DSU awarded $543,000 grant for research infrastructure upgrade

Delaware State University has been awarded a $543,000 grant from the Department of War Research and Education Program for HBCUs and Minority-Serving Institutions in support of the purchase of a Sputter Deposition System (SDS) for ongoing research at DSU.

The SDS is a physical vapor deposition technology that uses high-energy ion bombardment to create thin films by ejecting atoms from a target material, which condense onto a substrate.

Dr. Mukti Rana, DSU Professor of Physics and Engineering, is the Principal Investigator of the grant.

The SDS will be used to deposit various thin films, including metals, insulators, and semiconductors, with applications across DSU research projects funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense.

Dr. Rana said that the acquisition of the SDS will provide a much-needed practical tool to train students in microfabrication. Previously, DSU students had to use the University of Delaware’s SDS to fabricate their devices.

“Each year it is expected that more than 10 faculty researchers, 50 graduate students, 100 undergraduate students, as well as teachers and students from high school and middle school will benefit from DSU’s SDS acquisition,” Dr. Rana said. “The equipment will be an integral part of the newly established interdisciplinary research and education center focusing on semiconductor materials and devices design, modeling, fabrication, and characterization.

The new center at DSU is titled Research on Nanomaterial-based Integrated Circuits and Electronics (NICE).

Among the research projects that the SDS will support:

•  The development of antireflection coatings for future NASA space missions.
• A ferroelectric materials development project.
• The investigation of Germanium-based alloys for uncooled infrared detection.
• The investigation of Scandium-doped Hafnium Oxide for ferroelectric devices.
• And other current and future research project.