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Sn whiskers are a serious reliability problem in Pb-free electronics manufacturing.  Whiskers (as in fig. 1) grow out of pure Sn coatings and have been responsible for numerous system failures, such as the Galaxy IV satellite. To increase our understanding of whisker growth, we have performed systematic measurements to quantify the whisker growth kinetics and the correlation between the formation of a Sn-Cu intermetallic compound (IMC), stress in the Sn and whisker nucleation.

Northwestern University with the Chicago Children’s Museum in prototyping and formative evaluation of the new permanent exhibit, Tinkering Lab, which focuses on the self-guided exploration of materials for K-8 students.

​The MRSEC’s sustainability initiative for research labs expanded in its second year to 29 labs across Penn State University Park and six branch campuses. Over 400 researchers have been involved thus far. Labs completing My Green Lab certification can be paired with one of 17 undergraduate Sustainable Lab Ambassadors who apply their sustainability training to the lab setting through engaged scholarship.

This study, carried out by researchers at UCI MRSEC, demonstrated the first example of activated sintering of a high-entropy alloy. It also revealed a segregation-induced grain boundary prewetting (disordering) transition.

Silicon/silicon dioxide is arguably the most important technological interface. With the end of Moore’s law scaling for silicon fast approaching, alternatives to silicon dioxide could enable new electronic device architectures. MRSEC researchers

When a negatively charged, high molecular weight polymer (hyaluronic acid) is mixed with a positively charged peptide-based, self-assembling molecule, a membrane is instantaneously formed at the interface of the two solutions. These closed membranes (sacs) have a complex hierarchical structure which presents a unique challenge in quantifying its mechanical properties. Membrane inflation and osmotic swelling techniques have been used to quantitatively characterize the membrane properties. These findings will be

Optical properties of layered materials can be controlled manipulating the discrete number of atomically-thin two-dimensional crystal layers. Unique amongst the layered transition metal dichalcogenides, ReS2 has optical emission that is linearly polarized and proportional to layer number.

LCMRC researchers have discovered that solutions in water of pieces of DNA only a few nanometers long (nanoDNA) can form liquid crystal phases if the DNA is complementary, that is if it can form double-helixed pairs. These duplex pairs then stack up end-to-end to form rod-shaped aggregates that make the liquid crystal phases. In a mixture with some DNA that is not complementary the duplex forming DNA phase separates, condensing into liquid crystal droplets.