Engineering Commons^™

Femtosecond Laser Micromachining Of Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic And Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Printed Circuit Boards Materials, Raif Farkouh

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC), and glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) printed circuit boards (PCBs) are two materials used for the packaging of electronics. The excellent mechanical and electrical properties of LTCC, combined with the ability to embed passive components offer superior radio frequency (RF) performance and device miniaturization for high-frequency applications. Due to its unique properties, LTCC provides superior performance in applications as diverse as military radar, imaging systems, advanced automotive sensing, telecommunications, and satellites. The use of LTCC in these applications has created a demand for the micromachining of holes, channels, and cavities with specific geometries and structures. Likewise, …

Synergistic Interactions Of H2 And N2 With Molten Gallium In The Presence Of Plasma, Maria L. Carreon, Daniel F. Jaramillo-Cabanzo, Indira Chaudhuri, Madhu Menon, Mahendra K. Sunkara

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The present study examines the interaction of hydrogen and nitrogen plasmas with gallium in an effort to gain insights into the mechanisms behind the synergetic effect of plasma and a catalytic metal. Absorption/desorption experiments were performed, accompanied by theoretical-computational calculations. Experiments were carried out in a plasma-enhanced, Ga-packed, batch reactor and entailed monitoring the change in pressure at different temperatures. The results indicated a rapid adsorption/dissolution of the gas into the molten metal when gallium was exposed to plasma, even at a low temperature of 100 °C. The experimental observations, when hydrogen was used, indicate that gallium acts as a …

Generalized Ellipsometry On Complex Nanostructures And Low-Symmetry Materials, Alyssa Mock

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this thesis, complex anisotropic materials are investigated and characterized by generalized ellipsometry. In recent years, anisotropic materials have gained considerable interest for novel applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices, mostly due to unique properties that originate from reduced crystal symmetry. Examples include white solid-state lighting devices which have become ubiquitous just recently, and the emergence of high-power, high-voltage electronic transistors and switches in all-electric vehicles. The incorporation of single crystalline material with low crystal symmetry into novel device structures requires reconsideration of existing optical characterization approaches. Here, the generalized ellipsometry concept is extended to include applications for materials with …

Synthesis Of Graphene And Graphene-Based Composite Membrane, Yuanjun Fan

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Vibration membrane equipped for earphone requires high performance in both mechanical properties and electronic properties. With extraordinary properties on both, graphene and graphene-based composite materials appear as a promising candidate for this application. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is believed to be the most convenient way to synthesize a large area (on scale of square centimeters) as well as a homogeneous thickness for the membrane. The thesis focuses on applying control variable experiment method to analyze different effects on mechanical property of the two CVD setting parameters: cooling rate, and hydrocarbon precursor. For isolating the specimens efficiently, a modified electrochemical method …

Method For Single Crystal Growth Of Photovoltaic Perovskite Material And Devices, Jinsong Huang, Qingfeng Dong

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Systems and methods for perovskite single crystal growth include using a low temperature solution process that employs a temperature gradient in a perovskite solution in a container , also including at least one small perovskite single crystal , and a substrate in the solution upon which substrate a perovskite crystal nucleates and grows , in part due to the temperature gradient in the solution and in part due to a temperature gradient in the substrate . For example , a top portion of the substrate external to the solution may be cooled .

Rapid Characterization Of Local Shape Memory Properties Through Indentation, Peizhen Li, Haluk E. Karaca, Yang-Tse Cheng

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) have the ability to show large recoverable shape changes upon temperature, stress or magnetic field cycling. Their shape memory, material and magnetic properties (e.g. transformation temperatures, strain, saturation magnetization and strength) determine their prospects for applications from small-scale microelectromechanical systems to large scale aerospace and biomedical systems. It should be noted that properties of SMAs are highly temperature dependent. Generally, the conventional mechanical characterization methods (e.g, tension, compression, and torsion) are used on bulk samples of SMAs to determine those properties. In this article, it will be shown that indentation technique can be used as an …

