At Northeastern University, Professor McGruer has worked in a variety of
microfabrication-related areas including plasma-source ion implantation for semiconductor
doping in multiple-process systems, fabrication of 0.1 to 2 micron-scale gated field
emission devices, gated field emitter reliability physics, fabrication of microrelays and
MEMS sensors, fabrication of 3-D microelectronic circuits, and fabrication of monolithic
ferrite devices. Current research interests are in the areas of micro and
nanofabrication, especially MEMS. Recent projects include design and fabrication of
microrelays, micromirrors, and a variety of MEMS sensors, with an emphasis on nanoscale
material properties and contacts. Current projects include design of microrelay contacts,
fabrication of MEMS testbeds for nanoscale materials testing, design and fabrication of
magnetic sensors, and development of microfabricated surface-energy driven nanoscale
alignment systems. To carry out this work, Professor McGruer directs the Microfabrication
Laboratory and the Scanning Electron Microscopy Facility.

Articles

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A parameter study of separation modes of adhering microcontacts (with Yan Du, George G. Adams, and Izhak Etsion), Center for High-Rate Nanomanufacturing Publications (2008)

A finite element model was developed to study adhesion of elastic-plastic microcontacts in a previous...

 

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Separation modes in microcontacts identified by the rate dependence of the pull-off force (with L. Chen, G. G. Adams, and Y. Du), Center for High-Rate Nanomanufacturing Publications (2008)

We report the observation of two distinct modes of rate-dependent behavior during contact cycling tests....

 

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Contact resistance study of noble metals and alloy films using a scanning probe microscope test station (with L. Chen, H. Lee, Z. J. Guo, K. W. Gilbert, S. Mall, K. D. Leedy, and G. G. Adams), Center for High-Rate Nanomanufacturing Publications (2007)

The proper selection of electrical contact materials is one of the critical steps in designing...

 

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Scalable nanotemplate assisted directed assembly of single walled carbon nanotubes for nanoscale devices (with Prashanth Makaram, Sivasubramanian Somu, Xugang Xiong, Ahmed Busnaina, and Yung-Joon Jung), Center for High-Rate Nanomanufacturing Publications (2007)

The authors demonstrate precise alignment and controlled assembly of single wall nanotube (SWNT) bundles at...