Multi-Scale Multidisciplinary Modeling of Electronic Materials (MSME) Collaborative Research Alliance (CRA) was a research program in the United States that was initiated and sponsored by the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The objective of the program was “to develop quantitative understanding of materials from the smallest to the largest relevant scales to advance the state of the art in electronic, optoelectronic and electrochemical materials and devices.” Collaborative Technology and Research Alliances is a term for partnerships between Army laboratories and centers, private industry and academia for performing research and technology development intended to benefit the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. The partnerships are funded by the US Army. MSME was awarded in 2012. The program was completed in 2016.{{Cite web, url=http://uintah.utah.edu/projects/16-projects/projects-new/22-cde3m.html, title=Multiscale Multidisciplinary Modeling of Electronic Materials Collaborative Research Alliance, last=Galli, first=Nathan, website=uintah.utah.edu, language=en-gb, access-date=2018-09-06

Objectives

The objective of this Alliance was to conduct research supporting efforts in future

electronic materials A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. ...

and devices for the Army. MSME achieved this through development of fundamental models in electronic materials research. The multiscale models were assembled by the MSME team and the experimentation for validation and verification for these models was performed by ARL scientists in each research area, which was part of a continual process to develop new models through collaboration between ARL and its partners.

Research Thrusts

The MSME program was organized around several research thrusts, which included the following: * Electrochemical Energy Devices - Focus on interfacial physics and chemistry,

ion transport In biology, a transporter is a transmembrane protein that moves ions (or other small molecules) across a biological membrane to accomplish many different biological functions including, cellular communication, maintaining homeostasis, energy produc ...

nanostructures A nanostructure is a structure of intermediate size between microscopic and molecular structures. Nanostructural detail is microstructure at nanoscale. In describing nanostructures, it is necessary to differentiate between the number of dimensi ...

, solid-liquid interface: to include

fuel cells A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...

, capacitors, etc. * Hybrid Photonic Devices - Study the interaction of

photons A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless, so they alway ...

, electrons, and phonons, to include photonics,

spintronics Spintronics (a portmanteau meaning spin transport electronics), also known as spin electronics, is the study of the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-sta ...

plasmonics Plasmonics or nanoplasmonics refers to the generation, detection, and manipulation of signals at optical frequencies along metal-dielectric interfaces in the nanometer scale. Inspired by photonics, plasmonics follows the trend of miniaturizing opt ...

, etc. * Heterogeneous Metamorphic Electronics - Examine mixed materials with partial ordering, e.g.,

graphene Graphene () is an allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice nanostructure.

, Metamaterial, metamaterials, nanoelectronic structures, etc.

Participants

The research under this program was performed collaboratively by the US Army Research Laboratory and by scientists and engineers of the following institutions: * Army Research Laboratory *

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

References

Projects established in 2012 Projects disestablished in 2016 Research projects