TMI Newsletter | November 2024
Featured News
A recent article in Nature Reviews Materials highlights the transformative potential of two-dimensional (2D) materials, like graphene, in creating ultra-thin, flexible bioelectronic devices that can seamlessly integrate with the human body. Co-authored by Deji Akinwande and his team, the research explores how these materials' unique properties make them ideal for advancing wearable and implantable technologies, enabling more efficient and comfortable healthcare solutions.
Dr. Jin Yang received a $25,000 pilot seed grant from SRC to study interfacial fracture behavior in semiconductor packaging. His project combines Digital Image Correlation (DIC) methods and cohesive zone modeling to improve package reliability through enhanced predictive modeling and material characterization.
We are excited to announce recent achievements by our students: Nicolas Molina received the prestigious Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman National Award from the American Vacuum Society, while Shan Kutagalla, Pablo Vidal, and Luke Sloan were awarded Samsung Fellowships for Spring 2025.
Congratulations to the 11 faculty affiliated with the Texas Materials Institute who have been recognized by Clarivate as Highly Cited Researchers for 2024. The honored faculty are: Deji Akinwande, Feliciano Giustino, John B. Goodenough, Xiaoqin Li, Yuanyue Liu, Nanshu Lu, Allan MacDonald, Arumugam Manthiram, David Mitlin, Nicholas Peppas, and Guihua Yu.
Dr. Alexander Demkov's lecture discussed how ferroelectric materials can enable energy-efficient optical modulators for neuromorphic and quantum computing, overcoming CMOS limitations. His research focuses on integrating these materials with silicon photonics to improve computing performance.
Congratulations to our 2025 Samsung Fellows!
Pablo Vidal, Nanshu Lu Lab; Shan Kutagulla, Deji Akinwande Lab; Luke Sloan, Sanjay Banerjee Lab
TMI Special Seminars
Fall 2024 MSE 397 Seminar Series
Dr. Raluca Gearba, Texas Materials Institute
Wednesday, December 04, 2024, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Congratulations to our MS&E Fall 2024 Graduate!
Joseph Brandon Adamo, PhD
Learn from your Staff Scientists!
With Dr. Raluca Gearba
Dr. Raluca Gearba is a senior staff scientist and facility manager in the Texas Materials Institute. She's worked for UT-Austin since 2010 and in her current position she is primarily managing TMI’s cleanroom, the spectroscopy facility as well as several microscopy facilities, which include Atomic Force Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and the SEM/FIB dual beam system. Prior to joining UT, she was a Goldhaber Fellow at Brookhaven National Lab in New York. She has expertise in the areas of thin film photovoltaics, polymers, liquid crystals and 2D materials.
What motivated you to become involved in Materials Science Engineering?
Growing up in Romania in the eighties, I must say that I most definitely did not dream to become involved with materials science, but rather become a doctor. Until one day, I must have been in high school, I was roaming the library isles where my mom worked, and I came across a book making reference to the “The Character of Physical Law” by Richard Feynman. One of the quotes from that book that stuck with me somehow reads “What is necessary for the very existence of science, and what the characteristics of nature are, are not to be determined by pompous preconditions, they are determined always by the material with which we work, by the nature herself”. I interpreted this at the time to mean that materials are these entities with magic properties that are to be revealed and used by us, if we are cleaver enough. Only much later, after graduating with a B.S in Physics, as I graduate student at Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, I got to explore materials and in particular, liquid crystals and semi-crystalline polymers, and truly understand how much wisdom is in Feynman’s words. I remember this instance when I was studying a small molecules system that my fellow chemist collaborator just synthesized. It was late in the night when I took some preliminary AFM images of a thin film of the system. Not being happy with the quality of the images, I decided to leave the sample in the microscope and continue the imaging session the next day. The following day, the film looked unrecognizable under the microscope, and I later discovered that in this particular system the molecules slowly re-organize at room temperature into a double helix much like the DNA, something never observed to happen without specific interactions. To this day materials’ behavior never ceases to amaze me. What motivates me still today to work in the field of Materials Science and Engineering is its highly interdisciplinary nature and the fact that as a field it has a huge impact on technology and society.
Can you describe a typical day in your role as a staff scientist at TMI? What are your main responsibilities?
I had to sit on this question quite a bit, trying to find some sort of common denominator from day to day. All I can say is that my days as a TMI staff scientist are both dynamic, challenging, and in many ways do not resemble at all one another. However, almost every day is a combination of the following: coordinate and train users on specific instrumentation, assist users with data collection and/or interpretation, meet with students to discuss the feasibility of projects the users embark on, answer emails, and coordinate tool repairs or troubleshooting. In TMI, I manage the 3,000 square ft. cleanroom nanofabrication facility and various other facilities including microscopy (FIB/SEM, AFM, STM), spectroscopy (Fluorimetry, Raman, Absorption), mechanical testing, and electrical characterization. My main role in TMI is to support undergraduate and graduate research. I am heavily involved with developing training documentation in the form of lecture notes, standard operating procedures, and process protocols. Furthermore, I also coordinate the deployment of new pieces of instrumentation, including funding, tool technical selection, procurement, site selection, and installation. In addition, I am also continuously developing various outreach programs and activities designed to introduce young students to research in materials science and engineering.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face in maintaining and managing the research facilities and instrumentation?
On of the biggest challenges faced when managing research instrumentation is related to repairs, particularly for instrumentation that is not supported by the manufacturer under a service contract. Repairing research instrumentation, particularly old ones present several unique challenges such as lack of manufacturer support, documentation, and availability of spare parts. However, the one that hurts the most is the down time, especially when so many experiments that the users perform are time sensitive. There is nothing more dreading that to tell a user that the instrument will be down for weeks or even worse that I do not know if it will be back.
