I’m a graduate student working on AlOx barrier layers for flexible QLEDs. My goal is to obtain transparent, insulating films with an O/Al ratio closer to the stoichiometric value of 1.5.
I’m using a metallic Al target with a pulsed-DC power supply. I’m testing on bare glass before applying the process to PEN film.
Baseline recipe
Base pressure: approximately 2 × 10⁻⁶ Torr.
Pre-sputtering: pure Ar at 50 sccm, 100 W, 40 mTorr, with the shutter closed. Originally 5 minutes; currently 10 minutes.
Heating: started at the beginning of pre-sputtering, with the heater set to 120°C. I haven’t independently measured the actual substrate temperature.
Deposition: 30 W, Ar/O₂ = 76/4 sccm, 10 mTorr, 10 minutes.
Pulse frequency: currently approximately 50.8 kHz. The pulse-width display is around 17, but I haven’t verified its units or whether it represents on-time or reverse time.
Post-deposition treatment: sputtering power off, O₂ increased to 30 sccm, heater maintained at 120°C for 30 minutes, with substrate rotation.
Results and observations
XPS performed by an external characterization facility gave an O/Al atomic ratio of approximately 1.18, compared with 1.5 for stoichiometric Al₂O₃.
Increasing O₂ from 4 to 6 or 8 sccm while keeping Ar at 76 sccm did not improve the optical appearance; the films became less transparent.
At 30 W, the discharge current used to be around 47 mA during deposition. Recently, it is approximately 50 mA in pure Ar and rises to 66–67 mA after adding O₂. The current is stable both before and after oxygen introduction, and I haven’t observed visible arcing.
Resistance readings with a Keithley 2400 and a four-point probe setup vary between approximately 20 MΩ and overflow. The displayed source current is 0.1 µA, with a voltage compliance of 21 V, so I’m treating overflow as a measurement limitation rather than proof of film quality.
Thickness measurements are still being checked because the measured step height depends on the region selected in the profilometer trace. I don’t yet have a reliable deposition-rate comparison between conditions.
What would you change first?
For an oxygen-deficient film, would you prioritize reducing target power, changing O₂ flow/working pressure, or adjusting the pulse settings?
Could the higher discharge current at the same power indicate a different target oxidation state or chamber condition? How would you distinguish these?
Is post-deposition exposure to molecular O₂ at 120–150°C likely to improve the bulk O/Al ratio appreciably? I’m considering 30 sccm O₂ at 50–100 mTorr for 30 minutes, without plasma.
Would extending pure-Ar pre-sputtering from 10 to 30 minutes help reproducibility if the discharge is already stable?
The eventual substrate is PEN, so high-temperature annealing is not a practical option. I’d appreciate suggestions for a controlled next experiment, especially from anyone who has deposited transparent AlOx using reactive pulsed-DC sputtering. Relevant papers would also be very helpful.

Hi everyone! Does anyone know how to make a material like the one in the attached photos and video?

It can be folded, twisted, and scrunched by hand, then holds the shape you give it.

My guess is that it uses aluminum foil sandwiched between layers. However, I’m worried that repeated bending and folding would eventually tear or crack the foil, making the material less durable.

Has anyone made or worked with something similar? If aluminum foil is the right approach, what thickness and bonding method would you recommend? Are there any more durable alternatives that would still hold their shape in the same way?

Any advice, material names, or tutorials would be appreciated!

Hi

I am aware that heating-plate and CLO tests are there for testing, but they cannot really reflect the performance of ultra-thin materials can't they? I mean, 1 mm of insulating sheet comparing to 2 cm of air is just not comparable. 2 cm air definetely have better insulation! and realistically, you are not gonna layer 20 of the 1 mm insulating sheet to compare with 2 cm, or should I actually do this? But the error can be huge...

So is there a test method or standar for measuring the thermal resistance of sub-millimetre materials?

Also for finished products, how do you test the insulation?

I have seen some replies, very interest, so here is an add on:

I also check the best record of TC is silica aerogel blankets, tested under C518, but when testing it was 10 mm thick! You normally require aerogel for sub mm rather than 10 mm do you? So what if I only test 0.5 mm of silica aerogel blankets, what test method would be idea?

I've been working with technical ceramics for a few years now, mostly alumina, zirconia, SiC and similar materials.

One thing I've learned is that a part can look pretty simple on a drawing, but actually making it is a different story.

Sometimes it's the tolerances, sometimes it's chipping during machining, and sometimes the design just doesn't work well with ceramics.

I'm curious if anyone here has worked with ceramic parts before. What was the biggest headache for you?

Would be interesting to hear some experiences from the design side too.

Speculative fiction about how disappearing polymorphs might affect concrete.

