Texas State University-San Marcos is aggressively developing a new Materials Science, Engineering, and Commercialization (MSEC) Program based on collaboration amongst the Departments of Biology, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Engineering Technology, Physics, and the Ingram School of Engineering. The objective of this MRI acquisition of an inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching system is to enhance the present capability of the university by providing performance and process consistency necessary to meet the goals of the university?s strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research central to the MSEC program. The intellectual merit is in significantly benefitting ongoing research programs including the development of microelectronic devices, micro-actuators, and nano/biomedical applications. Hence, the new service facility is expected to be a catalyst that strengthens current interdisciplinary research partnerships. Furthermore, the multifunctional system being acquired offers a broad capability to the university research community and industrial and government collaborators. The system will be supported, and its effectiveness for research and education sustained, through the development of a user-university-state partnership for stewardship of shared resources. The broad impact of this program is to serve as a primary shared resource for Texas State University?s growing public and private sector activity in MSEC. In addition, the university will integrate the use of the system into the students? course, capstone, and research experiences. In summary, the system is essential to the advancement and growth of current research in materials science and engineering linking academic, federal government, and industry labs at Texas State addressing areas of societal concern in the security, health, energy and environmental sectors.
Texas State University-San Marcos is aggressively developing a new Materials Science, Engineering, and Commercialization (MSEC) Program based on collaborations among the Departments of Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Engineering Technology, The Ingram School of Engineering, and Physics. This program principally focuses on nanotechnology enabled by scale-dependent materials science and engineering. Acquisition of an Oxford PlasmaPro System 100 ICP180 etch system provides the capability, performance and reliability necessary to meet the goals of the university’s strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research. The ICP-RIE’s accessibility, relative ease of use, and consistency of performance make the etch system ideal for being integrated into our educational programs; undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students benefit from training on it. The capabilities of the ICP-RIE significantly benefit a number of ongoing research programs including the development of microelectronic devices, micro-actuators, and nano/biomedical applications. The option to select the etch process offers a broad capability to the university research community and industrial and government collaborators. The system is situated in our new class 1000 clean-room space. The system is supported and its effectiveness for research and education sustained through the development of a user-university-state partnership for stewardship of shared resources. The ICP-RIE system serves as a primary shared resource for Texas State University’s growing. The system is essential to the advancement and growth of current research in materials science and engineering linking academic, federal government, and industry labs at Texas State addressing areas of societal concern in the security, health, energy and environmental sectors. The system is opened to multiple businesses, such as Nanohmics and Axium. Due to the delay of installation, only three peer reviewed research papers have been published. Research enabled by the requested system will also be incorporated into graduate and undergraduate classes being developed and taught at Texas State. The senior-level undergraduate courses such as MFGE 4392, 4394, and TECH 4391, 4392 include the demonstration of ICP-RIE processes. In this manner, the acquisition will further foster integration of research and education through the educational initiatives and research activities at Texas State and our local collaborators. Publications: In-Hyouk Song, William B D Forfang, Bryan Cole and Byoung Hee You (2014). Characterization of a vertically movable gate field effect transistor using a silicon-on-insulator wafer. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. 24 105002. DOI: 10.1088/0960-1317/24/10/105002 Juan A Gomez, Devanda Lek, In-Hyouk Song, Byoung Hee You (2014). Study on stress evolution in the cooling process of micro hot embossing. International Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. 9 (20) DOI: 10.1186/s40712-014-0020-9 Timothy Conner, In-Hyouk Song, Taehyun Park, Byoung Hee You (2014). Method of mould alignment for double-sided hot embossing of microfluidic devices using kinematic constraints. Micro & Nano Letters. 9 (10), 741. DOI: 10.1049/mnl.2014.0134