Oct-Based Three Dimensional Modeling Of Stent Deployment, Pengfei Dong, David Prabhu, David L. Wilson, Hiram G. Bezerra, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Stent deployment has been widely used to treat narrowed coronary artery. Its acute outcome in terms of stent under expansion and malapposition depends on the extent and shape of calcifications. However, no clear understanding as to how to quantify or categorize the impact of calcification. We have conducted ex vivo stenting characterized by the optical coherence tomography (OCT). The goal of this work is to capture the ex vivo stent deployment and quantify the effect of calcium morphology on the stenting. A three dimensional model of calcified plaque was reconstructed from ex vivo OCT images. The crimping, balloon expansion and …

Floating-Gate Transistor Photodetector, Jinsong Huang, Yongbo Yuan

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A field effect transistor photodetector that can operate in room temperature includes a source electrode , a drain electrode , a channel to allow an electric current to flow between the drain and source electrodes , and a gate electrode to receive a bias voltage for controlling the current in the channel . The photodetector includes a light - absorbing mate rial that absorbs light and traps electric charges . The light absorbing material is configured to generate one or more charges upon absorbing light having a wavelength within a specified range and to hold the one or more charges …

Advances In Diamond Nanofabrication For Ultrasensitive Devices, Stefania Castelletto, Lorenzo Rosa, Jonathan Blackledge, Mohammed Zaher Al Abri, Albert Boretti

Articles

This paper reviews some of the major recent advances in single-crystal diamond nanofabrication and its impact in nano- and micromechanical, nanophotonics and optomechanical components. These constituents of integrated devices incorporating specific dopants in the material provide the capacity to enhance the sensitivity in detecting mass and forces as well as magnetic field down to quantum mechanical limits and will lead pioneering innovations in ultrasensitive sensing and precision measurements in the realm of the medical sciences, quantum sciences and related technologies.

Optical And Electronic Properties Of Femtosecond Laser-Induced Sulfur-Hyperdoped Silicon N+/P Photodiodes, Ting Zhang, Bohan Liu, Waseem Ahmad, Yaoyu Xuan, Xiangxiao Ying, Zhijun Liu, Zhi David Chen, Shibin Li

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Impurity-mediated near-infrared (NIR) photoresponse in silicon is of great interest for photovoltaics and photodetectors. In this paper, we have fabricated a series of n⁺/p photodetectors with hyperdoped silicon prepared by ion-implantation and femtosecond pulsed laser. These devices showed a remarkable enhancement on absorption and photoresponse at NIR wavelengths. The device fabricated with implantation dose of 10¹⁴ ions/cm² has exhibited the best performance. The proposed method offers an approach to fabricate low-cost broadband silicon-based photodetectors.

Software For Extracting Deformation Gradient And Stress From Md Simulations: Simulations Using The Charmm Force Field, Mehrdad Negahban, Lili Zhang, Zesheng Zhang, John Jasa, Antoine Jérusalem

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Software was developed, and is provided under a general use license, to calculate continuum level deformation gradient and stress for any group of atoms in an MD simulation that uses the Charmm force fields. This software can also calculate the interaction stress applied by one group of atoms on any other group. To obtain deformation gradient and stress, the user needs to provide the selected group(s) of atoms in an atom group identification file, and provide the associated LAMMPS format files and force field parameter file. An example is included to demonstrate the use of the software.

Interplay Of Quantum Size Effect, Anisotropy And Surface Stress Shapes The Instability Of Thin Metal Films, Mikhail Khenner

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Morphological instability of a planar surface ([111], [011], or [001]) of an ultra-thin metal film is studied in a parameter space formed by three major effects (the quantum size effect, the surface energy anisotropy and the surface stress) that influence a film dewetting. The analysis is based on the extended Mullins equation, where the effects are cast as functions of the film thickness. The formulation of the quantum size effect (Z. Zhang et al., PRL 80, 5381 (1998)) includes the oscillation of the surface energy with thickness caused by electrons confinement. By systematically comparing the effects, their contributions into the …

Energy Absorbing Guardrail System, John R. Rohde, John D. Reid, King K. Mak, Dean L. Sicking

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A highway crash attenuation system having W - beam rail elements attached to a plurality of vertical posts . An impact terminal with a feeder chute guides one or more of the W - beam rail elements through the impact terminal . The feeder chute has an impact shield extending along a traffic facing side of the chute from an upstream - most end to a downstream - most end of the chute closing the traffic - facing side of the chute . The system also has an anchor cable release mechanism for releasing the cable downstream of the first …

