Research Facilities
The major infrastructure required to support the research facilitated by the SURE program is already in place in the PIs’ departments, centers, and laboratories at Clemson. Each SURE student will be located in the research lab of the faculty advisor along with graduate students working in similar areas of research. Each student will have access to a networked computer. Since this is a multidisciplinary REU, the associated labs and facilities will be distributed across campus. Most device fabrication will be done in the ECE department’s fabrication facilities or in the cleanroom facility at COMSET. Microscopy characterization can be performed in several of the faculty labs, but most advanced characterization will be performed in the Electron Microscope Facility. Electrical characterization of devices and materials is available in two labs, one primarily for DC and low frequency measurements and another for high-frequency measurements. There is an optoelectronic characterization lab for both active and passive devices. Therefore, the capability exists to characterize materials and devices from DC to light. Furthermore, the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET) is available for developing advanced materials, devices and systems that generate, transmit, manipulate and utilize light. COMSET operates an Optical Fiber Laboratory, which is the only academic facility in the United States with industry-grade capabilities for fabricating optical fiber.
The School of Materials Science & Engineering has many laboratories for materials synthesis, processing, and characterization, as well as computational facilities for modeling. The Biosensor lab contains facilities for biological sensor material and device fabrication and characterization. Finally, we have extensive ion beam facilities for both singly-charged and highly charged ion generation, control, focusing, and characterization. These ion beam tools can be used to modify the electronic and mechanical properties of materials, and have many potential applications in material and device processing.