
Jose Luis Falla (’13) Masters Physics UC Boulder
Andres Medina (’13) Masters Mechanical Engineering Columbia
Tiago Moura (’13) McKinsey & Company
Youseung Kim (’12) DO Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine
Yi (Brian) Liu (’12) PhD Chemistry Georgia Tech
Sebastien Cendron (’11) Masters Tufts University
Publications
(undergraduate co-authors are in bold)
32. Greenberg M.W., Tulloch K.M., Reynoso M.E., Knapp J.L., Bartkus D.D., Sayem F.H., Lum R.H., LaFratta C.N., Tanski J. M. Anderson C.M.* Synthesis, Structure, and Photophysical Properties of Platinum Compounds with Thiophene-Derived Cyclohexyl Diimine Ligands. ACS Omega 2023, 8, 38587-38596. (link)
31. Rosenbaum C., Murphy M., Lawrence P., Sirkoch C., Scheeberg S.R., Morris S., Zigner K., Richman E., Anyanwu C., Will E., Wheeler C., Reed E., LaFratta C.N.* International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, 2022, Int. J. Extrem. Manuf. 4 (2022) 035001. (link)
30. Coffey B., Clough L., Bartkus D.D., McClellan I.C., Greenberg M.W., LaFratta C.N., Tanski J.M., Anderson C.A.* ACS Omega, 2021, 6(42), 28316-28325. (link)
29. Baldacchini T., LaFratta C. N., Malinauskas M. Metrology and Process Control. Edited by Tommaso Baldacchini. Three-Dimensional Microfabrication Using Two-Photon Polymerization 2nd Ed. 2020, 197-228. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. (link)
28. Richman E.J., Chou Y.-T., Deng Y., Kaelbling L., Liang Z., McAlaine G., Miller C., Selesnick M., LaFratta C.N.*, and Cadden-Zimansky P.* Optical Materials Express 2019, 9(9), 3871-3877. (link)
27. Lim M., Guo X., Grunblatt E. L., Clifton G. M., Gonzalez A. N., LaFratta C. N.* Augmenting Mask-Based Lithography with Direct Laser Writing to Increase Resolution and Speed. Optics Express 2018, 26 (6), 7085-7090. (link)
26. LaFratta C. N., Baldacchini T.* Two-Photon Polymerization Metrology: Characterization Methods of Mechanism and Microstructure. Micromachines. 2017, 8, 101 doi:10.3390/mi8040101 (link)
25. LaFratta C.N.*, Simoska O., Pelse I., Weng S., Ingrams M. A Convenient Direct Laser Writing System for the Creation of Microfluidic Masters. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 2015, 19(2), 419-426. (link)
24. LaFratta C.N.*, Lie L. (2015). Making Two-Photon Polymerization Faster. Tommaso Baldacchini (Ed.) Three-Dimensional Microfabrication Using Two-Photon Polymerization. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. (link)
23. LaFratta C.N.* (2015). Nanoreplication and Surface Processing. Robert Liska (Ed.) Nano- and Microstructuring Using Multiphoton Lithography. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. (link)
22. LaFratta C.N.*, Pelse I., Falla J.L., Liu Y., Palacios, M.A., Manesse M., Whitesides G.M., Walt D.R.*, Measuring Atomic Emission from Beacons for Long-Distance Chemical Signaling. Analytical Chemistry, 2013, 85(19), 8933-8936. (link)
21. LaFratta C.N.* Optical Tweezers for Medical Diagnostics. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 2013, 405, 5671-5677. (link)
20. Manesse M., Phillips A.F., LaFratta C.N., Palacios, M.A., Hayman R.B., Walt D.R.* Dynamic Microbead Arrays for Biosensing Applications. Lab on a Chip. 2013, 13, 2153-2160. (link)
19. LaFratta C.N.*, Jain S.S., Pelse I., Simoska O., Elvy K. Using a Homemade Flame Photometer to Measure Sodium Concentration in a Sports Drink. Journal of Chemical Education. 2013, 90, 372-375. (Published in Quantitative Chemical Analysis 9th ed. by D.Harris) (link)
18. Jain S.S.*, LaFratta C.N., Medina A., Pelse I. Analysis of Proflavine DNA Binding using a Handheld Fluorimeter. Journal of Chemical Education. 2013, 90, 1215. (link)
