New Routes to the Formation of Complex Structures and Metastable Materials
Abstract
Many proposed next-generation materials and structures cannot be synthesized using conventional growth techniques. The use of conventional processes which are at local thermodynamic equilibrium prevents access to phases which are compositionally metastable. New monolithic structures have also been proposed which cannot be synthesized in single crystal fashion but could have potential impact across several materials platforms. This talk will present some concepts and results on the growth of semiconductors and oxide epitaxial layers which bypass the issues of phase separation and surface diffusion associated with conventional techniques. Solid state epitaxy and low temperature growth processes are used to develop approaches to the formation of metastable materials and monolithic 3D structures. The growth of metastable semiconductors, such as GaAsBi, as well as SrTiO3 and related compounds, as prototypical complex oxides, will be presented.
About the speaker
Prof. Thomas Kuech received his PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 1981. He was a Research Staff Member at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center from 1981 to 1990. He has been a faculty in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1990. He is also affiliated with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemistry at UW-Madison. He is currently the Milton J. and A. Maude Shoemaker and Beckwith-Bascom Professor at UW-Madison.
Prof. Kuech’s research interests include solid-state materials synthesis and characterization, electronic and semiconductor materials, solar energy and photovoltaics, oxide materials, and nanostructure formation. In particular, his research group studies the formation of Si-based materials for the next generation of semiconductor devices and compound semiconductor materials that are important in power and optoelectronic applications. He has published more than 460 journal publications, which have been cited more than 6,000 times.
Prof. Kuech is a Member of the US National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has received numerous honors such as the Humboldt Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Crystal Growth Award and Young Author Award by the American Association for Crystal Growth, the Charles M.A. Stine Award by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, as well as several named lectureships and honorary professorships. While at UW-Madison, he was the Inaugural Director of the UW-Madison Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. He also served as the President of the American Association for Crystal Growth from 1999 to 2002.
