Research Facilities
 Spiral-shaped surface steps associated with hollow-cored screw dislocations in hexagonal silicon carbide. This semiconducting material is a candidate for high power, high temperature applications. |
Research facilities are extensive- on campus and off. Materials Science laboratories and department offices are headquartered in the Engineering Building, with over 30,000 square feet of lab space. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), which Stony Brook now supervises, grants students access to the latest, most advanced equipment available. The department also shares facilities with other local colleges. |
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Stony Brook's own facilities
include state-of-the-art
low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), electron microscope,
atomic force microscope, and ESCA units, as well as central
characterization facilities that include equipment for microanalysis
and X-ray techniques. A well-equipped materials
fabrication and processing facility within the department
boasts a collection of furnaces capable of reaching 3,000C in
controlled atmospheres or under vacuum; a resist-spinner;
ellipsometer; contact angle gomiometers; and a highresolution
Nomarsky metallurgical microscope with image processing
capability. Analytical electron microscopy is well served
by a digitally controlled Philips CM12 scanning transmission
electron microscope, complete with EDX and parallel-reading
EELS facilities. Other equipment at the facility includes an
ISI-SX30 scanning electron microscope equipped with energy
dispersive X-ray spectrometer and a Robinson backscatter
detector; several ion mills and a Reichert Ultramicrotome for
thin sectioning.
Departmental Laboratories
The Laboratory for Surface Analysis and Corrosion Science is a state-of-the-art analytical facility containing four electron spectrometers, all having variable angle X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) capabilities, and two equipped to perform sub-micron spot Auger electron spectroscopy and chemical mapping. An ultra high vacuum fabrication chamber has been configured with two saddle-field ion guns and 1500C effuser for novel thin fabrication of diamond-like composites, and a variety of intermetallic compounds through Ion Beam Assisted Deposition (IBAD). Static and dynamic Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) systems have been recently added to the laboratory. In addition, an in vacuo FTIR spectrometer has been acquired as part of a new DOE funded program in radionuclide decontamination of metallic surfaces. Electrochemical analysis facilities available include several different electrochemical cells, three potentiostats capable of nA range current measurement with PC-based computer control and data acquisition and analysis systems, and electro-chemical impedance and noise analysis systems. The Crystal Growth Laboratory is a facility dedicated to solidification and crystal growth technologies. It includes moderate (<1100C) and high (<1500C) temperature Bridgman-Stockbarger furnaces with supporting constant temperature water mixers, programmable power supplies, and computer-controlled experiment, data acquisition, analysis, and display. A three-zone furnace for high purity alloy synthesis, casting, and directional solidification is being installed. Full interface demarcation capabilities are available, using stop/start or thermo-electric methodologies. Instrumented ampoules and cartridges are fabricated in collaboration with the Chemistry Glass Shop. Current projects focus on the growth of infrared detector materials and high performance magnetic composites. The Magneto-Optic Materials Lab is a facility for the preparation and characterization of magnetic thin films with large magneto-optic effects. Thin film deposition equipment consists of an ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) metal MBE, a three-source electron beam evaporator, and a high rate magnetron sputtering system. Other characterization equipment includes a special optical dewar, a vibrating sample magnetometer, an inductive hysteresis loop tracer, and Hall effect and magneto-resistance loop tracers. The Mechanical Testing Laboratory contains state-of-the art tensile, impact, fatigue, and hardness devices to measure basic and fundamental properties of materials. The prime equipment consists of a servo-hydraulic Instron which has numerous ancillary load-cells, several independent LVDTs, and a 10-channel Ashay strain gage system. This system can be coupled with a 2-channel Physical Acoustics acoustic emission arrangement to quantify cracking mechanisms within material systems. Work has been performed on a broad range of metal, ceramic, polymeric, composite, biomedical, and coated materials to establish performance characteristics. The Polymer Structure Laboratory examines polymer surfaces and interfaces using a variety of techniques, including: secondary ion mass spectroscopy; atomic force microscopy; ion, X-ray, and neutron scattering; TEM and Nomarsky microscopy; and FTIR, contact angle, and Mossbauer spectroscopy. Major pieces of equipment include: neutron reflectometer, digital nanoscope IIIa atomic force microscope, LB Trough and HV annealing ovens. The Surface Science Laboratory houses two UHV chambers with LEED and Auger-electron spectroscopy (AES) facilities, and a UHV chamber with scanning tunneling microscope (STM) for studies of surface crystallography of metals and semiconductors, and for the growth and analysis of ultra-thin epitaxial films. The Synchrotron X-Ray Topographic Analysis Laboratory has facilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory and at Stony Brook. The primary equipment consists of a synchrotron beamline (National Synchrotron Light Source beamline X-19C) dedicated to synchrotron topography (with all of the necessary ancillary equipment for computerized motor control darkroom facilities, etc.). Further support equipment, such as more darkroom facilities, microscopes, and conventional X-ray generators for orientation analysis, is located on campus at Stony Brook. Facilities on campus will soon be enhanced with the purchase of a high-resolution triple-axis X-ray diffraction system capable of use with either synchrotron radiation or conventional X-rays. The Thermal Property Laboratory consists of DTA/TGA, a 1600C double push rod dilatometer, and a holometrix laser flash thermal conductivity system (room temperature measurements). The facility also contains a fully instrumented thermal cycling test rig. The Thermal Spray Laboratory (TSL) is a unique facility containing a vast array of industrial-level plasma and combustion spray devices. TSL equipment includes: combustion wire, rod, and powder feed thermal spray torches; two-wire electric arc guns; a wide range of plasma spray devices, both hand-held and automated; reduced pressure plasma spray system; water-stabilized high throughput 160 kw PAL plasma gun; high velocity oxy-fuel spray device (HVOF); and detonation (high velocity) spray devices. The Thermal Spray Laboratory operates under the auspices of the Center for Thermal Spray Research, an NSF Materials Research Sciences and Engineering Center. The Thin Film and Interface Laboratory provides a variety of tools for fabricating and studying controlled interfaces between crystalline materials. Emphasis in the laboratory is on grain boundaries (both in bulk and thin-film materials) and interfaces between films and their substrates.
The Tribology Laboratory consists of a ball-on-disk tribometer
for friction and wear measurement (based on the Versailles
Advanced Materials and Standards Protocol), a ball-on-flat single
point scratch tester, slurry abrasion tester, ASTM G-76 erosion
tester from room temperature to 500C, and cavitation erosion
tester. Surface analysis equipment includes a Zygo 3-D interferometer
and precision weight loss measurement system.
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Brookhaven National Laboratory
At Brookhaven, the facilities available to the department include particle accelerators for carrying out ion beam surface modification experiments and highly sophisticated surface analysis probes. The National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) is also located at Brookhaven. As one of the participating research teams at NSLS, the Synchrotron Topography Research Group, centered in Materials Science and Engineering, is using special X-ray methods to image nondestructively dislocation microstructures. The topographic method is also being used in department-based study of surface chemical reactivity. A newly commissioned neutron reflection spectrometer managed by the department's Polymer Group provides researchers with atomic-scale structural and chemical information about the near-surface properties of liquids and solids. The department also has access to a new, 300keV field emission transmission electron microscope, providing ultrahigh resolution capability, and a variety of analytical tools such as energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, energy-filtered imaging, and electron holography.
Computer Facilities
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 Thermal spray of protective coating onto steel substrate. |
