Professor of Materials Engineering

Contact Information:

E-mail: kvam@purdue.edu
Group Page

Education:

B.Sc. 1980, Iowa State University; M.S. 1982, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ph.D. 1985, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research Interests:

Interfaces and Defects Thin films Electronics materials Phase transformations

Research Impact Statement:

The propeprties of materials and devices are frequently dominated by defects and interfaces. The density, structures and properties of defects and interfaces in crystals must, therefore, be understood and controlled, especially in high performance materials. Our aims are to determine how crystal defects are introduced (or avoided) by specific processing routes, to determine the nature of the defects resulting from processing, and how the specific defects affect certain critical properties. We utilize a wide variety of experimental techniques due to the multitude of ways different defects exhibit their structures and properties. The most heavily used techique is transmission electron microscopy, which allows imaging, diffraction, and spectroscopy to be performed at nearly atomic resolution.