Research Report 2009-2010 - College of Engineering - University of ...

temperatures. Several methods have also been developed for mass production of
carbon nanotubes. In biomedical applications of diamond and related materials,
diamond-like-carbon (DLC) has been coated on polymers (PTFE) to improve its
haemocompatibility. Haemocompatibility tests of PTFE with and without DLC coating
have been conducted with human blood with encouraging preliminary results. High field
electron emission current from the synthesized carbon nanostructures has also been
observed with low turn-on field. Plasma ion implantation technique has been used to
modify materials properties. High-dose ion implantation of a variety of sample
materials, such as conventional and porous silicon, SiO2, and diamond and DLC films
have been carried out. Also, low-energy ion implantation techniques are used to
investigate the self-assembly of nanometer-sized nitride structures on metals.
Electronic Materials Research
A rapidly growing area in electronic materials research today is the development of
solid-state medical X-ray detectors. These X-ray detectors promise to reduce
substantially the radiation doses to patients, increase image resolution, and improve the
storage and recall of X-ray images in a digital format. The focus of electronic materials
research in the College includes: (i) fabrication and characterization of X-ray
photoconductors for X-ray imaging applications, (ii) deposition and optical
characterization of thin films for optoelectronic and photonic applications, (iii)
preparation and characterization of chalcogenide glasses for optoelectronic and
photonic applications, (iv) device characterization and modeling [e.g., noise
characterization of thin film transistors (TFTs used in flat panel displays)], device
modeling of direct conversion flat panel X-ray image detectors, and modeling of
photonic devices such as Er-doped optical amplifiers made from chalcogenide glasses,
(v) fundamental understanding of property-preparation, and property-structure
relationships for various technologically important materials with applications in
electronics, optoelectronic and photonics, and (vi) fundamental understanding and
theoretical treatment of the mechanism of superconductivity in high-pressure solids,
boron-doped diamond, nanometer-size superconductors, and high-temperature
superconductors which are used in a variety of applications such as medical imaging
devices.
Materials Performance Research
Material degradation is of great importance to the Canadian economy because it occurs
in the mining, agricultural, construction, manufacturing and power generation industries.
Research in this area concentrates on the use of experimental techniques as well as
numerical modeling to analyze the performance of materials in service and investigate
causes of failure with respect to wear, friction, corrosion, oxidation, thermal durability,
creep and mechanical/thermal fatigue. Predictive modeling and experimental studies
Theme 5 – Materials Science – Research Report 2009-10 Page 28