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The University of Tennessee College of Engineering 114 Perkins Hall Knoxville, TN 37996-2012 |
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| Newsletter
of the UT College of Engineering |
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Faculty Focus |
Dr. Anthony Pedraza produces and investigates the tiniest human-made objects in the world, called nanomaterials.
"Nano" refers to the dimensions of the material: one nanometer is one 100-thousandth of the thickness of human hair. As a materials science engineering researcher and professor, Pedraza studies methods to produce and observe these small structures.
"Nanotechologies are expected to have a profound impact on the communications and computer industries, as well as on the modern field of biotechnology," explained Pedraza. Over the past 33 years, he has worked in a discipline that has evolved from examining the fundamentals of metals and alloys to modifying the surfaces of those materials with lasers and ion beams.
The materials field has widened since the computer revolution, Pedraza said, from the study of a materialŐs structure to incorporating the application of a material for electronic devices.
Surfaces of materials can be modified using lasers. Ceramic materials can be decomposed to form a conductive layer on the surface and enhance the bonding between coatings. In 1995, Pedraza patented a process to bond metals and ceramics.
Lasers can also assist in the production of micro and nano- microstructures on semiconductor surfaces. Similar lasers to those in PedrazaŐs lab are widely used in industry for micromachining, marking and lithography for chip production. Current microchip technologies have limitations in their fabrication process.
The limits are related to the minimum feature size that can be imprinted; presently, in the order of 100 nanometers. The need to
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| Dr. Anthony Pedraza |
Pedraza and his colleagues are trying to control and manipulate semiconductor nanostructures. His latest project entitled "Self-Organization of Linear Arrangements of Silicon Nanoparticles" uses lasers to manipulate nanostructures in silicon. This is part of a three-year project funded by the National Science Foundation.
"What is most important about nanotechnology is, when things are made so small, major changes can occur in a material's properties," he explained.
Pedraza embarked on this journey to improve materials at the University of Buenos Aires where he earned a bachelor of science degree in physics. In 1974, after earning a Ph.D. at National University of La Plata in Argentina, Pedraza stayed in that country to study radiation damage of materials used in nuclear reactors.
He married Dora Fainstein, who is also from Argentina, in 1972. She was a materials researcher at the same national atomic energy facility where Pedraza was employed. The couple spent three years in Brazil as professors of metallurgy and then moved on to the University of Connecticut and, finally, to the University of Tennessee in 1984. They have three daughters: Irene, 28; Ana, 26; and Aurora, 24. Dora retired a few years ago from her position as a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Pedraza continues to teach physical metallurgy and electronic materials classes in the materials science department at UT. He also works with four dissertation students in the Laser Processing Laboratory, located in the Science and Engineering Research Facility.
This lab, which he directs, was funded by the National Science Foundation in April 2000. It is devoted to the study of surface modifications using lasers and ion beams. Additional funding for the laboratory was provided by UT's Center for Materials Processing, UT's Office of Research and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Pedraza won the UT Creative Research award for his work in the laboratory.
"His laboratory has become a 'must see' for the visitors that I show through the department," said materials science and engineering department chair Dr. Patrick Taylor. "I have come to rely on Tony for his vision of the future of materials science and engineering, and his views on the frontier issues in advanced materials development."
Pedraza commented that, since the field of electronic materials is highly interdisciplinary, faculty and graduate students from other departments in the college can interact and generate new projects.
With electronic and biomaterials at the center of a technology explosion, explained Pedraza, the area of electronic materials offers extraordinary possibilities and will be attractive to superior students.
"Training students to be able to work with and develop the new technologies is key. You need a breed of well-trained professionals who can master the know-how for these technologies," Pedraza commented. "I try to teach my students how to approach a problem. We work together to find out why things happen and how to come up with practical uses, from the premise of basic systems to complex systems," he added
Pedraza passes along to students his philosophy: continuous improvement in a researcher's own database of knowledge.
"Research and learning amount to the same thing. You learn not only from what you read in books and papers, you must also learn from what is written in the book of nature," he concluded.
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Story by Wendy Bigham
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