17. Morrison G.*, Thomas S., LaFratta C.N., Guo J., Palacios M.A., Sonkusale S., Walt D.R., Whitesides G.M., Mahadevan L.*, Robust Error Correction in InfoFuses. Proceedings of the Royal Society A. 2012, 468, 361-377. (link)
16. Palacios, M., Benito-Peña, E., Manesse, M., Mazzeo, A., LaFratta, C.N., Whitesides, G.M., and Walt, D.R.* Infobiology by printed arrays of microorganism colonies for timed and on demand release of messages. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 2011, 108, 16510-16514. (PNAS top 10 stories of 2011, highlighted in Science, the March 2012 issue of National Geographic Magazine, and dozens of other media outlets) (link)
15. LaFratta C.N., Huh S.P., Mallilin A., Riviello P.J., Walt D.R.* Visualizing Fluorescence: Using a Homemade Fluorescence “Microscope” to View Latent Fingerprints on Paper. Journal of Chemical Education. 2010, 87, 1105-1107. (link)
14. Thomas S.W., Chiechi R.C., LaFratta C.N., Webb M.R., Lee A., Wiley B.J., Zakin M.R., Walt D.R., Whitesides G.M.* Infochemistry and Infofuses: Chemical Storage and Transfer of Coded Information. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 2009, 106(23), 9147-9150. (highlighted: Chemical & Engineering News June 1, 2009) (link)
13. Deiss F., LaFratta C.N., Symer M., Blicharz T.M., Sojic N., Walt D.R.* Multiplexed Sandwich Immunoassays using Electrochemiluminescence Imaging Resolved at the Single Bead Level. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2009, 131(17), 6088-6089. (link)
12. Webb M.R., LaFratta C.N., Walt D.R.* Chromatically Resolved Optical Microscope (CROMoscope) – A Grating-Based Instrument for Spectral Imaging. Analytical Chemistry. 2009, 81(17), 7309-7313. (highlighted in Analytical Chemistry, August 4, 2009) (link)
11. LaFratta C.N., Walt D.R.* Very High Density Sensing Arrays. Chemical Reviews. 2008, 108(2), 614-637. (link)
10. LaFratta C.N., Fourkas J.T.*, Baldacchini T., Farrer R.A. Multiphoton Fabrication. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 2007, 46(33), 6238-6258. (~500 citations) (link)
9. LaFratta C.N., Li L., Fourkas J.T.* Rapid, in-line, non-interferometric auto- and cross-correlator for microscopy. Optics Express 2006, 14(23), 11215-11221. (link)
8. LaFratta C.N., Lim D., O’Malley K., Baldacchini T., Fourkas J.T.* Direct Laser Patterning of Conductive Wires onto 3-D Polymeric Microstructures. Chemistry of Materials. 2006, 18(8), 2038-2042. (link)
7. LaFratta C.N., Li L., Fourkas J.T.* Soft-Lithographic Replication of Microstructures with Closed Loops. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 2006, 103, 8589-8594. (highlighted in Materials Today August 2006 and Analytical Chemistry September 2006) (link)
6. Farrer R.A., LaFratta C.N., Li L., Praino J., Naughton M.J., Saleh B.E.A., Teich M.C., Fourkas J.T.* Selective Functionalization of 3-D Polymer Microstructures. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2006, 128(6), 1796-1797. (link)
5. Bayindir Z., Sun Y., Naughton M.J., LaFratta C.N., Baldacchini T., Fourkas J.T., Stewart J., Saleh B.E.A., Teich M.C. Polymer Microcantilevers Fabricated via Multiphoton Absorption Polymerization. Applied Physics Letters. 2005, 86(6), 0641051. (link)
4. Baldacchini T., Pons A.C., Pons J., LaFratta C.N., Fourkas J.T.*, Naughton M.J. Multiphoton Laser Direct Writing of 2-D Silver Structures. Optics Express. 2005, 13(4), 1275. (link)
3. LaFratta C.N., Baldacchini T., Farrer R.A., Fourkas J.T.*, Teich M.C., Saleh B.E.A., Naughton M.J. Replication of Two-Photon-Polymerized Structures with Extremely High Aspect Ratios and Large Overhangs. Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 2004, 108(31), 11256. (cover article) (link)
