Microstructure Evolution

Introduction

At the core of manufacturing science is the development of improved processing operations that result on better material properties, reliability, and performance. Fundamentally, this corresponds to first develop a deep understanding to then engineer the microstructural evolution of the fabricated part or device, i.e., the impact of the controlling processing parameters on the time-dependent morphological changes of the individual phases. The focus of this thread of research is on the development of practical analytical and numerical descriptions that will allow to realistically establish design criteria that will accelerate the development of materials and devices of optimal properties. Here, we are currently developing theories, advanced software and visualization techniques that will accelerate such process and will make the analysis of a processing operation an intuitive step on the development of new science and even intellectual property. Simulation techniques such as kinetic Monte Carlo, phase field modeling, and level set methods are adapted, generalized, and integrated to each other in an effort to have a realistic description of the complexity associated to real processing operations.Physical and Chemical Vapor Deposition, Annealing and Sintering, and Electrodeposition are example applications of systems that are being analyzed.