1/5/2015 Susan Mumm, Editor
Written by Susan Mumm, Editor
The American Vacuum Society (AVS) has recognized NPRE graduate student Priya Raman for her innovations in magnet pack development for use in High-Powered Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering (HPPMS/HiPIMS).
Raman was awarded the Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Scholarship, one of the five top-level national awards named at the 61st International AVS Symposium held recently in Baltimore.
She is also a named inventor on a patent on this device, which will become a new product of the Kurt J. Lesker Company. The patent was submitted through the Center for Plasma-Material Interactions, directed by Raman’s advisor, NPRE Prof. David Ruzic.
AVS selected Raman for the scholarship award after a general competition in which eight graduate research applicant finalists presented their work to the Awards Committee at the International Symposium.
Among other projects, CPMI researchers strive for continuous innovations in computer chip processing. Raman’s work has been to improve the quality of thin film coatings on the chips by understanding the plasma mechanics that optimize the coating process.
She collaborated on the work with NPRE alumnus Brian Jurczyk, President and Co-Founder of Starfire Industries. Raman earned a master’s degree in NPRE in 2012, and expects to complete her doctoral studies next year.
AVS established the Hoffman Scholarships to recognize and encourage excellence in graduate studies in the sciences and technologies of interest to the society.