Yale University

Yale University was founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School in Killingworth, Connecticut. In 1716 the school moved to New Haven and, with the generous gift by Elihu Yale of nine bales of goods, 417 books, and a portrait and arms of King George I, was renamed Yale College in 1718. In 1854, New Haven industrialist Joseph Sheffield founded an independent institution, later named the Sheffield Scientific School. The Sheffield School awarded the first engineering Ph.D. in the United States in 1863 to Josiah Willard Gibbs and became one of the foremost engineering education centers in the United States. Following World War I its curriculum was merged with that of neighboring Yale and it ceased to function as a separate entity in 1956. The Sheffield School's heritage of scientific excellence and innovation remains a hallmark of Yale's research and education programs. Yale University now comprises three major academic components: Yale College (the undergraduate program), the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and ten professional schools. In addition, Yale encompasses a wide array of research organizations, libraries and museums. Current CRISP participants have appointments in several Yale departments: Applied Physics, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering within the Faculty of Engineering, as well as the Departments of Chemistry and Physics.

Southern Connecticut State University

Founded in 1893, Southern Connecticut State University is a public, comprehensive, coeducational institution offering 115 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the full range of academic and professional disciplines. SCSU is located in New Haven roughly 2 miles from Yale University. The Physics Department at SCSU is partnering with Yale University and Brookhaven National Laboratory in the education and research activities of the MRSEC. A CRISP NanoCharacterization Facility has been established at SCSU that includes Microscopy Facilities for Instruction and Research.

SCSU is a predominately undergraduate institution that specializes in educating present and future teachers. In 2003 SCSU initiated a Masters of Science in Science Education Program for science teachers. Students in this program will have opportunities for research experiences at Yale, SCSU and BNL through CRISP educational initiatives.

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Established in 1947 on Long Island, Upton, New York, Brookhaven National Laboratory is a multi-program national laboratory operated by Brookhaven Science Associates for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Six Nobel Prizes have been awarded for discoveries made at the lab. BNL has a staff of approximately 3,000 scientists, engineers, technicians and support staff and over 4,000 guest researchers annually. Brookhaven National Laboratory's mission is to produce excellent science and advanced technology with the cooperation, support, and appropriate involvement of our scientific and local communities. CRISP will partner with one of BNL's more recent thrusts, the Brookhaven National Laboratory Center for Functional Nanomaterials. The Center's focus is to achieve a basic understanding of the different chemical and physical properties exhibited by nanometer-sized materials compare to bulk samples of the same materials, and to evaluate the potential for nanomaterials to form the basis of new technologies. The Center provides researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate and study nanoscale materials. Among the facilities of the Center of particular importance to the CRISP research and education programs is the Center for Advanced Electron Microscopy.

Industrial Partners and External Interactions

Advanced Gate Dielectrics for Silicon Technology

CRISP collaborates with leading chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to develop new gate insulator materials for next generation processors.

Further miniaturization of transistors for use in processors and memory applications necessitates the replacement of the traditional SiO2 gate insulator in these devices with so-called high-k materials. These materials can greatly reduce unwanted leakage currents in transistors. Candidate materials include complex oxide materials, such as strontium titanate (SrTiO3). Yale has the capability to deposit single crystalline strontium titanate directly onto silicon wafers.