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Winter
2001 Volume 3, Number 2
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 Materials Research Institute hosts symposium By Deborah A. Benedetti Researchers from the federal government, industry and universities gathered at Penn State to share the latest developments in applied surface science during the Surface Analysis 2000 Symposium. The symposium drew 149 participants from around the world, according to Dr. Carlo G. Pantano, Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and director of the Materials Research Institute (MRI) at Penn State. Pantano chaired the program with Jeffrey R. Shallenberger, associate director of MRI. “Hosting the symposium gave us the opportunity to showcase Penn State’s leadership in materials and surface science,” Pantano said. “An important goal of this symposium has been to interface surface science with industrial applications. As part of the symposium, we opened our laboratories for a series of surface analysis short courses and tours that were of primary interest to various industry representatives.” Another important aspect of the symposium was its emphasis on student involvement. “We succeeded in attracting 31 graduate student researchers from Penn State and universities in surrounding areas who are involved in a variety of disciplines dependent upon surface analysis, including engineering, materials science, biomaterials, physics and chemistry,” Pantano said. “These conferences give students a chance to meet face to face with the researchers whose papers they are reading in the library. They are also places where students can begin to network with researchers in their profession.” Penn State has hosted the symposium twice — in 1995 and 2000, and Pantano tentatively plans to bring the symposium back to Penn State in 2005. The Surface Analysis Symposium got its start in 1978 when researchers at the University of Dayton Research Institute and the U.S. Air Force Materials Laboratory joined together to create a forum for discussing industrial applications of surface science. Before 1978, this area of “applied” surface science was not covered at professional meetings, Pantano said. He was working at the University of Dayton Research Institute and participated in planning the first symposium and a three-day short course. He joined the Penn State faculty two years later, but continued to participate in the Surface Analysis Symposium by offering the three-day short course for the next five years. Penn State and the Applied Surface Science Division of the American Vacuum Society sponsored Surface Analysis 2000, the 22nd annual symposium. As part of this symposium, the American Vacuum Society offered a series of short courses, coordinated by Shallenberger. In addition, Vince J. Bojan, research associate with the Materials Characterization Laboratory at the MRI Building, organized a vendor show. Participants also toured Penn State labs. Surface analysis is relevant to many science and engineering fields and the industries they support; solid surfaces are everywhere and influence the performance of many materials, devices and systems, Pantano said. Surface analysis researchers study the outermost layer of atoms on surfaces, using a variety of analytical methods to probe structure and chemistry. The surface analysis instruments, which include vacuum chambers costing between $500,000 and $1 million each, remove the atmosphere so a material’s surface can be studied without interference from gas molecules in the air. “Before 1970, we didn’t have analytical techniques that were sensitive enough to study one layer of atoms,” Pantano said. “There have been many technological advances since then. Among the biggest beneficiaries of surface analysis research and development is the microelectronics industry. Without surface analysis, the computer chip industry might not have grown as fast as it has. In the 1970s and ’80s, for example, IBM was probably the biggest purchaser of surface analysis equipment. In a sense, the microelectronics industry has demanded continuous improvements in surface analysis, and the field of surface science responded with new theory, methods and instruments, thereby helping to fuel that industry.” As Pantano explains, “Computer chips are made in a process where atoms are deposited almost layer by layer.” Surface analysis is used to study factors such as surface cleaning and contamination, surface smoothness and defects and the influence of these characteristics on the adhesion of atoms, thin films and coatings to surfaces. Surface analysis techniques also are used to analyze the deposition of atoms and thin films on surfaces and interfaces (the boundaries) between two materials. Penn State faculty members associated with the Materials Research Institute are well known internationally for their research in materials and surface science. MRI’s researchers are involved in projects on metals, ceramics, glass, polymers, composites, semiconductors and microelectronics, carbon materials, thin films and coatings, biomaterials, hard materials and porous materials and the fundamental science necessary to understand their properties and to engineer useful products. The University-wide MRI has about 200 faculty members, who advise some 225 graduate students and teach more than 130 undergraduate students in science and engineering departments throughout Penn State. Pantano’s own research focuses on glass. He studies the characteristics of glass surfaces and how the composition and treatment of glass influence the microstructure and properties of vapor-deposited thin films for flat-panel display devices, the adhesion of organic polymer coatings for DNA microsensor arrays and the stability of their interfaces in service. Under his leadership, Penn State was designated a Research Site for Glass Surfaces and Interfaces in 1999 by the National Science Foundation. Penn State joins the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and the University of Missouri–Rolla in a multi-university consortium supported by NSF’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers Program, collectively known as the Center for Glass Research. (Alfred University is the founder of this multi-university center.) In addition to the NSF funding for the center, 40 glass companies from around the world support glass research through their membership fees. “The focus of our research site is to expand understanding of glass surfaces and interfaces as it is