Materials Science & Engineering Department Facilities

Departmental Facilities and Individual Faculty Research Laboratories:

The Materials Science and Engineering Program is affiliated with laboratories throughout the College of Science and the College of Engineering throughout the 5,200-acre campus. Some labs, such as the Materials Characterizations Facility, are designated as used facilities, and available for both internal research and commercial use on fee basis.

Equal Channel Angular Extrusion Laboratory

Contact: Dr. Hartwig

The Equal Channel Angular Extrusion (ECAE) process was invented in the former Soviet Union by Vladimir Segal in 1977. Dr. Segal himself worked as an associate in the TAMU ECAE lab from 1992 to 1995. Researchers in the TAMU Deformation Processing Laboratory have been conducting research on the ECAE process since 1992. ECAE is an innovative process capable of producing uniform plastic deformation in a variety of materials without causing significant change in geometric shape or cross section.

Materials Development and Characterization Center

The Materials Development and Characterization Center (MDC2 ) provides equipment to examine processing-microstructure-mechanical property relationships in advanced metallic materials, ultrafine-grained materials, severe plastic deformation, martensitic phase transformation, magneto-thermo-mechanical coupling, deformation twinning, and micro-mechanical constitutive modeling of deformation mechanisms. We mainly focus on materials that demonstrate at least two of the following mechanisms: dislocation slip, martensitic transformation, and deformation twinning.

The Texas A&M Materials Development and Characterization Center was established in 2008 as a part of Materials Science and Engineering graduate program now a stand alone department. It is a user facility serving materials researchers at Texas A&M University College Station campus, and other system members, various Universities and industry.

MDC 2 houses the fabrication and characterization instrumentations required for fundamental science research as well as applications as new materials and devices. The Center interacts multi users such as multiple departments in the Texas A&M University community, the US National Labs, US Army, Navy and Air force, and commercial companies for research and development.

MDC2 Instrumentation includes:

Squid VSM - The system offers unique versatility in materials research by measuring the Magnetic moments as a function of Magnetic Field( 0 to 7 Tesla), Temperature (2 K to 400 K) and time through its capabilities over highest quality data acquisition. It allows automated magnetic moment measurement for automated control over magnetic field, temperature and time changes. Its sensitivity to measure magnetic moment of the range of 10 -8 emu and capability to cool the sample from room temperature to 2 K within 30 minutes makes the system unique.

Magnetron Sputtering

  • Applicable for conducting and nonconducting materials
  • Vacuum of the order of 10 exp(-8) Torr
  • Stage temperature: 300 degree Celsius
  • Three dc target
  • One RF target

BRUKER D8 X-ray

  • Cu sealed tube X-ray Source
  • Third generation Gobel Mirror provides the X-ray highest flux density
  • Dynamic Scintillation detector and Sol X detector also available
  • System is designed for easy and failsafe operation
  • High performance optics provide the optimum resolution for each application and sample
  • Centric Eulerian Cradle provides advantage for texture, micro diffraction investigation
  • 5 inch vacuum chuck
  • Thermally controlled stage for measurement from Room Temp. to 1100 degree Celsius
  • Rietveld Refinement analysis

Spark Plasma Sintering System

  • SPS is high speed powder consolidation process
  • High amperage pulsed DC current is used to activate the consolidation and reaction-sintering of materials
  • Full density and controlled porosity
  • Pre-forming and binders NOT necessary
  • Retains nanometric particle structure
  • Fast cycle times
  • Powder-to-part net and near-net shapes
  • Minimal grain growth
  • Ease of use
  • Max. Temp.: 2200 degree Celsius
  • Max. Ramp Rate: 200 degree Celsius/minute
  • Max. Pressure: 100 Mpa
  • Die size(dia): 20 to 50 mm

Glove Box

  • The OMNI-Lab's glovebox provides a working volume of inert atmosphere nearly free of moisture and oxygen. The glovebox is a hermetically sealed, stainless steel enclosure with a full-view window. Installed is a right side mounted 15" inside diameter antechamber with an interior and exterior entry/exit airlock door, used for passing materials in and out without disturbing the glovebox atmosphere. All materials are passed in and out of the glovebox on a sliding tray installed in the antechamber.
  • 9" diameter glove ports and butyl rubber gloves, mounted in the full-view window, provide easy access to all areas of the glovebox. Two standard customer interface connections are located on the left side of the glovebox. Electrical connections inside the glovebox are provided with a standard duplex receptacle box on the lower right side.
  • It provides optional moisture and oxygen analyzers mounted on the control panel. There are 2 models of each type of analyzer. The basic analyzers provide autoranging displays from 10 ppm to percent ranges. The moisture and oxygen analyzers are also available in models with added user adjustable setpoints for audio alarm activation

