MRI

Materials Characterization Lab (MCL) operations and investment priorities. MCL priorities are generally guided by maintaining continuity of critical, high‑demand capabilities; expanding capacity when demand exceeds availability; aligning investments with MRI’s 2025–2030 strategic priorities; and ensuring long‑term operational sustainability.  Your perspective is essential in helping us identify gaps, emerging needs, and opportunities where MCL can better support your research endeavors. 

WHEN
May 12, 2026
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

WHERE
Millennium Science Complex
3rd Floor Café Commons 

Discover MCL’s capabilities, strategic plans, and share your feedback on lab operations, including technical resources, staffing, training, data management, and industry engagement. Refreshments provided.

The LEO platform offers robust sample tracking capabilities, designed to enhance research transparency and reproducibility. By tracking samples throughout tool runs and characterizations, users can easily access a detailed history of each sample’s journey—from creation to analysis. This feature not only supports process replication and troubleshooting but also ensures that every step is documented for future reference. 

Large single crystals with precise stoichiometry control are the cornerstones of modern-day microelectronics, global positioning systems, optical communications, energy harvesting, etc. In addition, fundamental research also relies heavily on ideal single crystals to access intrinsic properties. One central challenge in crystal growth by conventional techniques such as Czochralski and Bridgman is that large, high-quality crystals can be grown only for congruent melting compositions where the solid and liquid compositions are the same.

Frank Peiris, professor of physics at Kenyon College, is leveraging the capabilities of the 2D Crystal Consortium–Materials Innovation Platform (2DCC-MIP) at Penn State to engage undergraduates in cutting-edge studies of thin-film growth and electronic structure. Since 2018, Peiris and his undergraduate researchers—many of whom present at national conferences and pursue graduate study—have collaborated closely with 2DCC-MIP scientists.

We are reviewing the future of mechanical testing at MCL, and your response is critical to making informed decisions. If you anticipate any future need for these capabilities, we need to hear from you now.

Please complete this brief survey here

Modulated TGA can be used to determine kinetic information for decomposition and volatilization reactions, including activation energies and predictive plots such as lifetime plots.

The main benefit of modulated TGA is the ability to obtain kinetic information for decomposition or volatilization reaction with a single experiment. 
This method uses sinusoidal temperature oscillation to directly obtain activation energy for the decomposition reaction, while several experiments with varying heating rates have to be run when using standard TGA to produce an Arrhenius plot.

The Penn State Board of Trustees approved an expansion of the Materials Research Institute’s (MRI) Nanofabrication Laboratory in the Millennium Science Complex, advancing Penn State’s efforts in next-generation electronics and microsystems integration with a goal of speeding their transition from lab to real-world use.  

Managing research core expenses is easy with LEO’s simplified billing system. By consolidating charges into a single monthly invoice, LEO reduces administrative overhead and improves financial transparency across all research cores.

Invoices are emailed to Principal Investigators (PIs) and designated Billing Contacts around the 25th of each month. Charges are limited to pre-authorized cost collectors, ensuring proper oversight and accountability.

MaterialsTube is an AI-enhanced video sharing platform developed by the 2DCC.  It was built for materials science education and research video content enabling scientists and educators to share and discover specialized content through an intuitive, free-to-use interface.