essential to the science, technology and manufacture of glass,” Pantano said. “Fundamental knowledge about the surface of glass has been limited, especially understanding of multi-component, commercial glass compositions. To date, empirical observations, practical experience and extension of models for simple glass compositions have been the basis for most of the problem solving and engineering design of glass surfaces and interfaces.” He illustrates one research problem this way: “Polymers of interest to the glass industry are developed in the chemical industry with limited understanding of glass, while design and processing of glass surfaces in the glass industry are developed with limited understanding of polymers.” Penn State’s Research Site for Glass Surfaces and Interfaces is trying to bridge gaps such as this by emphasizing three areas: glass surfaces and thin film coatings, adhesion of polymer to glass, and surface protection and strengthening of glass. In addition to Pantano, Penn State principal investigators conducting glass-related research for the center are Dr. David L. Allara, professor of materials science and chemistry; Dr. Victor A. Bakaev, research associate, chemistry; Dr. David J. Green, professor of ceramic science and engineering; Dr. John R. Hellmann, associate professor of ceramic science and engineering; Dr. Karl Todd Mueller, associate professor of chemistry; and Dr. Nicholas Winograd, professor of chemistry. Their projects provide financial support for six graduate students and two postdoctorals. In June, Penn State will host a meeting for all university and corporate members of the multi-university Center for Glass Research. The meeting will bring glass researchers and technologists from around the world to Penn State’s Innovation Park, Pantano said. His interest in glass also has led to a collaboration with Harvard University’s Botanical Museum to assist the museum in maintaining and restoring its unique collection of nearly 3,000 glass models of plants. The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, created by a father and son team (Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, respectively) in the 1860s through 1930s, is experiencing the effects of corrosion and age. For more information on the glass flowers, see the article in Research/Penn State (September 1999, Vol. 20, No. 3) on the Web at http://www.research.psu.edu/rps/sep99/glass.html. Pantano and the Materials Research Institute also are involved with the Pennsylvania Ceramics Association. In the fall, Pantano and Penn State colleagues Dr. James H. Adair, associate professor of materials science and engineering; Dr. Clive A. Randall, professor of materials science and engineering; and Hellmann organized the 55th annual Pennsylvania Ceramics Association Forum on the theme “Meeting Technological Needs Through Industry-University Partnerships.” The forum highlighted research conducted by a number of centers affiliated with MRI, including the Carbon Research Center, Center for Dielectric Studies, Center for Glass Research, Center for Innovative Sintered Products, Center for the Materials in the Environment, Electron-Beam Physical Vapor Deposition Laboratory, International Center for Actuators and Transducers, Materials Characterization Laboratory, Particulate Materials Center and the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility. The meeting, held at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, also involved Penn State student researchers, including two undergraduates and 33 graduate students, who participated in a poster session. Pantano noted, “Our sponsors and partners from industry participated by making keynote addresses about the technical needs of their industries.” Another initiative the Materials Research Institute is involved with is a new interdisciplinary research center, the Center for Collective Phenomena in Restricted Geometries (CPRG), created through the National Science Foundation’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) program. CPRG is funded by a five-year commitment of $4.29 million from the National Science Foundation, as well as support from Penn State. Dr. Moses Chan, Evan Pugh Professor of Physics, is director of CPRG, and Pantano is coordinator of the industrial outreach component of the center. Penn State is one of only 26 universities with such an NSF center. According to NSF, these centers allow scientists to “undertake materials research of scope and complexity that would not be feasible under traditional funding of individual research projects.” Chan noted that MRI, which represents more than 200 faculty members who conduct interdisciplinary materials research at the University, established the framework for the center. That existing interdisciplinary effort paved the way for the NSF-funded center. “Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) are the National Science Foundation’s flagship grants for materials and are exceedingly competitive,” Pantano said. “This award really attests to the outstanding accomplishments and creativity of the principal investigators. We anticipate that the CPRG will greatly enhance our mission for interdisciplinary education and research by bringing people and ideas together. It’s a credit to the researchers involved and another leadership position for Penn State in the world of materials.” The Materials Research Institute Building is the location of the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility and the Center for Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology. This center offers a one-semester program for students studying at institutions across Pennsylvania in the fields of electrical technology, manufacturing technology, chemical technology and allied associate degree programs. An important goal of this program is workforce development, Pantano said. In addition, a one-semester Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology Certificate Program is available to graduates from technology programs and students in physics, chemistry and biology four-year degree programs at institutions across the state. The Center for Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology also offers a series of summer Chip Camps for middle school and high school students, as well as workshops for industry and educators. For more information about the Penn State Materials Research Institute, visit its Web site at www.mri.psu.edu. 
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U.Ed.OCE 01-8002/mkm/GSM