Research

Materials Research Thrusts

Materials research at Georgia Tech is comprehensive, addressing all major technologies that can improve our lives in the next century and beyond. In addition to fundamental research, emerging technologies are routinely being exploited at Tech in terms of patents and new product development/enhancement ideas. Here, we offer but a few examples of the classes of materials research areas at Georgia Tech:

Bioengineered Materials
Ceramics
Composites
Electronic Packaging
Environmentally Benign Materials & Processes
Fuel Cells
Genetically Engineered Materials
High Performance Polymers & Ceramics
High Temperature Materials
Infrastructure Materials
Microelectronics Devices & Micromachining
Nanotechnology & Molecular Design
Optoelectronics & Photonics
Photovoltaics
Phosphor Materials
Structural Materials
Simulation of Materials Behavior & Processing

More in-depth descriptions of several areas of research include:

Biomaterials

Biomaterials is an area of explosive growth involving biology and engineering in which new materials are being developed for many different purposes. Examples of current research include:

Miniature sensors and molecular beacons for advanced patient monitoring, cancer detection, and screening for disease
MEMS sensors for biological agents and toxins
Biomimetics: mimicking nature to manufacture advanced materials
Materials for ligament and cartilage replacement
Scaffolding to re-grow bone and allow nerve repair in severed spinal columns
Artificial lenses, retinas, joints, limbs and human organ
Bioengineered nanomaterials, produced by living organisms through a combination of biomineralization and genetic manipulation
Using the cell's manufacturing unit (ribosome) to manufacture new materials:

to detect and deliver drugs to tumors within the human body
to produce nano-scale sensors and transceivers
to produce photonic components and circuits
to harness photosynthesis to manufacture hydrogen for the next generation of automobiles

Microelectronics

Microelectronics drives the computer and consumer electronics industries. Occupying 120,000 square feet of space in the J.M. Pettit Building, the Microelectronics Research Center has world class facilities, including 18 well-equipped laboratories and a 7000 square foot microfabrication clean room. Major research thrusts include microsystems integration, multichip packaging, optoelectronics and its integration into microelectronics, high definition TV and micro-actuators/micro-sensors. Faculty and graduate students from at least eight academic units and GTRI are involved in microelectronics research at Tech.

Georgia Tech also has the distinction of being the first University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaics Research and Education, sponsored by the Department of Energy. There is also substantial activity in lighting materials and flat panel display materials.

Faculty and graduate students from at least eight academic units and GTRI are involved in microelectronics research at Tech. The latest addition is an e-beam lithography facility able to pattern down to 10 nanometers. Nanoimprint soft lithographic equipment is slated for purchase next. Georgia Tech has recently been made a member of the NNIN (National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network).

Nanomaterials

Nanomaterials are created by manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular scale, or by guided or predicted self-assembly of structures of nanoscopic dimensions that can be tailored through thermomechanical processing and compositional variation.

Nanomaterials differ from bulk materials in terms of grain size, surface/interface-to-volume ratio and grain shapes, which are the origin of their unique electrical, optical, thermodynamic, mechanical and chemical properties. It is envisioned by many that significant future advances in a wide range of miniaturized consumer products will rely on controlled and designed synthesis of nanomaterials as well as their integration with microsystems and biotechnology.

Nanotechnology has the potential to provide unprecedented understanding of atomic scale control of materials. It holds the prospect of impacting every aspect of our lives, from health care to energy and to our environment. Research in nanotechnology is multidisciplinary, involving but not limited to mechanics, materials science, electrical engineering, physics, chemistry, biology and biomedical engineering. The future of materials science lies in the integration of engineering, physics, chemistry, and biology. This complex task requires not only innovative research and development theme, but also a new education system for training future scientists and engineers.

Structural Materials

Advances in transportation technology, electronics, rehabilitation of manufacturing and transportation infrastructure, and breakthroughs in new energy technologies depend largely on our ability to "engineer" new structural materials. Concurrently, existing materials must be pushed to the limit of their capabilities. Georgia Tech plays a key national role in the development, characterization and modeling of structural materials. Materials scientists and mechanics faculty interact within the Mechanical Properties Research Laboratory, among the nation's best-equipped university laboratories for mechanical testing and characterization of structural materials such as advanced metallic/ceramic alloys and composites at temperatures ranging from cryogenic to 1800 K. Creep, fatigue and fracture experiments conducted in vacuum and other environments permit assessment of micro- and macro-scale models and microstructure/property relations for a variety of materials. Multiscale computational methods are used to link information from different time and length scales to form a basis of predicting material response in components and enabling design of materials for multiple performance requirements.

Campus-wide interactions in advanced composite materials are facilitated by the Composites Education and Research Center. Research in modeling the deformation and failure behavior of structural materials is widespread across campus. Various structural testing, nondestructive evaluation, x-ray, electron microscopy, optical microscopy and quantitative image analysis facilities are available.

Materials Physics and Chemistry

Common interests abound between faculty in Physics and other disciplines such as Electrical and Computer Engineering in growth and characteristics of compound semiconductor thin films, high quality superconducting thin films, deposition of ferroelectric thin films, the theory of epitaxy, molecular dynamics, and materials such as metallic hydrides. Located in the School of Physics, the Computational Materials Science Center is producing leading edge results concerning the structure of thin films using principles of molecular dynamics. Likewise, chemistry is an essential aspect of materials, since surface reactions and non-equilibrium behaviors are commonplace. Research is carried out in the Schools of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering, etc. in the areas of electro-active materials, including conductive polymers, organized assemblies and surface modification of semiconductors, thin organic films, use of molecules as discrete devices, detection of near-molecular thresholds by chemical and biosensors and development of high performance materials that are stable under combined stress, temperature and radiation environments. Characterization facilities include scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), surface spectroscopy (XPS, UPS, LEEDS), high- field nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and tandem and ion trap mass spectrometry, and equipment for thermal analyses.

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