Dr. Philip D. Rack
Professor and Leonard G. Penland Chair
Ph.D., Florida: Electronic and Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Thin Film Processing and Characterization
Brief Bio
Dr. Rack earned his bachelor’s degree Magna Cum Laude in Materials Science and Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1993, and his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida in 1997. His dissertation research included thin film deposition, surface analysis, and theoretical modeling of optical transitions in thin film electroluminescent materials. In 1997, Dr. Rack joined Advanced Vision Technologies Inc. (AVT) as a Senior Research Scientist where he led their research on luminescent and field emitter materials and contributed to process development of their vacuum microelecronic devices. In 1999, Dr. Rack joined the faculty in the Microelectronic Engineering Department at the Rochester Institute of Technology. There he taught courses in thin film processing, materials characterization, and microlithography and performed research on VUV optical properties and vacuum microelectronic devices. In 2001 Dr. Rack joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee and is investigating emergent properties of nanoscale materials and devices, combinatorial thin film processing, fabrication of nanoscale devices, and nanoscale focused electron, ion and photon beam induced processing. Dr Rack has authored or co-authored over 100 refereed journal articles (including 2 book chapters and 5 invited review articles) and has contributed to over 130 (25 invited) technical presentations at national and international conferences.
Research Areas
(Click each area for more information!)
• Combinatorial thin film synthesis for rapid materials discovery
• Materials integration and nanofabrication for advanced device application
• Nanoscale focused electron beam stimulated processing
Selected Awards and Honors
2011 Leonard G. Penland Chair of the College of Engineering
2011 Chancellor’s Award for Research and Creative Achievement
2011 College of Engineering Allen & Hoshall Engineering Faculty Award
2009 University of Tennessee College of Engineering Research Fellow Award
2009 Department of Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research Award
Professional Activities
• MRS Member
• AVS (executive committee of thin film division)
Selected Publications
Miguel Fuentes-Cabrera1, Bradley H. Rhodes, Michael I. Baskes, Humberto Terrones, Jason D. Fowlkes, Michael L. Simpson, and Philip D. Rack, Controlling the velocity of jumping nanodroplets via their initial shape and temperature, ACS Nano vol. 5 no. 9 pp 7130-7136 (Sept, 2011).
J. D. Peak, C.L. Melcher, P.D. Rack, Investigating the luminescence properties as a function of activator concentration in single crystal cerium doped Lu2SiO5: Determination of the configuration coordinate model, Journal of Applied Physics vol. 110 no. 1 pp. 013511(1-11) (July 2011).
Jason D. Fowlkes, Yueying Wu, Javier Diez, Lou Kondic, Philip D. Rack, Self– versus Directed– assembly of Nanoparticles via Pulsed Laser Induced Dewetting of Patterned Metal Films, Nano Letters vol. 11 no. 6 pp. 2478-2585(June 2011).
Miguel Fuentes-Cabrera, Bradley H. Rhodes, Jason D. Fowlkes, Alejandro López-Benzanilla, Humberto Terrones, Michael L. Simpson, and Philip D. Rack, Molecular dynamics study of the de-wetting of copper on graphite and graphene: implications for nanoscale self-assembly, Physical Review E vol. 83 pp. 041603(1-10) (April 2011).
Yueying Wu, Jason D. Fowlkes, Philip D. Rack, The Optical Properties of Cu-Ni Nanoparticles Produced via Pulsed Laser Dewetting of Ultrathin Films: The Effect of Nanoparticle Size and Composition on the Plasmon Response, Journal of Materials Research Vol. 26 no 2 pp. 277-287 (January 2011).
Seyeoul Kwon, Joo Hyon Noh, Jiyong Noh, and Philip D. Rack, Quantitative Calculation of Oxygen Incorporation in Sputtered IGZO Films and the Impact on Transistor Properties, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 158 no 3, pp. H289-H293 (January 2011).
Raphael Clearfield, Justin G. Railsback , Ryan C. Pearce, Dale K. Hensley, Jason D. Fowlkes, Miguel Fuentes-Cabrera, Michael L. Simpson, Philip D. Rack, Anatoli D. Melechko, Reactive solid-state dewetting of Cu-Ni films on silicon, Applied Physics Letters Vol. 97 pp. 253101(1-3) (December 2010). Also selected for publication for the January 3, 2010 issue of Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science & Technology.
Ping Chen, Emile van Veldhoven, Colin Sanford, Huub Salemink, Diederik Maas, Daryl A. Smith, Philip D. Rack, and Paul Alkemade, Nanopillar growth by focused helium ion beam induced deposition, Nanotechnology Vol. 21 no. 45, 455302 (1-7) (November 2010).
Elena Garlea, Hahn Choo, Gongyao Wang, Peter Liaw, Bjorn Clausen, Donald Brown, Jungwon Park, Philip D. Rack, and Edward Kenik, Hydride-phase formation and its influence on fatigue crack propagation behavior in a Zircaloy-4 alloy, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A-Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science, Vol. 41A no. 11 pp. 2816-2828 (November 2010).
Joo Hyon Noh, Maxim Nikiforov, Sergei V. Kalinin, Alexey A. Vertegel, Philip D. Rack Nanofabrication of Insulated scanning probe microscopy for electromechanical imaging in liquid solutions, Nanotechnology Vol. 21 no.36 pp. 365302 (11pp) (September 2010).
Selected Patents
Philip D. Rack, Paul Holloway, Sey-Shing Sun, Eric R. Dickey, Christian F. Schaus, Richard T. Tuenge, and Christopher N. King, TFEL Device with Injection Layer, US Patent # 5,581,150.
Kofi Korsah, Larry Baylor, John Caughman, Philip D. Rack, Ilia Ivanov, Roger Kisna, Doped Carbon Nanostructure Field Emitter Arrays for Infrared Imaging. US Patent #7,608,824.
Contact Dr. Rack
603 Dougherty Engineering Bldg.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-2200
Tel: (865) 974-5344
Email: prack @utk.edu
