On Saturday, June 22, 2024, we had the pleasure of hosting the International Space Weather Camp (ISWC) group consisting of students from the University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH) as well as international students from South Africa and Germany along with six advisors. Dr. Keyvan Ghanbari, ISWC Camp Director and Laura Provenzani, NSF EPSCoR – FTPP Education, Outreach and Diversity Coordinator served as the organizers of the tour as part of the NSF EPSCoR Future Technologies Enabling Plasma Process (FTPP).
Their first stop was a visit to the MakerSpace/3D printer lab. Dr. Vohra gave a presentation on CVD Diamond Research. Afterwards the group of 30 were divided into 2 groups and were given tours of the CVD Diamond Growth Facility led by Dr. Paul Baker and the Materials Characterization lab (XRD on Diamond Coating on Silicone) led by Dr. Kallol Chakrabarty. The entire visit took place in the new Science and Engineering Complex (SEC), South Science Hall (Hall).
Since Graduate Assistant Greeshma Jose was working in Dr. Wenli Bi’s lab that day, she graciously accepted a Dr. Vohra’s request to give a guided tour of Dr. Bi’s lab. The group was engaging throughout their visit and generated great questions for the tour guides.
According to Laura Provenzani, who organized the tour, the group was staying in Birmingham an extra day to take a break from their travel schedule and take the opportunity to explore the Magic City. We’re so glad that they chose to include us.
The Advanced Materials Characterization (AMC) Core has been selected an institutional research core (Director: Dr. Paul Baker and co-Director: Dr. Vinoy Thomas). It will be a part of the fifteen cores that are supported centrally by the office of Vice President for Research. The AMC Core will provide a broad range of services related to the research and development of materials. Our services will cover the analysis of basic properties of materials such as the structure, composition, and hardness. The types of materials to be analyzed include biomaterials, nanomaterials, metals, ceramics, thin films, composite materials, and semiconductors.
Dr. Vinoy Thomas, Co-Director
The AMC Core will include the University’s only scanning electron microscope (SEM), which provides high resolution images of surfaces of a broad range of materials, including soft matter (biological samples) and has elemental analysis capability (EDX). The x-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) is a powerful surface analysis (probing depth of only 3-10nm) instrument that provides elemental composition and chemical bonding information with small spot size (minimum 10 micrometers) and surface mapping capability. The multipurpose X-ray diffractometer (XRD) is a state-of-the-art instrument purchased in 2018 that provides information on crystal structure and phase identification, particle size and shape analysis (SAXS), thin film analysis, epitaxial layer analysis, and can be upgraded to include even additional capabilities. The micro-Raman spectrometer is a high-resolution spectrometer that analyzes the vibrational modes of the material to provide information about the molecular structure of a material. The nanoindenter measures the hardness of a material near the surface and can measure polymers and thin films. These materials growth and characterization facilities are being combined and proposed as a single core to provide materials characterization under one managed facility and serve as a catalyst for innovative materials discovery at UAB. One of the key strengths of the core will be the broad support from industry usage as well as the multi-departmental use. This multi-disciplinary approach to characterization of advanced materials is a part of the UAB research mission.
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