Facilities

The Materials Department prides itself on the development of a broad range of experimental and computational resources in Central and Shared Facilities.

  • Microscopy and Microanalysis. Managed jointly with the UCSB MRL and open to all members of the university and surrounding community, this facility houses state-of-the-art equipment for materials characterization including: 3 transmission electron microscopes; 3 field-emission scanning electron microscopes; 6 atomic force microscopes; advanced focused ion-beam system; dedicated XPS and SIMS systems; and extensive sample preparation tools and computational resources.
  • Molecular Beam Epitaxy.  A common resource for over 10 faculty groups for MBE growth of advanced compound semiconductors and oxides.  The laboratory houses:  4 MBE systems for arsenide, phosphide, and antimonide growth; 2 MBE tools for GaN and related materials; and 2 new systems for growth of semiconducting and insulating oxides.  A major expansion is planned for 2007-2008.
  • Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition. Home to 5 MOCVD and 3 HVPE systems for growth of GaN and related materials, classical III-V semiconductors, and semiconducting oxides.
  • Materials Processing Laboratory. Enables synthesis and processing of thermostructural materials and systems and their exposure to simulated service conditions. Equipment is available for synthesis of alloys, composites and high temperature coatings by melt, powder, precursor or vapor processing methods.
  • Mechanical Testing Facilities.  Houses an array of computer-controlled load frames and associated accessories including furnaces, specialized fixtures, contacting and laser extensometers and in-situ imaging systems. High strain rate materials characterization and ballistics studies are conducted using a gas gun equipped with an ultrahigh speed camera. Also available is a fully automated depth-sensing nanoindentation system with capabilities for scanning probe microscopy, scratch testing, acoustic emission detection, and heating/cooling.

           

Additional capabilities are available through the Central Facilities of the Materials Research Laboratory (an NSF-funded MRSEC):

  • Chemistry. Advanced instrumentation for materials characterization including thermogravimetric analysis, mass spectrometry, chemical analysis by inductively coupled plasma, UV-visible-near-IR spectrometry, luminescence spectrometry, SQUID, and advanced porosimeters and pyncometers.
  • Computation.  Two computer clusters (96 node and 64 node) with a wide range of program and software libraries for advanced computation.
  • Polymer Characterization. Capabilities include chromatography, rheometry and dynamical mechanical analyzers, calorimetry, mass spectroscopy, and light scattering. 
  • Spectroscopy. State-of-the art tools for EPR/ESR, fluorimetry, IR/Raman scattering, and NMR for solids and liquids, including 200, 300 and two 500 MHz machines.
  • X-ray Diffraction. Tools for characterizing a broad spectrum of materials including metals and composites, polymers and biological materials, and electronic and optoelectronic materials, in the lengthscale range of 0.1 nm - 100 nm.  Instruments include:  3 power diffractometers; 2 high resolution thin film diffractometers; dedicated systems for small angle, intermediate angle, and wide angle x-ray scattering.

The Nanotech Facility, hosted by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, is a 12,000+ square foot cleanroom facility with broad line of lithography, thin-film deposition, reactive ion etching, and characterization tools in support of device fabrication for a variety of materials, including InP, GaAs, GaN, SiC, Si, and other novel materials.