ARLINGTON, Va. -- Eighteen photonics projects won $13.5 million in National Science Foundation awards.The winners were selected from among 76 proposals related to how light interacts with matter. Following are the winning projects, institutions, and amounts of the three-year awards: Optical probes for nanoenvironments and nanomotors; University of California at San Diego; $1.19 million. Synchronization and communication in nonlinear optical systems; University of California at San Diego, Georgia Institute of Technology and Cornell University; $1,069,701. Spatial parallelism and ultrafast dynamics in tunneling microscope-surface and adsorbate-surface interactions; University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana and Beckman Institute; $983,377. Defects and impurities in optical glass; University of Rochester and Stanford University; $949,789. Magnetic resonance imaging with laser-polarized He-3 and Xe-129 using Al-free high-power diode lasers; Princeton University, University of Wisconsin at Madison and Duke University; $929,999. Collaborative research on magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy of laser-polarized noble gases for biomedical, geophysical and materials science investigations; Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, North Carolina State University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Boston University; $849,766. Iron Boltzman-temperature lidar for studies of middle atmosphere global change; University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana, National Center for Atmospheric Research and Aerospace Corp.; $800,000. Optoelectronic properties and applications of mesoscopically structured polymers and polymer/small molecule heterojunctions; Princeton University; $760,000. Q-control of microcavity resonators for physics and optoelectronics; Yale University; $727,712. Control, manipulation and dynamics of ultracold molecules and plasmas; University of Connecticut; $690,000. Optical control of chemical process; University of Virginia; $680,000. Probing far-infrared excitations of surfaces and thin films by optoelectronic techniques; Columbia University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lucent Technologies, IBM Yorktown Heights and Allied Signal; $629,018. Multidisciplinary research in optical science and engineering; Harvey Mudd College and California Institute of Technology; $628,850. Research for high-performance optoelectronic devices employing III-V semiconductor oxide layers; University of Texas at Austin, University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana and University of Virginia; $621,997. Femtosecond nonlinear optical interactions in glasses; Cornell University; $590,955. Soft x-ray sources and optics for high spatial-, temporal- and spectral-resolution interferometry and microscopy; University of Maryland and the National Institute of Standards and Technology; $490,200. Development of novel optical methods for cleaning contaminated surfaces; Tulane and Florida State universities; $460,000. Development of spatial heterodyne spectroscopy for atmospheric remote sensing studies; University of Wisconsin at Madison, St. Cloud University and Naval Research Laboratory; $449,865.