Zhigang Suo
Small Material Structures

Professor Suo and his students aim to create scientific models of small-scale processesthat have significant engineering consequences. One area of interest is the mechanics of nanofabrication (e.g. zero-defect, strain-free SiGe films on oxides). The mechanics of self-assembly is also studied to determine the forces involved and the nature of structures that can be produced. For example, Suo and his students are studying molecules absorbed on a solid surface, forming a pattern of disks or stripes, of stable sizes on the
order of 1-100nm. Simulations suggest experimental means to form a perfect periodic pattern or, more remarkably, desired aperiodic patterns. Finally, the Suo group is interested in the mechanics of durability, particularly for materials in the on-chip interconnect structure where feature size is less than 100nm. The Suo group has identified a new mechanism, ratcheting-induced stable cracking, which shows how, in an integrated structure, repeated cycling between extremes of high and low temperature can gradually break a brittle solid.

Publications:
Suo, Z. and Hong, W. 2004. Programmable motion and patterning of molecules on solid surfaces. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 7874-7879.

Suo, Z. 2003. Reliability of interconnect structures. pp. 265-324 in Volume 8: Interfacial and Nanoscale Failure (W. Gerberich, W. Yang, Editors), Comprehensive Structural Integrity, (I. Milne, R.O. Ritchie, B. Karihaloo, Editors-in-Chief), Elsevier, Amsterdam.

Suo, Z. 1997. Motions of microscopic surfaces in materials. Advances in Mechanics 33:193-294.