Tube Furnace

  • Max. Temperature: 1500 degree Celsius
  • Max. Ramp Rate: 15 degree Celsius/Minute
  • Vacuum: 10 exp(-4) Torr

Tape Casting Machine

  • The Procast Precision tape casting machine is a full line of versatile Casting/Coating Machines for the production of high quality cast/coated products. Systems range in length from 12 feet, ideal for lab scale applications, to over 100 feet. It is equally adept at either continuous or batch operation. Casting/coating thicknesses from 0.001" to 0.125" and widths from 4" to 52" Can be routinely produced on a daily basis on PRO-CAST® machines
  • Precise casting/coating surface ground and certified to a tolerance of+0.0003".
  • Sturdy structure with a solid level casting/coating platform.
  • Precisely set gaps for doctor blade or coating heads.
  • Systems to consistently deliver slurry to the surface of the carrier.
  • Forced, preheated air drawn in a counter-flow direction for convective drying, solvent gradient control, and exhaust removal.
  • Exhaust system sized to be compatible with solvent or aqueous based slurries.

Arc Melter System - Edmund Buhler´s Arc Melting system provides following features:

  • Multi-purpose button and groove crucibles in a copper base plate.
  • Highly reliable, hydraulic heavy-duty hoist.
  • Contactless high-voltage, high-frequency arc ignition.
  • Water-cooled, double-walled high vacuum chamber.
  • Motor driven, water-cooled tungsten electrode which can be moved freely above the crucibles.
  • Excellent observation of the melting process through two viewing ports.
  • All important control functions are integrated in the head of the electrode and ensure safe and convenient operation.
  • Complete pumping system and supply units.
  • Powerful generators for melting quantities up to 500g and approx. 4000°C (400 and 800 A).
  • Special design of the vacuum chamber for large batches up to
  • approx. 500 g or for in situ casting of the molten alloys.
  • Manipulator for turning small samples in situ.

Differential scanning calorimeter- The Differential scanning calorimeter (TA instruments model Q 2000) system offers unique versatility in materials research by determining the temperature and heat flow associated with material transition as a function of time and temperature (minus 183 C to 725 C) through its capabilities over auto sampler and auto temperature control during quality data acquisition. The SDT Q600 provides simultaneous measurement of weight change (TGA) and true differential heat flow (DSC) on the same sample from ambient to 1,500 ˚C. It features a field-proven horizontal dual beam design with automatic beam growth compensation, and the ability to analyze two TGA samples simultaneously. DSC heat flow data is dynamically normalized using the instantaneous sample weight at any given temperature

Keyence VHX-2000 optical Microscope - The VHX-2000 Digital Microscope is designed to alleviate the shortcomings of traditional, optical light microscopes - shallow depth-of-field, short working distance, lack of portability and versatility, sample limitations. This system is equipped with a CCD camera, 17" LCD monitor, light source, controller, analysis/reporting software and a motorized XY stage along with motorized Z-axis lens control which helps to improve the speed and efficiency of the inspection process. This system has a capability of a wide ranged microscopic observation with magnification range from 50x - 1000x. Other features are as follows:

  • 360 degree observation
  • 2D/3D imaging and measurement capability, including automated measurement tools
  • High-speed image stitching
  • Super Resolution imaging mode
  • High Dynamic Range [HDR]
  • Depth composition function for full-focus imaging
  • 54 megapixel 3CCD camera

MTS compression testing system - The MTS compression system ( model MTS insight 30 SL) is comprised of load frame with force capacity of 1kN to 300kN with minimum test speed 0.001 mm/min. and maximum speed 500 mm/min. The position resolution is 0.001 mm. It is DC 4 Quadrant Motor driven system. This system is controlled by TestWorks software which provides fully automatic machine control, data acquisition and also temperature control in the range of minus 80 C to 300 C.

Microstructural Engineering of Structural and Active Materials

The MESAM laboratory performs research in shape memory alloys (high-temperature, ferromagnetic), bulk nanocrystalline materials, graine boundary engineering, bulk metallic glasses, and severe plastic deformation of difficult-to-work alloys. MESAM also collaborate with the Equal Channel Angular Extrusion Lab. The lab also has extensive national and international collaboration with scientists from Ames and Los Alamos National Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, and universities in Germany and Russia.