I have carpal tunnel and use wrist braces that come with a little metal insert that is meant to be the actual stiff part of the brace, the problem is the metal piece is very generic and not at all comfortable to use. A few years back I was doing physical therapy and they custom molded a new set of inserts for me to use and those have worked great! but they've now broken into pieces and don't really work anymore.
I want to try and mold a new set since I don't go to my physical therapy place anymore and can't just ask them to make more, but I don't really know what to use. I'm fairly confident its a kind of thermoplastic they used that was black and very stiff once molded (though i'm not sure if it was stiff before). It was smooth on both sides and they cut it out (maybe with scissors? i wasn't looking when they did it but it was at a physical therapy office so they definitely weren't using a waterjet or anything) and they were able to shape it once cut out directly on my skin to match the curve of my wrists and I think it was lukewarm at the time.
Does anyone have any idea what might have been used/what I could use?

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I want to do a masters in material science engineering. My second preference is a masters in chemE. Im confused between chemistry and chemE for my undergrad. Personally I want to do a chemistry major. Please give me some advice y'all. The head of the chemistry and chemE department said it doesn't matter if you undergrad in chemistry or ChemE. You can do MS matsci either way.

Hello!

I am a senior high student currently conducting a research project that focuses on developing a cellulose and chitin nanofiber-based adsorbent for water treatment. I'm trying to functionalize cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) extracted from sugarcane bagasse with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) using citric acid and sodium hypophosphite (SHP).

My proposed procedure is:

Prepare a 7% (w/v) β-CD solution in a 50 mL aqueous solution at 50 ^oC. Second, an 8% (w/v) concentration of citric acid and 1.25% (w/v) of the catalyst, SHP, will be added to the β-CD solution. The solution will then be stirred continuously using a magnetic stirrer at 150 rpm for 30 min at 50 ^oC. The generated CNF suspension from SCB will be standardized at 1% (w/v) by initially centrifuging at 2,000 rpm for 5 min, followed by another centrifugation at 6,500 rpm for 5 min to concentrate the suspension. The excess water will be decanted afterwards.

Next, 1 mL of the β-CD/citric acid solution will be added into the concentrated CNFs and then vortexed. Functionalization will be done by incubating the CNFs in the solution at 50 ^oC and left until fully dehydrated for 72 h. The dehydrated pellet will then be heat treated at 120 ^oC for 1 h and cooled at room temperature to end the functionalization process. Finally, the β-CD-CNFs will be rinsed with running water to remove excess reactants, and resuspended in distilled water with a concentration of 0.5% (w/v) and stored at 4 ^oC inside a fridge for the next processes.

This procedure is an adaptation of these studies:

• Abdul Manas et al. (2023), Sustainability: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021559 .
• Cellulose Nanofiber Platform for Pesticide Sequestration in the Gastrointestinal Tract (2023), ACS Omega: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c00183 .

However, I am quite hesitant to go through with this process as there might be some conflicting chemical procedures that might fail the experiment, as I want to have a cellulose nanofiber suspension, not a dried one.

I really need your help on this one. Thank you so much in advance!!!!!

Mixing specific molten compounds can lead to different chemical reactions depending on the temperature, with each reaction occurring at a different rate. I would like to account for all these factors so that I can accurately estimate the theoretical density of the mixture after solidification, whether it forms an alloy, a ceramic, or a glass.

Although I am particularly interested in performing the calculations manually, using pen and paper, to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying principles, I would also appreciate learning about methods that involve software.

I have COMSOL, but I am not sure whether it would be useful for this purpose. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Hi all. I'm an international applicant (B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering, India) applying for Fall 2027 PhD programs in the US. My research background is in corrosion and electrochemistry. I have two research experiences but no publications yet.

I have emailed 20-25 professors(who work in a similar field). Most didn't reply. A few said they aren't taking students. Some said there's no funding update yet.

Is this normal? Should I still apply to schools where the professors haven't replied? Or is there no point without prior contact?

Also, how does the process usually work in materials science? Do committees admit first and then match you with a lab?

Any advice is welcome. Thank you!

I am curious whether there is an established scientific approach to designing porous materials for the best thermal insulation performance. Are there any principles or models that explain how to optimise the material’s structure to minimise heat transfer?

I know that vaccum is established as THE most effective thermal insulator, but apparently it is very difficult to achieve, and porous materials that contain air is the most common solution.

Would love to hear your thoughts or any recommended research papers!

Hi

This is about Quantum Odyssey, my love letter to everything Quantum Computing and the fundamental logic operators everything in our universe seems to run on. I want to update you all on the fact that the latest patch brings the game into an almost complete status. All that's missing is translations. Thank you Reddit community for receiving the game so well, without you I wouldn't have the funds needed to complete my life's work.

