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Materials Science and
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Hugo Celio and the Kratos XPS

Core Faculty

TMI's core faculty lead cutting-edge research by running their grants through the institute, fostering collaboration and resource sharing.

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Graduate Program

Our Materials Science and Engineering program is one of the best in the nation, and our graduates go on to be leaders in their fields.

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Research

TMI supports interdisciplinary research at UT Austin, with over 100 faculty focusing on clean energy, nanotechnology, and advanced materials using our state-of-the-art facilities.

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Information the Equipment Can Provide

TMI’s cleanroom is a 3,000 square feet facility, class 100 used primarily for lithography processes and class 1,000 for fabrication and testing. Please select any of the links below to learn more about the capabilities of each of the instruments in our cleanroom.

Thin Film Fabrication

Plasma Etching and Material Growth

Lithography

Metrology and Inspection

Other Fabrication Tools

Chemical Hoods

  • HF Hood: hood dedicated to hydrofluoric acid based processes
  • Acids Hood: hood dedicated to Piranha cleaning of substrates
  • Photholithography Hood 1: hood equipped with a spincoater (Laurel WS-650) and heating plates
  • Photholithography Hood 2: hood equipped with sonicator for substrate cleaning and spincoater (SCS 6700)

A few Vacuum Ovens are also available in TMI’s cleanroom.

The following materials are supplied by TMI for use in the cleanroom.

  • BOE CMOS (Buffered Oxide Etch) 6:1.
  • Solvents: Acetone, Isopropanol, Methanol, Ethanol.
  • Hydrogen Peroxide, 30%.
  • Nitric Acid, 70%.
  • Sulfuric Acid, 96%.
  • Positive Photoresist: S1818 and MF-319 developer.
  • Negative Photoresist: SU8 2005 and SU8 developer.
  • Image Reversal Photoresist: AZ5209E photoresist and MF-26A developer.
  • Hexamethyldisilizane, HMDS

Fees and Policies

  • UT Users: $30/hour
  • Higher Education/State Agencies: $51/hour
  • Corporate/External Users: $65/hour

Access to TMI’s cleanroom will be granted after completion of the Cleanroom Safety Class. Classes are offered weekly. Before attending the class, prospective users must have completed the following:

TMI’s cleanroom is available 24/7. Work involving acids are allowed only during working hours, M-F 8 AM to 5 PM. 

The following violations are grounds for cleanroom access removal:

  • Not following the Cleanroom Policies and Procedures
  • Using an instrument without prior training by a TMI manager
  • Accessing the cleanroom by using somebody else’s proximity card. Always use your own card to enter the cleanroom.
  • Keeping the door open for another user to enter the cleanroom.

Cleanroom Safety Class Training Fees

  • UT Users: $27/hour
  • Higher Education/State Agencies: $80/hour
  • Corporate/External Users: $80/hour

To become a new user of this facility, please read the Instrument Reservation Information page. If you are already a user you can make a reservation in FBS.

Texas Materials Seminar Series

The Texas Materials Seminar Series features MSE 397 Seminars, TMI Distinguished Lectureships, and TMI Special Seminars, where leading faculty and professionals from around the world share cutting-edge innovations and advancements in materials engineering with our students.

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$12M+

In Grant Funding

20+

Research Patents

10K+

Sq. Ft. of Research Labs

News

Zhantao Chen Publishes New Article on AI-assisted Tool

Zhantao Chen, an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and a TMI-affiliate, has published an article on an AI tool in Nature Machine Intelligence. The article used AI to help researchers in ways that would assist in experimental tasks that are often labor-intensive and tiresome.

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Terry Zheng & Yu Group Publish New Work on Water-Based Electrolytes

Materials Science and Engineering graduate student Tianrui (Terry) Zheng, under the supervision of Dr. Guihua Yu has published research in Advanced Materials introducing a biphasic electrolyte architecture that combines the strengths of water-based (aqueous) and organic-based electrolytes for long-duration, high-rate zinc metal batteries.

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Get Better Sleep With Ultrasound Patch That Boosts REM Rest

A wearable bioelectronic device increased REM sleep in real-world trials, without invasive surgery or medication.

Published by UT News.

Yuebing Zheng Awarded 'New Directions' Seed Funding from UT OVPR

Yuebing Zheng was awarded seed funding through the University's Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors. The 'New Directions in Research' grants are one time payments that give faculty an opportunity to obtain proof-of-concept or pilot data for future, larger grants.

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Terry Zheng Awarded UT Chevron Energy Graduate Fellowship

Tianrui (Terry) Zheng, a Materials Science & Engineering graduate student working with Dr. Guihua Yu, is a recipient of the 2026-2027 UT Chevron Energy Graduate Fellows Award from UT's Energy Institute.

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