KACHER LAB - Key Persons
Alex's research focuses on analyzing additively manufactured aluminum alloys using electron microscopy techniques such as SEM, EBSD, and TEM. Through the addition of ceramic inoculants, one can create an alloy with increased strength, but this sacrifices its ductility. Therefore, it is important to study how the microstructure evolves under deformation in order to understand how we can use and improve these materials especially for applications in aerospace.
Lina's research focuses on studying the plastic deformation mechanism in irradiated thin films, specifically ultrafine grained (UFG) and nanocrystalline (NC) gold using an in-situ TEM MEMS based nanomechanical approach. Through repeated relaxation and tensile tests in combination with TEM observations, I measure stress, strain, and activation volume values at the nanoscale regime. In addition, I study the effects of grain size on the mechanical properties for both irradiated and non-irradiated films. Currently I am directing my research towards obtaining activation volume measurements while increasing irradiation damage levels with the goal of characterizing the active deformation mechanisms.
Nashrah's research focuses on the analysis of microstructure of ferroelectric and antiferroelectric CMOS compatible gate oxides for the application in memory and logic devices. Due to the polycrystalline nature of these oxides, the electrical performances such as operating voltage, polarization dynamics, charge trapping and endurance of the Ferroelectric Field Effect Transistors (FeFETs) depend on the phase, orientation, grain size etc. of its microstructure. Her research involves the study of the microstructure of these materials involving different microscopy techniques such as STEM, TEM, NBED and XRD for the improvement of the overall performance of FeFETs.
Taylor's research focuses on investigating high strain rates on the dislocation and fracture of additively manufactured steels, specifically 316L stainless steel, which is important in many applications that experience high strain rates. This study involves the application of many characterization techniques such as TEM, SEM, and EBSD to study the role of dislocations and twin boundaries in this class of fractures.
Yichen's research focuses on the analysis of grain boundary migration as well as the effects of irradiation of UFG and NC pure metals. I conduct this research through observing the microstructure evolution from plastic deformation during in situ TEM deformation measurements using MEMS devices. The purpose is to understand the fundamental mechanisms governing the kinetics of plastic flow at the nanoscale. Characterization techniques such as SEM, TEM, and EBSD are utilized for quantifying dislocation dynamics.