Gianluca Panici, a graduate student at CPMI, was just awarded the IBM Ph.D. Fellowship! The IBM Ph.D. Fellowship Awards Program attracts applicants from all over the world from fields as diverse as computer science and engineering to physical sciences and processing engineering. The Fellowship is awarded to only a select few Ph.D. candidates each year. Congratulations Gianluca!
The Center for Plasma-Material Interactions would like to officially welcome our newest post-doctoral research scientist, Dr. Sabrina Hammouti! Her expertise in laser systems and laser-surface interactions will be of vital importance to several exciting CPMI projects, including the Dry Etch Assisted by Laser (DEAL) project and much more. We look forward to having Sabrina on the team.
“In-Situ Collector Cleaning and EUV Reflectivity Restoration by Hydrogen Plasma for EUV Sources,” a paper by CPMI graduate students Daniel Elg and Gianluca Panici, has just been accepted for publication by the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A! Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography is the next step for the photolithography systems used to manufacture ever smaller computer chips. Their research concerns the use of an in-situ Hydrogen plasma to remove deposited Tin from the extremely sensitive reflectors used in EUV systems, allowing for significantly less downtime in the manufacturing process. After publication, a link to the paper will be added to the paper’s entry on the CPMI Publications page, where you can find links to download all published CPMI papers.
U.S. Patent number 9,171,733 was granted on October 27th, 2015! This patent is regarding the method of selectively etching a three-dimensional structure. The issuing of this patent reflects the continued outstanding work going on at CPMI, Congratulations!
Congratulations to Jason for his selection to receive an Outstanding Graduate Student Award–The Lam Research Corporation Award! This award was very well deserved, as well as is a testament to the great work Jason has done and continues to do.
The Center for Plasma Material Interactions (CPMI) at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign is looking to fill in a position at the post-doctoral research associate level, who will work on research areas relevant to plasma material interactions for several applications.
The Center for Plasma-Material Interactions currently has 12 graduate students, and over 20 undergraduate researchers. The primary emphasis is experimental and computational study of plasma relating to the manufacturing of semiconductor devices (plasma-based lithography, plasma etching, PVD sputtering, PECVD thin-films) and the edge-region of future fusion energy devices (lithium walls, lithium technology, edge localized modes, mixed material sputtering at elevated temperature). In addition, CPMI is also a part of the “NSF I/UCRC center for Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing” and has many new opportunities for research projects, particularly in the field of atmospheric pressure plasmas. This particular position will work primarily in fusion engineering.
Primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
➢ Work with Prof. David Ruzic in managing research activities
➢ Advice and assist students with research
➢ Conduct original research on CPMI projects
➢ Work with industrial research partners and collaborations on projects
➢ Identify and grow new research directions
➢ Monitor proposal solicitations and write grant proposals
➢ Meeting deadlines, milestones and write reports for funding agencies
➢ Report results in peer-reviewed publications and conferences
The postdoctoral researcher’s development at CPMI will also be enhanced through a program of structured mentoring activities. The goal of this program is to provide the skills, knowledge and experience to prepare the successful candidate to excel in his/her career path. To accomplish this goal, the mentoring plan includes career planning assistance, and opportunities to learn a number of career skills such as writing grant proposals, teaching students, writing articles for publication and communication skills.
The successful candidate for this position is expected to have earned a Ph.D. in plasma engineering, nuclear engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, material science, physics, or a related area before the date of joining. Research experiences in any or all of the following fields are a plus:
• Fusion-Energy-Related Experiments
• Laser-Surface Interactions
• Plasma Surface Modification
• Plasma Diagnostics (QCM, ESA, OES, Laser based diagnostics)
• Plasma Modeling
• Plasma Processing Applications
• Plasma Synthesis of Materials
• Material Characterization Tools (SEM, TEM, AFM, Profilometer, Ellipsometer, XPS, AES, TOFSIMS etc.)
• Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas
To apply for this position please send cover letter, CV/resume, and contact information for 3 references to Ivan Shchelkanov at shchelka@illinois.edu
Salary: $47,000 (or competitive and commensurate with experience)
Start date: January 16, 2016 or earlier if possible. Applications will be considered through November 29, 2015
Expected duration of the position: 1-2 years
For additional information contact Prof. David Ruzic at druzic@illinois.edu.
The University of Illinois conducts criminal background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer. Illinois is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with a disability. Illinois welcomes individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas who embrace and value diversity and inclusivity. (www.inclusiveillinois.illinois.edu).
Dr. Ruzic will be speaking at the International Symposium on Lithium Applications to Fusion this week in Granada, Spain. One of his lectures will be an overview of the recent development of the Liquid-Metal Infused Trenches (LiMIT) Concept currently under development at CPMI. Another of his lectures will be regarding the free surface stability of liquid metal plasma facing components that are currently being worked on at CPMI.
Last month CPMI submitted a total of four proposals to fund HIDRA. Several of these were collaborations with other institutions. We will find out in several months if we can breathe life into our five-fold-symmetry monster!
CPMI was intensely involved in last week’s Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE) held this year in Austin, Texas. Chaired by CPMI’s own Dr. Jean Paul Allain, SOFE is the prime fusion energy engineering conference. Professors Dr. Daniel Andruczyk and Dr. Davide Curreli started out the week by organizing and, along with CPMI Director Dr. David Ruzic, contributing to a short course on Plasma Material Interactions for Fusion Plasma Applications. Dr. Ruzic’s lecture for the short course was Plasma Facing Materials in Fusion. Dr. Andruczyk gave two lectures, titled Fundamentals of Plasma Material Interactions and Diagnostics for Plasma Material Interactions, while Dr. Curreli’s two lectures were titled The Plasma Sheath and Computational Plasma Material Interactions 1: Plasma Edge Models.
In addition to the short course, Dr. David Ruzic gave an invited talk titled Design of LiMIT Type Test Module as a Limiter. Dr. Andruczyk presented the status of and progress made on the Hybrid Illinois Device for Research Applications (HIDRA) and gave a second, invited talk on HIDRA and the Materials Challenges for Stellarators. Graduate students Matthew Szott and Peter Fiflis gave talks on wetting of nanostructured surfaces by liquid lithium and tin & the time-resolved observation of tungsten nanostructuring due to helium plasma respectively.
Felipe Bedoya and Anton Neff, two more graduate students, presented posters at the conference. Felipe’s poster was about the Materials Analysis Particle Probe (MAPP) upgrade and its integration into the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX-U) and Anton displayed a poster titled Defect Dynamics of Ultra-Refined Tungsten under Helium Bombardment. Also in attendance were CPMI postdoctoral research scientist Kishor Kalathiparambil and graduate students Mike Christenson and Jon Drobny.
Conferences such as SOFE are an essential and exciting part of CPMI’s role in participating in the global research community and continuing to conduct cutting edge science. In addition to the mutual exchange of knowledge and experience characteristic of every good scientific conference, CPMI’s involvement in the previous SOFE in 2013 led directly to our acquisition of HIDRA (formerly WEGA) – what will result from this year’s SOFE remains to be seen.
SOFE 2015
An article about HIDRA written by all the CPMI Professors has just appeared in the US Burning Plasma Organization monthly newsletter. We were invited to write this, showing that the community has noticed the new machine and opportunities at Illinois. See current USBPO e-news . HIDRA construction is still proceeding on schedule with first plasma expected in Fall 2015.