VT MEMS Lab has been pursuing research in MEMS, nanotechnology, and Microfluidics (MnM) to develop highly innovative miniaturized analyzers for chemical and biomedical applications.
Two major research thrusts in the lab are Micro Analytical Chemistry (MAC) and BioMEMS/NEMS (Bio).
In the MAC thrust, graduate and undergraduate students work to design and fabricate micro instruments that can be used for real-time analysis of gaseous samples. Examples of applications include environmental monitoring, assessment of personal exposure to hazardous chemicals, breath analysis for possible dise
ase diagnosis.
In the Bio thrust, graduate and undergraduate students work to design and fabricate microfluidic chips by which they can assess the physical properties of living cells. These properties which include electrical and mechanical properties at single cell level can potentially be used to distinguish cancerous cells and to assess the efficacy of therapeutics.
Undergraduate students involved in various aspects of VT MEMS lab will be trained on layout design, chip manufacturing, and testing the performance of the chips and the instruments using the chips. Interested students can contact Professor Masoud Agah, agah@vt.edu and can take a closer look at the projects by visiting www.agah-lab.org.
Opportunities in Department of Materials Science and Engineering at VT
Vapor phase deposition and characterization of ultra-thin films for microelectronic applications
Vapor phase deposition and characterization of ultra-thin films for microelectronic applications In the department of materials science and engineering (MSE) at VT, our research is focused on the growth and characterization of ultra-thin films for a variety of microelectronic applications. As part of this project, research team (graduate and undergraduate students) will utilize magnetron sputter-deposition, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or evaporation approaches to deposit thin films (from 10 to 100 nanometers) of metallic or semiconducting materials and two-dimensional (2D) layers such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), and transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDC). The research team will then characterize the crystallinity and composition of the as-deposited thin films using scanning/transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy techniques. Undergraduate students involved in this project will gain hands-on experience with vapor deposition techniques and a variety of materials characterization methods. Interested students can contact Professor Suneel Kodambaka (kodambaka@vt.edu) for more details.
