Sep 12 2008
A team from Stevens Institute of Technology has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation for the project, "MRI: Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching System for Nano/Micro Device Fabrication."
The Stevens team includes Yong Shi, the PI, an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering department; Stefan Strauf, a Professor the Physics department; Eui-Hyeok Yang, an Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering department; Frank Fisher, an Associate Professor in the Nanomechanics and Nanomaterials Lab in the Mechanical Engineering department; and Chang-Hwan Choi, an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering department. The team also includes Professor Adeniyi Lawal (Chemical Engineering); Professors Hongjun Wang and Xiaojun Yu (Biomedical Engineering); and Dr. Daizong Li (Design and Manufacturing Institute)
The grant will be awarded over three years to support the project's objective, which is to achieve uniform and highly selective anisotropic etching capabilities for research and training in fabrication of micro/nanoscale sensors, actuators and devices at Stevens. By using an Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) etching system, the team can greatly augment existing micro/nano fabrication capabilities within the MicroDevices Laboratory. This will have a significant impact on research already being conducted at Stevens, such as nano and micro devices for sensing , communications and medicine , single-electron carbon nanotube memory devices, nanoengineered surfaces for microfluidic and nanobioscience applications, and bottom-up prototyping of microchemical systems .
Shi was awarded an additional three-year grant of $230,900 for his work, " Nano AFCs Acoustic Emission Sensors for Real-time Monitoring of Structures." The objective of the proposed research is to apply innovative nanotechnologies for creating acoustic emission (AE) sensors for real-time monitoring of structures. The proposed AE sensors are composed of Nanoscale Active Fiber Composites (NAFCs) and the project involves the design, manufacturing and characterization of the sensors consisting of piezoelectric (PZT) nanofibers. This work will result in advanced acoustic emission sensors with high sensitivity, excellent conformability and suitability for being imbedded into or attached on the surface of structures.