MEMS and Nanotechnology
Biofluidic Micro Systems Laboratory
Research in BioMEMS aims to design and create MEMS and micro/nanofluidic systems to control the motion and measure the dynamic behavior of biomolecules in solution. Current efforts involve modeling and understanding the physics of micro/ nanofluidic devices and systems, exploiting polymer structures to enable micro/nanofluidic manipulation, and integrating MEMS sensors with microfluidics for measuring physical properties of biomolecules. (Read more about the Biofluidic Micro Systems Laboratory)
Hone Group
Research in the area of nanotechnology focuses on nanomaterials such as nanotubes and nanowires and their applications, especially in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). A laboratory is available for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes and semiconductor nanowires using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques and to build devices using electron-beam lithography and various etching techniques. This effort will seek to optimize the fabrication, readout, and sensitivity of these devices for numerous applications, such as sensitive detection of mass, charge, and magnetic resonance. (Read more about the Hone Group)
Quadracci Sustainable Engineering Laboratory
In these areas, research activities focus on power generation systems, nanostructures for photonics, fuel cells and photovoltaics, and microfabricated adaptive cooling skin and sensors for flow, shear, and wind speed. Basic research in fluid dynamics and heat/mass transfer phenomena at small scales also support these activities. (Read more about the Quadracci Sustainable Engineering Laboratory)
Schuck Lab
The Schuck group aims to characterize, understand and control nanoscale light-matter interactions, with a primary focus on sensing, engineering and exploiting novel optoelectronic and quantum phenomena emerging from nanostructures and interfaces. This offers unprecedented opportunities for developing innovative devices that rely on the dynamic manipulation of single photons and charge carriers. We are continuously developing new multimodal and multidimensional spectroscopic methods that provide unique access to optical, electrical, and structural properties at relevant length scales in real environments encountered in energy and biological applications. (Read more about the Schuck Lab)
Swamy Group
We study the dynamics of microcantilevers and atomic force microscope cantilevers to use them as microscale thermal sensors based on the resonance frequency shifts of vibration modes of the cantilever. Bimaterial microcantilever-based sensors are used to determine the thermophysical properties of thin films. (Read more about the Swamy Group)