Co-hosted by the Penn State Nanofabrication facility and the 2D Crystal Consortium – Materials Innovation Platform facility, the Scalable Nanomanufacturing of Complex Materials REU program has provided undergraduate students with an opportunity to work on next generation materials and devices that will underpin the future of microelectronics research and also participate in a focused professional development and mentoring program. As industry projects the end of Moore’s law in terms of device scaling, “More than Moore” approaches which utilize new materials to enable new functionalities will become increasingly critical. This National Science Foundation funded REU site enables students to work in the field of advanced nanomanufacturing. Building on Penn State expertise in the areas of two-dimensional chalcogenides for applications in next generation electronics as well as integrated piezoelectrics and pyroelectrics, research projects emphasize developing processes and models for deposition and patterning of emerging materials with complex chemistries that change the available palette of functions for semiconductors, sensors, and actuators. While the materials described above are interesting in and of themselves, combinations of these two classes of materials: the 2D chalcogenides and high strain piezoelectrics based on complex oxides should enable low power computation for wearable devices and the Internet of Things, CMOS-compatible actuation voltages for miniaturized medical ultrasound transducers, adjustable optics, self-powered sensors, conformable electronics, and RF electronics.  

If you would like to join us as part of the cohort of undergraduate students next summer, please fill out our application form. This program is open to all U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Applicants from academic institutions where research programs are limited, female students, students with disabilities, students who are veterans of the U.S. Armed Services and underrepresented minority students are strongly encouraged to apply.