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Advanced Research Program grants

Two proposals, to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Advanced Research Program (ARP), submitted by faculty in the College of Science at Texas State University-San Marcos were funded this year. The goals of the program are to:

  • Develop a talent pool of highly trained specialists in Texas
  • Develop new technologies
  • Support research that will strengthen existing Texas industries
Both proposals are from the area of Materials Science. They are:
  1. Title: Immobile Calixarenes in Nanolithography and Nanofabrication.
    PI - Gregory Spencer (Physics) and CoPI - Michael Blanda (Chemistry and Biochemistry)
    Amount : $100,000
    Project Description: The objective of this project is to use detailed molecular design methods to optimize a family of calixarene compounds as cost efficient, state-of-the-art, high-resolution, plasma-etch resistant electron beam resists for nanolithography used in computer chip fabrication. A systematic investigation of the interplay between calixarene structure and chemistry with resist sensitivity, resolution and overall resist performance will be conducted by faculty and students in the Departments of Physics and Chemistry & Biochemistry. The project is highly interdisciplinary and is representative of Texas State's growing involvement and commitment to meeting the critical needs of high tech industries in Texas and the United States for professionals educated in materials science and engineering.

  2. Title: Electrical Characterization of Silicide High-K Gate Stacks.
    PI - David Donnelly (Physics) and CoPIs - Wim Geerts (Physics) and Jack Lee (Electrical Engineering-UT Austin)
    Amount $100,000
    Project Description: The proposed research would investigate the effect of a novel annealing method on the Si-HfO2-metal gate stack. The annealing method was developed by one of the PIs and other researchers, and uses laser generated shock waves instead of heat. With the athermal process, annealing occurs on a time scale of microseconds. Because of this we expect much less reaction at the interface of the high-k dielectric with the silicon, the spacers and the metal gate, ameliorating some of the issues associated with conventional thermal annealing. Fabrication will be done at the University of Texas, and most of the characterization of the effects of the process will be performed at Texas State.