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ECE sweeps LNF calendar photo contest
ECE students Mingtao Hu, Behnoush Rostami, Jiangnan Liu, and Ruby Wellen were recently announced as the winners of the annual Lurie Nanofabrication Facility (LNF) photo contest. Winning entries are featured in the LNF’s yearly calendar. The event was co-sponsored by the LNF User Committee and ArtsEngine.
LNF Awards
First Place
Entry title: “Crystal Starry Night”
About: This is an SEM (Scanning Electronic Microscope) photo of the GaN epitaxial surface.
Name: Mingtao Hu
Degree/Program: MS ECE
Focus of study: I am working on the memory device study and MBE epitaxy. Looking for potential material or device structures that could be used for long-term storage or low-latency processing.
LNF experience: Most of the time, I am doing device fabrication and device surface characterization in LNF. Hitachi SU8000 In-line FE-SEM is one of my favorites and the one I mostly used facility. Because it is intuitive to manipulate, and the good resolution could give me a very clear morphology of the material surface or section analysis. It also provides with me a unique view to travel through the microcosm going through those amazing nano-scale structures.
About art: For my photo, the original SEM output is in black/white. I colored it with AI coloring software. In the past time, usually, I colored it in Photoshop but this time I tried to use AI to help with coloring. What I need is just to draw the color regions and let the AI learn the form of Vincent’s famous Stary Night, then it automatically colors the photo. Nowadays, with the rising of AI technology, many art creations could be made or aided by AI, I hope we can explore more potential on art to make it accessible to everyone.
Second Place
Entry title: “Black Hole”
About: This image captures a popped air pocket within a thick layer of photoresist after long term DRIE.
Name: Behnoush Rostami
Degree/Program: PhD ECE
Focus of study: My research is focused in Bio-MEMS. I’m currently working on the design and fabrication of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional arrays of extremely fine needles, which are implanted in the central or peripheral nervous system to communicate with a group of neurons in their proximity. The main goal of my research is to increase the number of neurons one can read from or write to for long-term studies with minimal damage to the brain tissue.
LNF experience: I have gained experience working with various tools and techniques at LNF for different fabrication processes such as photolithography, etching (both wet and dry), deposition (CVD, PVD, and electroplating), wafer bonding, wire bonding, mask making and more. I always appreciate the LNF facility because it is well-equipped and has a wide range of resources available. Additionally, the staff at LNF are incredibly helpful and possess a great deal of knowledge of the tools and techniques used at the facility.
About art: In my opinion, the whole process of microfabrication technology, from design to fabrication, involves art, and I believe each step is an artful process. The fab process can lead to many natural phenomena that are sometimes undesirable and out of control, such as air pockets in photoresist, but can also lead to beautiful images when examined under a microscope.
Third Place
Entry title: “A Sketch from the Scratch”
Caption: The picture was taken on a scratched piece of single-crystalline nitride material. The crystallography creates the skyscraper-shaped structure.
Name: Jiangnan Liu
Degree/Program: PhD ECE
Focus of study: Solid-State Devices & Nanotechnology (III-Nitride based electronic and photonic devices)
LNF experience: The LNF is an excellent lab integrating materials processing and metrology in one facility that provides me with a good platform to fabricate nitride-based devices in the microscale or even nanoscale.
ArtsEngine Awards
First Place (tie)
Entry title: “Metallic Coral Reef”
About: This is a photo of a GaN substrate that has been etched with electrochemical etching. I was attempting to achieve a porous sample but instead etched away at the surface.
Name: Ruby Wellen
Degree/Program: PhD ECE
Focus of study: My current research is on the Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) growth of high In content InGaN on porous N-polar GaN. A lot of research has already been done on Ga-polar GaN as a material for optoelectronic, high-power, and high-frequency applications. Recently, N-polar GaN and porous GaN have emerged as better alternatives for the growth of high In content InGaN. With my PhD, I’m interested in expanding our knowledge of N-polar and porous GaN to create highly efficient nitride-based devices.
LNF experience: I do many things in the LNF! I use the LNF for lithography, electrochemical etching, dicing, cleaning, and SEM imaging. My favorite thing about the LNF is how organized everything is! I always know where to find extra Tex wipes or gloves when I need them.
First Place (tie)
Entry title: “Crystal Starry Night”
About: This is an SEM (Scanning Electronic Microscope) photo of the GaN epitaxial surface.
Name: Mingtao Hu
Degree/Program: MS ECE
Focus of study: I am working on the memory device study and MBE epitaxy. Looking for potential material or device structures that could be used for long-term storage or low-latency processing.
LNF experience: Most of the time, I am doing device fabrication and device surface characterization in LNF. Hitachi SU8000 In-line FE-SEM is one of my favorites and the one I mostly used facility. Because it is intuitive to manipulate, and the good resolution could give me a very clear morphology of the material surface or section analysis. It also provides with me a unique view to travel through the microcosm going through those amazing nano-scale structures.
About art: For my photo, the original SEM output is in black/white. I colored it with AI coloring software. In the past time, usually, I colored it in Photoshop but this time I tried to use AI to help with coloring. What I need is just to draw the color regions and let the AI learn the form of Vincent’s famous Stary Night, then it automatically colors the photo. Nowadays, with the rising of AI technology, many art creations could be made or aided by AI, I hope we can explore more potential on art to make it accessible to everyone.