Graduate Studies

APPLICATIONS

Processing and design of next-generation electronic materials for logic gates, memory, and interconnects.

Fabrication and device integration of nanoscale building blocks for solar cells and batteries.

Organic and inorganic materials for solid-state lighting, LEDs, and computer displays.

THE ROLE OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS

Chemical engineers have traditionally adopted an integrated approach to problem solving, applying their specialized knowledge in chemistry, kinetics, transport phenomena, reactor design and thermodynamics to the study of dynamic systems and processes. Therefore, it is only natural, for chemical engineers to apply their expertise to develop new processes for the next generation of electronic materials. For example, the processing of microelectronic and optoelectronic devices, traditionally the domain of electrical engineers, has been enriched by chemical process analyses that describe the underlying physico-chemical phenomena at the molecular level. In fact, much of the tremendous success of modern electronics is based on processing technologies such as plasma etching and chemical vapor deposition. Chemical engineers have played a lead role in this development and continue to push the frontiers of this field with the introduction of new technologies such as laser processing and atomic layer deposition. The success of these technologies builds on the chemical engineers integrated understanding of fundamental physical and chemical materials properties.

The advent of methods for the controlled synthesis of electronic materials at the nanoscale and their assembly into functional device structures opens myriad challenges and opportunities for chemical engineers. The successful technological deployment of these materials is contingent upon our molecular level understanding and control over the nature and structure of the nanostructured interface. Building on the same tools and knowledge library that enabled the microelectronics revolution, chemical engineers are now poised to take electronic materials processing to the next level.

One important component of our journey towards unlocking the full technological potential of nanomaterials in novel optoelectronic and energy conversion and storage devices is the ability to probe and control metastable solid states at the molecular level. For example, rapid (nanosecond) melt- and non-melt annealing of semiconductors and nanocrystals can create crystalline materials that control the diffusion of dopants and defects to produce nanostructures with attributes unattainable by traditional processing. To achieve these non-equilibrium states in a controlled fashion requires an understanding of the phenomena that define these metastable states: kinetics and thermodynamics, as well as mass, momentum, and heat transfer.

TYPICAL PROJECTS

Several chemical engineering faculty members and their students are involved in cross-disciplinary work in surface science, polymers, and electronic materials. They form part of the core of over a dozen Cornell researchers focused on molecular-scale materials research, as exemplified by the activities of Cornell’s Laboratory for Organic Electronics (CLOE), the Center for Materials Research (CCMR), and the Fuel Cell Institute (CFCI). Our research efforts are distinguished by a long history of tightly coupled cutting-edge experimentation and molecular simulation and theoretical work. Typical projects include:

• Design of organic semiconductor materials and optimized processing of large-area flexible displays.
• Molecular-level structure-function design of heterojunctions for solar cells.
• Assembly of nanocrystal building blocks into well-ordered superlattices and characterization of emergent electronic and optical properties.
• Develop materials platforms for next-generation lithium ion batteries based on nanostructured interfaces.
• Atomic layer deposition of novel thin films of semiconducting materials.

Click here to see faculty involved in this area.