Shape-Adaptive Mechanism For Robotic Grasping, Carl A. Nelson

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A grapser can include a first pantograph cell and a second pantograph cell coupled with the first pantogrpah cell. The first and second pantograph cells can be coupled together at a first pivot and a second pivot. The grasper can also include a finger extendable in a direction extending between the first pivot and the second pivot. The grasper can include a support base, where one or more links of the first pantograph cell can be slidably coupled with the support base for extending the grasper. In some embodiment, the grasper can be configured to extend along a curved path. …

Optimal Control-Based Inverse Determination Of Electrode Distribution For Electroosmotic Micromixer, Yuan Li, Yongbo Deng, Zhenyu Liu, Teng Zhou, Yihui Wu, Shizhi Qian

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents an optimal control-based inverse method used to determine the distribution of the electrodes for the electroosmotic micromixers with external driven flow from the inlet. Based on the optimal control method, one Dirichlet boundary control problem is constructed to inversely find the optimal distribution of the electrodes on the sidewalls of electroosmotic micromixers and achieve the acceptable mixing performance. After solving the boundary control problem, results are also provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method; the step-shaped distribution of the external electric potential imposed on the sidewalls is obtained, and the electrodes with an interlaced arrangement …

Meniscus-Assisted Solution Printing Of Largegrained Perovskite Films For High-Efficiency Solar Cells, Ming He, Bo Li, Xun Cui, Beibei Jiang, Yanjie He, Yihuang Chen, Daniel O'Neil, Paul Szymanski, Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Jinsong Huang, Zhiqun Lin

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Control over morphology and crystallinity of metal halide perovskite films is of key importance to enable high-performance optoelectronics. However, this remains particularly challenging for solution-printed devices due to the complex crystallization kinetics of semiconductor materials within dynamic flow of inks. Here we report a simple yet effective meniscus-assisted solution printing (MASP) strategy to yield large-grained dense perovskite film with good crystallization and preferred orientation. Intriguingly, the outward convective flow triggered by fast solvent evaporation at the edge of the meniscus ink imparts the transport of perovskite solutes, thus facilitating the growth of micrometre-scale perovskite grains. The growth kinetics of perovskite …

Size And Shape Distributions Of Primary Crystallites In Titania Aggregates, Eric A. Grulke, Kazuhiro Yamamoto, Kazuhiro Kumagai, Ines Häusler, Werner Österle, Erik Ortel, Vasile-Dan Hodoroaba, Scott C. Brown, Christopher Chan, Jiwen Zheng, Kenji Yamamoto, Kouji Yashiki, Nam Woong Song, Young Heon Kim, Aleksandr B Stefaniak, D. Schwegler-Berry, Victoria A. Coleman, Åsa K. Jämting, Jan Herrmann, Toru Arakawa, Woodrow W. Burchett, Joshua W. Lambert, Arnold J. Stromberg

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The primary crystallite size of titania powder relates to its properties in a number of applications. Transmission electron microscopy was used in this interlaboratory comparison (ILC) to measure primary crystallite size and shape distributions for a commercial aggregated titania powder. Data of four size descriptors and two shape descriptors were evaluated across nine laboratories. Data repeatability and reproducibility was evaluated by analysis of variance. One-third of the laboratory pairs had similar size descriptor data, but 83% of the pairs had similar aspect ratio data. Scale descriptor distributions were generally unimodal and were well-described by lognormal reference models. Shape descriptor distributions …

Elastic Properties Of Superconductors And Materials With Weakly Correlated Spins, Christian Binek

Christian Binek Publications

It is shown that in the ergodic regime, the temperature dependence of Young’s modulus is solely determined by the magnetic properties of a material. For the large class of materials with paramagnetic or diamagnetic response, simple functional forms of the temperature derivative of Young’s modulus are derived and compared with experimental data and empirical results. Superconducting materials in the Meissner phase are ideal diamagnets. As such, they display remarkable elastic properties. Constant diamagnetic susceptibility gives rise to a temperature independent elastic modulus for ceramic and single crystalline superconductors alike. The thermodynamic approach established in this report, paves the way to …