Multi-User TAMU Facilities:

Supercomputing Facilities:

TAMU High Performance Research Computing

This resource for research and discovery has four available clusters for faculty research:

(1) Ada is a 17,340-core IBM/Lenovo commodity cluster with nodes based mostly on Intel's 64-bit 10-core IvyBridge processors. In addition to the 852 compute nodes, there are 8 login nodes, each with 256 GB of memory and GPUs or Phi coprocessors per node.

(2) Crick is a 368-core IBM Power7+ BigData cluster with nodes based on IBM's 64-bit 16-core Power7+ processors. Included in the 23 nodes are 1 BigSQL node with 256GB of memory per node and 14TB (raw) of storage and 22 data nodes with 14TB (raw) storage for GPFS-FPO and local caching. Crick is primarily used for big data analytics. In addition to these nodes are 2 login nodes with 128GB of memory per node,

(3) Curie is an 768-core IBM Power7+ cluster with nodes based on IBM's 64-bit 16-core Power7+ processors. In addition to the 48 nodes are 2 login nodes with 256GB of memory per node. Curie's file system and batch scheduler are shared with Ada cluster.

(4) LoneStar5 is the latest cluster hosted by the Texas Advanced computing Center. Jointly funded by the University of Texas System, Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University, it provides additional resources to TAMU researchers. LoneStar5 has: 252 Cray XC40 compute nodes, each with two 12-core Intel® Xeon® processing cores for a total of 30,048 compute cores; 2 large memory compute nodes, each with 1TB memory; 8 large memory compute nodes, each with 512GB memory; 16 Nodes with NVIDIA K-40 GPUs; 5 Petabyte DataDirect Networks storage system; and Cray-developed Aries interconnect.

This facility has about 500TB of disk space. The HPRC group provides its users with access to several specially configured "HPRC Lab" Linux workstations at two separate locations on the TAMU campus, and can assist with: debugging, code optimization and parallelization, batch processing, and collaborative advanced program support.

Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC)

The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) designs and operates some of the world's most powerful computing resources. The center's mission is to enable discoveries that advance science and society through the application of advanced computing technologies. Through this center TAMU faculty have access to multiple supercomputers, including:

Stampede - has 6,400 Dell C8220 compute nodes are housed in 160 racks; each node has two Intel E5 8-core (Sandy Bridge) processors and an Intel Xeon Phi 61-core (Knights Corner) coprocessor. Stampede is a multi-use, cyberinfrastructure resource offering large memory, large data transfer, and graphic processor unit (GPU) capabilities for data-intensive, accelerated or visualization computing. To this end, there are also 16 large-memory nodes with 1 terabyte (TB) memory, as well as 128 compute nodes with NVIDIA Kepler K20 GPUs. All components are integrated with an InfiniBand FDR network of Mellanox switches to deliver extreme scalability and high-speed networking.

Lonestar

· 1252 Cray XC40 compute nodes, each with two 12-core Intel® Xeon® processing cores for a total of 30,048 compute cores

· 2 large memory compute nodes, each with 1TB memory

· 8 large memory compute nodes, each with 512GB memory

· 16 Nodes with NVIDIA K-40 GPUs

· 5 Petabyte DataDirect Networks storage system

· Cray-developed Aries interconnect

Wrangler:

System Features:

· Geographically replicated, high performance data storage (10PB each site)

· Large scale flash storage tier for analytics with bandwidth of 1TB/s and 250M IOPS (6x faster than Stampede)

· More than 3,000 embedded processor cores for data analysis

· Flexible support for a wide range of data workflows, including those using Hadoop and databases.

· Integration with Globus Online services for rapid and reliable data transfer and sharing.

· A fully scalable design that can grow with the amount of users and as data applications grow.

