Student

• Aug 2019 - May 2023

Undergraduate Researcher

• Jul 2020 - Dec 2020

I worked with Mechanical Engineering to research the efficacy of emergency response Unmanned Aerial Vehicles powered by Hydrogen Fuel Cells. In doing so, I also wrote a review paper and presented my research at the University of Arkansas’ 2020 INBRE Conference.

Researcher

• Jun 2022 - Jul 2022

Plasma etching is a process involving the removal of material from a surface via plasma and reactive gasses. The plasma state or ionized state describes a condition where one or more gasses are held at a certain pressure and submitted to an electrical potential, causing partial ionization of the gas atoms. This ionization generates charged ions, electrons, and neutral free radicals, such that when a wafer is placed in such an environment, surface removal may happen through chemical reaction… Show more Plasma etching is a process involving the removal of material from a surface via plasma and reactive gasses. The plasma state or ionized state describes a condition where one or more gasses are held at a certain pressure and submitted to an electrical potential, causing partial ionization of the gas atoms. This ionization generates charged ions, electrons, and neutral free radicals, such that when a wafer is placed in such an environment, surface removal may happen through chemical reaction between the neutral free radicals and the wafer surface. Since the process mechanism is a chemical reaction, the process rate depends on temperature, and it is this dependance we can exploit to achieve spatially variable etch rates for advanced fabrication processes. To do so, we wrote computational algorithms with which we could create temperature profiles to achieve arbitrarily defined etch rates, determine the time it takes and the temperature at which steady-state occurs for our particular wafers, and create control algorithms to compute the power of individual LEDs in an LED grid such that we can achieve the desired temperature profile. We also conducted experiments to verify the Arrhenius equation and determine the relationship between etch rate and temperature for an exemplar etch process. The steady-state algorithm reveals that a grid of 1.375W LEDs will achieve a steady-state temperature of 285 C in approximately 144s, and our experiments successfully determined the relationship between etch rate and temperature. All of this data contributes to the creation of an LED system that can heat areas of the wafer via thermal radiation, with which we can create variable etch rates. It is with this research that we can have more control in the plasma etching process. Show less Plasma etching is a process involving the removal of material from a surface via plasma and reactive gasses. The plasma state or ionized state describes a condition where one or more gasses are held at a certain pressure and submitted to an electrical potential, causing partial ionization of the gas atoms. This ionization generates charged ions, electrons, and neutral free radicals, such that when a wafer is placed in such an environment, surface removal may happen through chemical reaction… Show more Plasma etching is a process involving the removal of material from a surface via plasma and reactive gasses. The plasma state or ionized state describes a condition where one or more gasses are held at a certain pressure and submitted to an electrical potential, causing partial ionization of the gas atoms. This ionization generates charged ions, electrons, and neutral free radicals, such that when a wafer is placed in such an environment, surface removal may happen through chemical reaction between the neutral free radicals and the wafer surface. Since the process mechanism is a chemical reaction, the process rate depends on temperature, and it is this dependance we can exploit to achieve spatially variable etch rates for advanced fabrication processes. To do so, we wrote computational algorithms with which we could create temperature profiles to achieve arbitrarily defined etch rates, determine the time it takes and the temperature at which steady-state occurs for our particular wafers, and create control algorithms to compute the power of individual LEDs in an LED grid such that we can achieve the desired temperature profile. We also conducted experiments to verify the Arrhenius equation and determine the relationship between etch rate and temperature for an exemplar etch process. The steady-state algorithm reveals that a grid of 1.375W LEDs will achieve a steady-state temperature of 285 C in approximately 144s, and our experiments successfully determined the relationship between etch rate and temperature. All of this data contributes to the creation of an LED system that can heat areas of the wafer via thermal radiation, with which we can create variable etch rates. It is with this research that we can have more control in the plasma etching process. Show less

Engineering Intern

• May 2021 - Jul 2021