Dissipative Elastic Metamaterial With A Lowfrequency Passband, Yongquan Liu, Jianlin Yi, Zheng Li, Xianyue Su, Wenlong Li, Mehrdad Negahban

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

We design and experimentally demonstrate a dissipative elastic metamaterial structure that functions as a bandpass filter with a low-frequency passband. The mechanism of dissipation in this structure is well described by a mass-spring-damper model that reveals that the imaginary part of the wavenumber is non-zero, even in the passband of dissipative metamaterials. This indicates that transmittance in this range can be low. A prototype for this viscoelastic metamaterial model is fabricated by 3D printing techniques using soft and hard acrylics as constituent materials. The transmittance of the printed metamaterial is measured and shows good agreement with theoretical predictions, demonstrating its …

Multiple Scattering Theory For Heterogeneous Elastic Continua With Strong Property Fluctuation: Theoretical Fundamentals And Applications, Huijing He

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Scattering of elastic waves in heterogeneous media has become one of the most important problems in the field of wave propagation due to its broad applications in seismology, natural resource exploration, ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation and biomedical ultrasound. Nevertheless, it is one of the most challenging problems because of the complicated medium inhomogeneity and the complexity of the elastodynamic equations. A widely accepted model for the propagation and scattering of elastic waves, which properly incorporates the multiple scattering phenomenon and the statistical information of the inhomogeneities is still missing. In this work, the author developed a multiple scattering model for heterogeneous …

A Strategy To Optimize Recovery In Orthopedic Sports Injuries, Michael P. Sealy, Ziye Liu, Chao Li, Yuebin Guo, Ben White, Mark Barkey, Brian Jordon J, Luke N. Brewer, Dale Feldman

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

An important goal for treatment of sports injuries is to have as short a recovery time as possible. The critical problem with current orthopedic implants is that they are designed to be permanent and have a high complication rate (15%) that often requires removal and replacement with a second surgery; and subsequently a second rehabilitation cycle. This study was designed to test the feasibility of having a device that could provide the needed mechanical properties, while promoting healing, for a specified amount of time and then degrade away, to shorten the recovery time. The specific strategy was to create a …

Realizing Full Coverage Of Stable Perovskite Film By Modified Anti-Solvent Process, Long Ji, Ting Zhang, Yafei Wang, Peng Zhang, Detao Liu, Zhi David Chen, Shibin Li

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Lead-free solution-processed solid-state photovoltaic devices based on formamidinium tin triiodide (FASnI₃) and cesium tin triiodide (CsSnI₃) perovskite semiconductor as the light harvester are reported. In this letter, we used solvent engineering and anti-solvent dripping method to fabricate perovskite films. SnCl₂ was used as an inhibitor of Sn⁴⁺ in FASnI₃ precursor solution. We obtained the best films under the function of toluene or chlorobenzene in anti-solvent dripping method and monitored the oxidation of FASnI₃ films in air. We chose SnF₂ as an additive of CsSnI₃ precursor solution to prevent the oxidation …

Editorial For The Special Issue On Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics, Xiangchun Xuan, Shizhi Qian

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Micro/nanofluidics-based lab-on-a-chip devices have found extensive applications in the analysis of chemical and biological samples over the past two decades. Electrokinetics is the method of choice in these micro/nano-chips for transporting, manipulating and sensing various analyte species (e.g., ions, molecules, fluids and particles, etc.) [1,2]. This Special Issue in Micromachines is aimed to provide the recent development in the field of Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics. It consists of 15 papers, which cover both fundamentals and applications, original research and reviews

Fabrication And Study Of The Structure And Magnetism Of Rare-Earth Free Nanoclusters, Bhaskar Das

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Method And Shear-Driven Micro-Fluidic Pump, Nihad E. Daidzic

Aviation Department Publications

United States Patent Application, Publication Number US 2017/0096990 A1, Publication Date April 6, 2017.