Wrangler Subsystems:

· A 10PB storage system

· A set of 120 Intel Haswell-based servers for data access and embedded analytics

· A high-speed global object store made from NAND Flash

Other Multi-User Facilities:

AggieFab Nanofabrication Cleanroom

The AggieFab at Texas A&M is a 5000 sq. ft. class 100 and 1000 cleanroom open to the campus community as a core facility. The facility is currently located in the Jack E. Brown building, but will be soon moved to the newly built GERB. The facility houses state of the art micro and nano fabrication equipments (mask aligner, spinner, metal evaporator, RIE, PECVD, oxidation/diffusion furnaces, wire bonder, dicing saw, polisher) and various analysis equipments (microscope, profilometers, ellipsometer, probe station). The facility has multiple chemical hoods and laminar hoods and is equipped with in-house de-ionized water, vacuum, and nitrogen. Research equipments include an electron beam lithography system (Tescan Mira 3 EBL), two mask aligners (MJB-3, MA-6, Karl SussMicrotech), two spin coaters, five electron beam evaporators (four Lesker PVD75 series, TemescaleEbeam evaporator), a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD, Unaxis 790) system, a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD, MTI RTP) system, four dry etching systems (STS Multiplex ICP etch system with Bosch Process, Oxford Plasmalab 100 ICP RIE, Oxford Plasmalab 80 metal etch, Oxford Plasmalab 80 dielectric etch), two polishers, two profilometers (Bruker DektakXT), a thin film analysis tool (Ocean Optics NanoCalc DUV), a dicing saw, a wire bonder (KulickeSoffa 4500), an O2 plasma asher, four oxidation/diffusion furnaces, multiple hot plates, ovens, and chemical hoods.

Center for Chemical Characterization and Analysis(CCCA)

Department of Chemistry

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility - The NMR Facility includes 10 superconducting spectrometer magnet systems, 4 LINUX workstations dedicated to data processing, and 3 full time staff to support them with maintenance, user training, and spectroscopic service. Although this facility is physically housed within the Chemistry Department, it provides services to the entire campus community.

X-Ray Diffraction Laboratory - The lab maintains 3 Micro-focus IuS sources, a Venture CMOS, QUEST CMOS, three Bruker single-crystal APEXii CCD Diffractometers, 1 Bruker GADDS/Histar diffractometer, and 3 Bruker powder diffractometers. The X-ray Diffraction Laboratory is staffed by two full-time Ph.D. level scientists.

Laboratory for Biological Mass Spectrometry –

Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Facility - The services available include analyses of compounds ranging from small organic molecules to macromolecules including proteins, oligonucleotides, polymers and dendrimers. Instruments available include: Applied Biosystems PE SCIEX QSTAR; Thermo Scientific DSQ II GCMS; and Thermo Scientific LCQ-DECA

Center for Mass Spectrometry - is dedicated to providing cutting-edge technology and expertise for the characterization of molecules to fulfill the needs of researchers at TAMU. Mass spectrometry (MS) plays an increasingly important role in molecular level research, and it is central to ‘omics’ research, i.e., petroleomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, glycomics, etc and the CMS provides expert staff with modern instrumentation to complete these tasks .Instruments available include: Thermo Scientific Fusion; Bruker 9.4T FT-ICR MS; MDS-Sciex 4000 Qtrap; and Applied Biosystems 4800+ MALDI TOF/TOF MS.

Elemental Analysis Lab (EAL) - The Elemental Analysis Laboratory is located on the ground floor of the Olin E. Teague Research Center on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, TX. Managed by Dr. Bryan E. Tomlin, this facility is part of the Department of Chemistry’s Center for Chemical Characterization and Analysis (CCCA). The laboratory provides research support in the area of elemental and trace analysis.

Analytical Services - The Elemental Analysis Laboratory specializes in two kinds of neutron activation analysis (NAA).

●Fast neutron activation analysis (FNAA)

●Thermal instrumental neutron activation (INAA)

User Facilities - Our Laboratory provides training and access to use inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The ICP-MS has been fitted with both:

●Liquid autosampler for solution analysis

●213-nm laser ablation module for solids/surface analysis

Center for NanoScience and Technology

Director: Dr. Winfried Teizer

The Center for NanoScience and Technology includes facilities across the TAMU campus and colleges:

College of Science

  • Biology Department
  • Microscopy and Imaging Center (MIC)
  • Chemistry Department
  • Center for Chemical Characterization and Analysis (CCCA)
  • Elemental Analysis Laboratory (EAL)
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
  • Mass Spectroscopy (MS)
  • X-ray Diffraction Laboratory (X-RD)
  • Laboratory for Molecular Simulation (LMS)
  • Materials Characterization Facility (MCF)
  • SQUID Magnetometer (SM)
  • Physics Department
  • Magnetism and Magnetic Resonance Laboratory (MMRL)
  • Pulsed Laser Deposition System (PLDS)

College of Engineering