2. Baldacchini T., LaFratta C.N., Farrer R.A., Teich M.C., Saleh B.E.A., Naughton M.J., Fourkas J.T.* Acrylic-Based Resin with Favorable Properties for Three-Dimensional Two-Photon Polymerization. Journal of Applied Physics. 2004, 95(11), 6072. (highlighted in The Boston Globe, Popular Science, and Discover Magazine) (link)
1. Bessette R.R.,* Medeiros M.G., Patrissi C.J., Deschenes C.M., LaFratta C.N. Development and Characterization of a Novel Carbon Fiber Based Cathode for Semi-Fuel Cell Applications. Journal of Power Sources. 2001, 96(1), 240-244. (link)
Office: Reem-Kayden Center 132
845-752-2353
[email protected]
Education
2010 NIH TEACRS Post-Doctoral Fellow Tufts University
2006 PhD Chemistry University of Maryland College Park
2001 BS Chemistry University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Courses
- Science of Modern Technology (CHEM 126)
- Basic Principles of Chemistry I (CHEM 141)
- Basic Principles of Chemistry II (CHEM 142)
- Physical Chemistry (CHEM 311)
- Analytical/Physical Chemistry Laboratory (CHEM 350)
- Nanochemistry (CHEM 471)
Research Interests
Our group is interested in developing new tools to fabricate devices and perform chemical analysis at the microscale.
Specific Projects
1) We are improving the resolution of direct laser writing (DLW) lithography using a 532 nm laser by using chemical additives and also by incorporating a second near-IR laser.
2) We are investigating the use of DLW to pattern the growth of metals.
3) We are combining DLW and conventional lithography to take advantage of their benefits while minimizing the shortcomings of each.
Current Lab Members
Sophie Cherif ('24)
Harper Serringer ('25)
Lab Alumni
Katie Lowney ('24) physics masters program, RPI
Lucas Rodriguez ('24) postbac Fordham
Anders Dollard ('23) PhD program Univ. Maryland
Tahmid Siddique ('22) paramedic, NYC
Cecily Rosenbaum ('21) PhD Program U. Washington (Seattle), NSF GRF
Frank Rybicki ('21) Bard MAT, Chem Engineering Program PhD Tufts
Vishrut Tiwari ('22) Columbia 3+2 Operations Research
Stella Schneeberg ('21) PhD Program U. Vermont
Curtis Sirkoch ('20) Columbia 3+2 Chem. Eng., PhD program Earth and Environmental Engineering Columbia
Xiaofei Guo ('19) PhD Program U. Washington (Seattle)
Kyle Zigner ('19) Masters Program Mech. Eng. BU
Sarah Morris ('19) Lab tech, Newport, RI
Matthew Murphy ('18) employed Baltimore
Praiz Anyanwu ('18) PhD Program U. Washington (Seattle)
Garret Clifton ('17) TG Therapeutics, Inc.
Miles Lim ('17) PhD program UCLA
Zhe Mei ('16) PhD Yale
Paul Lawrence ('16) PhD Tufts
Eric Will ('16) employed
Ayda Gonzalez ('16) Masters Emory
Olja Simoska (’15) PhD UT Austin, Prof. Univ. South Carolina
Hannah Otto (’15) employed
Shuyi Weng (’15) PhD Northwestern (Mathematics)
Jasper Williams (’14) PhD UC San Francisco
Ian Pelse (’14) PhD Georgia Tech
Clare Wheeler (’14) employed
Miles Ingram (’14) Wyss Institute Harvard Medical School
Min Shinn (’14) PhD Biophysics Univ. Washington (St. Louis)
Eric Reed (’13) MD SUNY Upstate Medical University
Jose Luis Falla (’13) Masters Physics UC Boulder
Andres Medina (’13) Masters Mechanical Engineering Columbia
Tiago Moura (’13) McKinsey & Company
Youseung Kim (’12) DO Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine
Yi (Brian) Liu (’12) PhD Chemistry Georgia Tech
Sebastien Cendron (’11) Masters Tufts University
Publications
(undergraduate co-authors are in bold)
32. Greenberg M.W., Tulloch K.M., Reynoso M.E., Knapp J.L., Bartkus D.D., Sayem F.H., Lum R.H., LaFratta C.N., Tanski J. M. Anderson C.M.* Synthesis, Structure, and Photophysical Properties of Platinum Compounds with Thiophene-Derived Cyclohexyl Diimine Ligands. ACS Omega 2023, 8, 38587-38596. (link)