An example includes an apparatus to pump a fluid. The apparatus includes a housing extending along a length defining an elongate interior, an actuator in the housing, conforming to the elongate interior, the actuator including a plurality of lumens, each having a length extending substantially parallel to the elongate interior, each from around 10 to 200 micrometers across and an actuator configured to oscillate the actuator in the actuator housing along the length of the elongate interior with a rate differential between movement in a first …

Catalyzed Synthesis Of Zinc Clays By Prebiotic Central Metabolites, Marcelo I. Guzman, Ruixin Zhou, Kaustuv Basu, Hyman Hartman, Christopher J. Matocha, S. Kelly Sears, Hajatollah Vali

Chemistry Faculty Publications

How primordial metabolic networks such as the reverse tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle and clay mineral catalysts coevolved remains a mystery in the puzzle to understand the origin of life. While prebiotic reactions from the rTCA cycle were accomplished via photochemistry on semiconductor minerals, the synthesis of clays was demonstrated at low temperature and ambient pressure catalyzed by oxalate. Herein, the crystallization of clay minerals is catalyzed by succinate, an example of a photoproduced intermediate from central metabolism. The experiments connect the synthesis of sauconite, a model for clay minerals, to prebiotic photochemistry. We report the temperature, pH, and concentration dependence …

Primary Blast Waves Induced Brain Dynamics Influenced By Head Orientations, Yi Hua, Yugang Wang, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

There is controversy regarding the directional dependence of head responses subjected to blast loading. The goal of this work is to characterize the role of head orientation in the mechanics of blast wave-head interactions as well as the load transmitting to the brain. A three-dimensional human head model with anatomical details was reconstructed from computed tomography images. Three different head orientations with respect to the oncoming blast wave, i.e., front-on with head facing blast, back-on with head facing away from blast, and side-on with right side exposed to blast, were considered. The reflected pressure at the blast wave-head interface positively …

Enhanced Performance Of Planar Perovskite Solar Cells Using Low-Temperature Solution-Processed Al-Doped Sno2 As Electron Transport Layers, Hao Chen, Detao Liu, Yafei Wang, Chenyun Wang, Ting Zhang, Peng Zhang, Hojjatollah Sarvari, Zhi Chen, Shibin Li

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Lead halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) appear to be the ideal future candidate for photovoltaic applications owing to the rapid development in recent years. The electron transport layers (ETLs) prepared by low-temperature process are essential for widespread implementation and large-scale commercialization of PSCs. Here, we report an effective approach for producing planar PSCs with Al³⁺ doped SnO₂ ETLs prepared by using a low-temperature solution-processed method. The Al dopant in SnO₂ enhanced the charge transport behavior of planar PSCs and increased the current density of the devices, compared with the undoped SnO₂ ETLs. Moreover, the enhanced electrical …

Electronic Properties Of A New All-Inorganic Perovskite Tlpbi3 Simulated By The First Principles, Zhao Liu, Ting Zhang, Yafei Wang, Chenyun Wang, Peng Zhang, Hojjatollah Sarvari, Zhi Chen, Shibin Li

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

All-inorganic perovskites have been recognized as promising photovoltaic materials. We simulated the perovskite material of TlPbI₃ using ab initio electronic structure calculations. The band gap of 1.33 eV is extremely close to the theoretical optimum value. Compared TlPbI₃ with CsPbI₃, the total energy (−3980 eV) of the former is much lower than the latter. The partial density of states (PDOS) of TlPbI₃ shows that a strong bond exists between Tl and I, resulting in the lower total energy and more stable existence than CsPbI₃.

Three-Dimensional Graphene Foam Reinforced Epoxy Composites, Leslie Embrey

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Three-dimensional graphene foam (3D GrF) is an interconnected, porous structure of graphene sheets with excellent mechanical, electrical and thermal properties, making it a candidate reinforcement for polymer matrices. GrF’s 3D structure eliminates nanoparticle agglomeration and provides seamless pathways for electron travel. The objective of this work is to fabricate low density GrF reinforced epoxy composites with superior mechanical and electrical properties and study the underlying deformation mechanisms. Dip coating and mold casting fabrication methods are employed in order to tailor the microstructure and properties. The composite’s microstructure revealed good interfacial interaction. By adding mere 0.63 wt.% GrF, flexural strength was …