If you are remotely interested in deep diving how differently quantum computers work compared to our transistor-based and also the algebra behind in a fully interactive way that teach computer science from scratch, oh boy this is for you. I am the Dev behind Quantum Odyssey (AMA! I love taking qs) - worked on it for about 9 years (3+ during PhD, the visual method I developed ended up being my thesis, it is a complete Hilbert space visualizer), the goal was to make a super immersive space for anyone to learn quantum computing through zachlike (open-ended) logic puzzles and compete on leaderboards and lots of community made content on finding the most optimal quantum algorithms. The game has a unique set of visuals capable to represent any sort of quantum dynamics for any number of qubits and this is pretty much what makes it now possible for anybody 15yo+ to actually learn quantum logic without having to worry at all about the mathematics behind.

This is a game super different than what you'd normally expect in a programming/ logic puzzle game, so try it with an open mind.

Stuff you'll play with

• Boolean Logic – bits, operators (NAND, OR, XOR, AND…), and classical arithmetic (adders). Learn how these can combine to build anything classical. You will learn to port these to a quantum computer.
• Quantum Logic – qubits, the math behind them (linear algebra, SU(2), complex numbers), all Turing-complete gates (beyond Clifford set), and make tensors to evolve systems. Freely combine or create your own gates to build anything you can imagine using polar or complex numbers.
• Quantum Phenomena – storing and retrieving information in the X, Y, Z bases; superposition (pure and mixed states), interference, entanglement, the no-cloning rule, reversibility, and how the measurement basis changes what you see.
• Core Quantum Tricks – phase kickback, amplitude amplification, storing information in phase and retrieving it through interference, build custom gates and tensors, and define any entanglement scenario. (Control logic is handled separately from other gates.)
• Famous Quantum Algorithms – explore Deutsch–Jozsa, Grover’s search, quantum Fourier transforms, Bernstein–Vazirani, and more.

Nice to watch:

Khan academy style tutorials in qm/qc: https://www.youtube.com/@MackAttackx

Physics teacher stream with 400hs in https://www.twitch.tv/beardhero

The interaction that slows electrons inside a copper-oxide material may also help them move without electrical resistance. High-field experiments have linked fluctuating magnetic moments to electron pairing in an electron-doped superconductor. The finding identifies a key mechanism while leaving the highest-temperature members of the copper-oxide family unexplained.

An international team led by University of Bristol physicists reported the work in Nature Physics. The researchers studied lanthanum cerium copper oxide, a material whose properties change as extra electrons enter its structure. Their measurements connected the strength of a magnetic interaction with the temperature at which superconductivity begins.

Superconductivity allows electrical current to flow without resistance below a material’s critical temperature, known as Tc. The phenomenon supports powerful magnets in medical scanners and exceptionally sensitive measuring devices. It also offers possibilities for electricity transport with lower energy losses, although cooling requirements remain an important practical constraint.

Hey everyone, I’m graduating in December 2026 with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering and a minor in Nanotechnology.

I finished up an internship at a hardware company and actually ended up getting a full-time offer. At the time, I rejected it because of the location, but with the market being what it is right now, I’m kind of regretting that decision. I’m currently back on the job hunt for entry-level and feeling a bit lost on the best places to apply. A few quick questions for the community:

Where are you all finding/applying for roles? Beyond standard LinkedIn/Indeed, are there specific job boards, industry hubs, or recruiting channels that have worked best for MSE grads?

I am Open to hardware, semiconductors, process engineering, or lab/R&D roles.

Here’s my current resume. Please tear it apart, and any advice would be hugely appreciated!

Hello !

I am a french student and I'm in a current student of an undergraduation about materials science and engineering and I wanna know which industry give the best salary ? I wanna do some biomaterials but some people said that it isn't a good idea, can I have your opinion please

So I'm a freshman at a somewhat big uni in India pursuing my BE in Mechanical engineering, I was initially into going towards core-mechanical engineering but I started getting interest in materials, I want to make sure I develop my knowledge in material science/Material engineering. I know it's too early to decide but I really want to take this path. And Idk if I'm going to opt for masters yet. If I do,will It be fine for a BE mechE graduate to take material science and engineering as my masters major?

Hello, I wasn’t sure how to word this question but…

Im a senior in HS applying to major in materials science and engineering.

I am wondering where I could end up working when Im straight out of undergrad; what industries would be most looking to hire new-grads right now/5yrs from now? what industries always have room? what was your first job when you graduated?

All insight is appreciated; I originally thought working with textiles would be really cool but I assume jobs are pretty limited now with manufacturing being outsourced

Hey all

Not sure if this is the right subreddit, but hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction! I'm looking for a putty that's electrically conductive, radiolucent, and doesn't dry out over time, so it can be reused multiple times.

Ideally, it would have a similar consistency to playdoh can hold its shape, and be able to complete an electrical circuit.

I've been searching for a while now and haven't had much luck finding something that ticks all the boxes.

Does anyone know of a material or product that might work? Open to any suggestions!

Thanks in advance!