31. Rosenbaum C., Murphy M., Lawrence P., Sirkoch C., Scheeberg S.R., Morris S., Zigner K., Richman E., Anyanwu C., Will E., Wheeler C., Reed E., LaFratta C.N.* International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, 2022, Int. J. Extrem. Manuf. 4 (2022) 035001. (link)
30. Coffey B., Clough L., Bartkus D.D., McClellan I.C., Greenberg M.W., LaFratta C.N., Tanski J.M., Anderson C.A.* ACS Omega, 2021, 6(42), 28316-28325. (link)
29. Baldacchini T., LaFratta C. N., Malinauskas M. Metrology and Process Control. Edited by Tommaso Baldacchini. Three-Dimensional Microfabrication Using Two-Photon Polymerization 2nd Ed. 2020, 197-228. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. (link)
28. Richman E.J., Chou Y.-T., Deng Y., Kaelbling L., Liang Z., McAlaine G., Miller C., Selesnick M., LaFratta C.N.*, and Cadden-Zimansky P.* Optical Materials Express 2019, 9(9), 3871-3877. (link)
27. Lim M., Guo X., Grunblatt E. L., Clifton G. M., Gonzalez A. N., LaFratta C. N.* Augmenting Mask-Based Lithography with Direct Laser Writing to Increase Resolution and Speed. Optics Express 2018, 26 (6), 7085-7090. (link)
26. LaFratta C. N., Baldacchini T.* Two-Photon Polymerization Metrology: Characterization Methods of Mechanism and Microstructure. Micromachines. 2017, 8, 101 doi:10.3390/mi8040101 (link)
25. LaFratta C.N.*, Simoska O., Pelse I., Weng S., Ingrams M. A Convenient Direct Laser Writing System for the Creation of Microfluidic Masters. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 2015, 19(2), 419-426. (link)
24. LaFratta C.N.*, Lie L. (2015). Making Two-Photon Polymerization Faster. Tommaso Baldacchini (Ed.) Three-Dimensional Microfabrication Using Two-Photon Polymerization. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. (link)
23. LaFratta C.N.* (2015). Nanoreplication and Surface Processing. Robert Liska (Ed.) Nano- and Microstructuring Using Multiphoton Lithography. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. (link)
22. LaFratta C.N.*, Pelse I., Falla J.L., Liu Y., Palacios, M.A., Manesse M., Whitesides G.M., Walt D.R.*, Measuring Atomic Emission from Beacons for Long-Distance Chemical Signaling. Analytical Chemistry, 2013, 85(19), 8933-8936. (link)
21. LaFratta C.N.* Optical Tweezers for Medical Diagnostics. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 2013, 405, 5671-5677. (link)
20. Manesse M., Phillips A.F., LaFratta C.N., Palacios, M.A., Hayman R.B., Walt D.R.* Dynamic Microbead Arrays for Biosensing Applications. Lab on a Chip. 2013, 13, 2153-2160. (link)
19. LaFratta C.N.*, Jain S.S., Pelse I., Simoska O., Elvy K. Using a Homemade Flame Photometer to Measure Sodium Concentration in a Sports Drink. Journal of Chemical Education. 2013, 90, 372-375. (Published in Quantitative Chemical Analysis 9th ed. by D.Harris) (link)
18. Jain S.S.*, LaFratta C.N., Medina A., Pelse I. Analysis of Proflavine DNA Binding using a Handheld Fluorimeter. Journal of Chemical Education. 2013, 90, 1215. (link)
17. Morrison G.*, Thomas S., LaFratta C.N., Guo J., Palacios M.A., Sonkusale S., Walt D.R., Whitesides G.M., Mahadevan L.*, Robust Error Correction in InfoFuses. Proceedings of the Royal Society A. 2012, 468, 361-377. (link)
16. Palacios, M., Benito-Peña, E., Manesse, M., Mazzeo, A., LaFratta, C.N., Whitesides, G.M., and Walt, D.R.* Infobiology by printed arrays of microorganism colonies for timed and on demand release of messages. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 2011, 108, 16510-16514. (PNAS top 10 stories of 2011, highlighted in Science, the March 2012 issue of National Geographic Magazine, and dozens of other media outlets) (link)
