I/UCRC Phase II: Center for Lasers and Plasma for Advanced Manufacturing

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

Both lasers and plasmas have the ability to alter a substance on contact. The key is to alter that substance to some particular aim; to create a new material, new product, or new technique. The U. of Illinois is part of the multi-university Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for Lasers and Plasmas for Advanced Manufacturing (LPAM) anchored at the U. of Virginia. The Center focuses on the next advances in manufacturing. U.S. country makes all kinds of things. This support from the NSF allows LPAM to continue working with industrial members to use the latest in laser and plasma technology to make those things better, or cheaper, or faster, or all three. The U. of Illinois's role in the Center is in specific uses of plasma engineering. The site brings a wide spectrum of plasmas and plasma manufacturing techniques, and works towards solving a multitude of research problems in plasma manufacturing that are both near-term and long-term. More specifically, the U. of Illinois focuses around development of large-scale plasma deposition system, directed etching assisted by lasers, and atmospheric plasma induced polymerization.