Penn State University
Penn State University

Department of

Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering


Committed to Teaching, Research, and Service

Research & Facilities - Research - Micro/Nano

Faculty: Dr. Mary Frecker, Dr. Aman Haque, Dr. Kenneth Kuo, Dr. Matthew Mench, Dr. Michael Modest, Dr. Kendra Sharp, Dr. Alok Sinha, Dr. Chao-Yang Wang, Dr. Rich Yetter

Research Areas: Fluid transport at micro- and nanoscales; materials processing and manufacturing (crystal growth, chemical vapor deposition, laser processing and manufacturing, charge transport and related issues in semi-conductors, photon generation, control and transport in optical fibers); integrating advanced materials into the design of micro and nanoscale mechanical systems (utilizing and integrating smart materials into MEMS); coupling of phenomena at nanoscale with those at larger scales (multi-scale simulations), such as multiscale modeling of radiation damage and degradation processes in materials exposed to nuclear reactor environments; visualization of phenomena at small length scales; multi-phase flows in microscale systems; nuclear techniques for atomic scale materials characterization.

Microtherocouple - Dr. Matthew Mench
Top View of Sub-Micron thick Thermopile Assembly Embedded in  Polymer Electrolyte

Nanotensilometer - Dr. Aman Haque
Thermopile embedded in Polymer Electrolyte
Nanotensilometer


Working in collaboration with Prof. S Tadigadapa of Electrical Engineering, Dr. Mench is developing sub-micron sized temperature sensors with shadow masking, an e-beam evaporator and electro discharge machining (EDM) techniques.

These sensor arrays are embedded within the 50 micron thick polymer electrolyte at precise locations inside a fuel cell, revealing temperature distribution data, as well as enabling calculating thermal transport parameters in the thin-film media.


The nanotensilometer can perform tensile tests on freestanding specimens that are 30-100 nanometer thick. The specimen is integrated with force and displacement sensors so that the test can be performed in-situ in a transmission electron microscope. Thus, one can observe nanoscale deformation and failure processes in the specimen as well as measure the stress-strain states, which has not been possible before.