CAREER: A Study of Temperature in Rapid Thermal Engineering of Glass Films

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The principal investigator proposes to study pulsed laser deposition and thermal processing of glass films for micro-technologies. Thermal engineering is the single most powerful technique for controlling the thermo- physical, electrical, optical, and mechanical properties of films. In pulsed laser deposition and processing of glass films, the time-scale and the energy cascade process prevent notions of classical equilibrium transport from providing even a first order accurate description of some aspects of processes. This program will explore the plurality of "temperature" in microscale systems, and establish interrelationships between characteristic values. Typical questions such as what is the relationship between the microstructural temperature of a glass and the translational temperature of the vapor used to deposit the film and how is the translational temperature of a vapor plume related to the temperature of the sputttering target will be examined. Facets by which the processing temperatures can control film properties will be studied.Coupled with the research is a program to expand the core competencies of mechanical engineers to include microscale thermal engineering. The course "Thermal Nature of Matter" will be developed to give a nontrivial background into energy storage and transport at the atomic level. This class will combine new processing techniques with a fundamental understanding of microscale thermal science.