15. LaFratta C.N., Huh S.P., Mallilin A., Riviello P.J., Walt D.R.* Visualizing Fluorescence: Using a Homemade Fluorescence “Microscope” to View Latent Fingerprints on Paper. Journal of Chemical Education. 2010, 87, 1105-1107. (link)
14. Thomas S.W., Chiechi R.C., LaFratta C.N., Webb M.R., Lee A., Wiley B.J., Zakin M.R., Walt D.R., Whitesides G.M.* Infochemistry and Infofuses: Chemical Storage and Transfer of Coded Information. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 2009, 106(23), 9147-9150. (highlighted: Chemical & Engineering News June 1, 2009) (link)
13. Deiss F., LaFratta C.N., Symer M., Blicharz T.M., Sojic N., Walt D.R.* Multiplexed Sandwich Immunoassays using Electrochemiluminescence Imaging Resolved at the Single Bead Level. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2009, 131(17), 6088-6089. (link)
12. Webb M.R., LaFratta C.N., Walt D.R.* Chromatically Resolved Optical Microscope (CROMoscope) – A Grating-Based Instrument for Spectral Imaging. Analytical Chemistry. 2009, 81(17), 7309-7313. (highlighted in Analytical Chemistry, August 4, 2009) (link)
11. LaFratta C.N., Walt D.R.* Very High Density Sensing Arrays. Chemical Reviews. 2008, 108(2), 614-637. (link)
10. LaFratta C.N., Fourkas J.T.*, Baldacchini T., Farrer R.A. Multiphoton Fabrication. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 2007, 46(33), 6238-6258. (~500 citations) (link)
9. LaFratta C.N., Li L., Fourkas J.T.* Rapid, in-line, non-interferometric auto- and cross-correlator for microscopy. Optics Express 2006, 14(23), 11215-11221. (link)
8. LaFratta C.N., Lim D., O’Malley K., Baldacchini T., Fourkas J.T.* Direct Laser Patterning of Conductive Wires onto 3-D Polymeric Microstructures. Chemistry of Materials. 2006, 18(8), 2038-2042. (link)
7. LaFratta C.N., Li L., Fourkas J.T.* Soft-Lithographic Replication of Microstructures with Closed Loops. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 2006, 103, 8589-8594. (highlighted in Materials Today August 2006 and Analytical Chemistry September 2006) (link)
6. Farrer R.A., LaFratta C.N., Li L., Praino J., Naughton M.J., Saleh B.E.A., Teich M.C., Fourkas J.T.* Selective Functionalization of 3-D Polymer Microstructures. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2006, 128(6), 1796-1797. (link)
5. Bayindir Z., Sun Y., Naughton M.J., LaFratta C.N., Baldacchini T., Fourkas J.T., Stewart J., Saleh B.E.A., Teich M.C. Polymer Microcantilevers Fabricated via Multiphoton Absorption Polymerization. Applied Physics Letters. 2005, 86(6), 0641051. (link)
4. Baldacchini T., Pons A.C., Pons J., LaFratta C.N., Fourkas J.T.*, Naughton M.J. Multiphoton Laser Direct Writing of 2-D Silver Structures. Optics Express. 2005, 13(4), 1275. (link)
3. LaFratta C.N., Baldacchini T., Farrer R.A., Fourkas J.T.*, Teich M.C., Saleh B.E.A., Naughton M.J. Replication of Two-Photon-Polymerized Structures with Extremely High Aspect Ratios and Large Overhangs. Journal of Physical Chemistry B. 2004, 108(31), 11256. (cover article) (link)
2. Baldacchini T., LaFratta C.N., Farrer R.A., Teich M.C., Saleh B.E.A., Naughton M.J., Fourkas J.T.* Acrylic-Based Resin with Favorable Properties for Three-Dimensional Two-Photon Polymerization. Journal of Applied Physics. 2004, 95(11), 6072. (highlighted in The Boston Globe, Popular Science, and Discover Magazine) (link)
1. Bessette R.R.,* Medeiros M.G., Patrissi C.J., Deschenes C.M., LaFratta C.N. Development and Characterization of a Novel Carbon Fiber Based Cathode for Semi-Fuel Cell Applications. Journal of Power Sources. 2001, 96(1), 240-244. (link)