Describe the most memorable event or experience you’ve encountered in your career.
Throughout my PhD, I worked in many research labs across Europe including synchrotrons in Hamburg and Berlin (Germany) and Grenoble (France). Synchrotrons are large machines that accelerate charged particles like electrons to the speed of light in a circular path causing them to emit light, X-rays amongst other, which can be used to study the atomic structure of materials. The ring diameter of the synchrotron at the European Synchrotron Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble is an impressive 0.5 miles. Getting ‘beamtime’ was not easy, therefore while there I did not want sleep and miss on seeing data getting collected and finally revealing the structures of my beautiful molecular systems. I would run sometimes for 3 days in a row without sleeping. On one of those occasions, so I was told by my PhD advisor, I started to talk to my colleagues in a mixture of French and English, before fully switching to Romanian. I was told that they did the best that they could to follow me for few hours, until one of them politely asked me to switch to French or English.
What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?
My favorite thing to do when I am not working or having to tend to household matters is spending time with my family and friends. I love playing basketball with my family (only when my son and husband don’t guard me), hiking, and cooking with my daughter. However, lately I find myself attracted to volunteering at schools. In the last few years, I started to get involved with robotics teams both at high school and elementary school level, serving as mentor and coach. I found that talking to children about science can be incredibly rewarding and, in a way, increases my enthusiasm for working here in TMI.
Spring 2025 MSE 397 Seminar Schedule
Meet our MS&E Students with Nicolas Molina
Nicolas Molina earned his M.Sc. in Mechanical & Metallurgical Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, ranked #1 in Latin America (2023). During his studies, he was awarded three competitive tribology-oriented research internships in France, Poland, and the United States, which deepened his expertise in the field. Currently, Nicolas is a Ph.D. student in Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, working under the guidance of Dr. Filippo Mangolini. His doctoral research focuses on diffusion processes in thin films, a critical area for advancing coatings for advanced tribological applications, including aerospace ones. During the last few years, Nicolas’ high-quality and impactful wok was recognized through several awards and fellowships, such as the STLE Elmer E. Klaus Fellowship. In November 2024, he received the prestigious National Graduate Student Award from the American Vacuum Society in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the field.
What’s something you are working on right now?
My work has a common denominator, namely the study of fundamental diffusion mechanisms in solids. In particular, I am evaluating two phenomena: the diffusion of water molecules in transition metal dichalcogenides thin layers, and the effect of mechanical stress of the diffusion of solvent metallic atoms in ceramic coatings. The advanced instrumentation at the Texas Materials Institute (TMI), including ToF-SIMS, XPS, GIXRD, XRR, and STEM/FIB, are critical for achieving the goal of my research. My project has provided exciting opportunities for global collaboration: in my first two years, I worked with the University of Coimbra in Portugal, and now I am collaborating with Sandia National Laboratories. All this work is conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Filippo Mangolini (Mechanical Engineering) and Dr. Gregory J. Rodin (Oden Institute).
What’s the best part about the project you’re working on now?
The most rewarding part of my research is the combination of experimental and modeling efforts. For example, I have conducted in-situ dosing of deuterated water in MoS₂ within the ToF-SIMS pre-chamber and analyzed the spatio-temporal evolution of concentration depth profiles in vacuum. Through patience and persistence, my work has revealed that a widely used ToF-SIMS data processing technique has been applied incorrectly for the past 60 years! I particularly enjoy sharing these findings, even when they challenge established practices. The process of pushing back against “the way things have always been done” is thrilling.
What advice would you give to future students who see themselves going to grad school and how to get there?
My advice to prospective graduate students is to thoroughly research the professor and research group you plan to join. It is crucial to align your priorities and lifestyle with theirs. For instance, consider whether the group operates like a structured 8-to-5 job or has 24/7 expectations. Also, evaluate whether the mentorship extends beyond research to include personal development and career guidance. These factors are important because you will likely spend several years with the group, and the fit can make a huge difference in your experience. For example, I have continuously supported during my grad school in developing new skills by engaging in training programs focused on instrumentation aligned with my interests, as well as attending classes and workshops that reflect my evolving academic and professional goals. Notably, I am now taking classes towards the Engineering Education Certificate given my desire to pursue a career in higher education.
What are some of your goals for your work, future, grad school, etc.?
In the future, I aspire to leverage the skills I have developed during my graduate studies to tackle new and exciting challenges across industries, ideally bridging academia and industry. I hope to see my research have a tangible impact, improving both science and society at large. To work toward this goal, I am currently completing the Engineering Education Certificate through the Cockrell School of Engineering.
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time, I enjoy reading books on history, philosophy, and theology. I savor the slow, thoughtful process of reading, which contrasts with the fast pace of research. It helps me recharge and maintain balance while pursuing my academic and professional goals.
Upcoming Events & Announcements
Graduate School December Events
- Resume Clinic: December 10, 2 to 3 p.m. - FAC 2.134
- Coffee & Connections: December 10, 3 to 4 p.m. - FAC 2.134
- First-Gen Student Breakfast: December 12, 9 to 11 a.m. - FAC 2.138
- How to Decide Between an Academic and Nonacademic Career: December 13, 11 to 12 p.m. (VIRTUAL)
- How do I structure my time in the classroom?: January 22, 4 to 5:30 p.m. (VIRTUAL)
Fall 2024 Academic Dates
- Last Class Day: December 9
- First day of classes: January 13
- Tuition deadline: January 16
