Materials science, ceramics, thin film synthesis

Education

Ph.D., Cornell (1986)

Research interests

Robert J. Lad is a Professor of Physics and the Director of the Laboratory for Surface Science & Technology at the University of Maine. His research expertise covers areas related to surface, interfacial, and thin film properties of materials including: (i) synthesis and processing of ceramic and semiconducting thin films, (ii) electronic properties of materials, iii) semiconducting metal oxide (SMO) thin film sensors, (iv) metal-ceramic and ceramic-ceramic interfaces, (v) defect microstructure of surfaces, (vi) tribology of hard coatings, and (vii) chemical and biological sensors. He has authored or co-authored over 70 journal publications and review articles, presented over 100 invited and contributed lectures at scientific meetings, and has received more than 30 grants from agencies, including ONR, DARPA, DOE, NSF, NASA, AFOSR, and several industries, to support his research programs. Dr. Lad received his B.S. degree in Materials Engineering from Northwestern University in 1980, and Ph.D. degree in Materials Science from Cornell University in 1986 working on high temperature gaseous corrosion of metallic alloys. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Maine in 1988, he was a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Applied Physics at Yale University where he studied the surface science of metal oxides, and at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory where he performed photoemission studies of the electronic structure of oxide materials.

Publications

• "Interaction of Organophosphorous Compounds with Ti02 and WO3 Surfaces Probed by Vibrational Spectroscopy," C. Kim, R.J. Lad, C.P. Tripp, Sensors & Actuators B 76, 441 (2001).
• "Detection and Quantification of Nitric Oxide in Human Breath using a Semiconducting Metal Oxide Based Chemiresistive Microsensor," B. Fruhberger, N. Stirling, F.G. Grillo, S. Ma, D. Ruthven, R.J. Lad, B.G. Frederick, Sensors & Actuators B 76, 226 (2001).
• "Performance of Zr and Ti Adhesion Layers for Bonding of Platinum Metallization to Sapphire Substrates," G. Bernhardt, N. LeCursi, S.C. Moulzolf, D.J. Frankel, R.J. Lad, Sensors & Actuators B 77, 368 (2001).
• "Stoichiometry and Microstructure Effects on Tungsten Oxide Chemiresistive Films," S.C. Moulzolf, S.A. Ding, and R.J. Lad, Sensors and Actuators B 77, 375 (2001).
• "Aggregation and Sticking Probability of Gold on Tungsten Trioxide Films," L.J. LeGore, R.J. Lad, J.F. Vetelino, B.G. Frederick, E.A. Kenik, Sensors & Actuators B 76, 373 (2001).
• "Electronic Transport Mechanisms in WO3-Based Ultra-Thin Film Chemiresistive Sensors," S.C. Moulzolf and R.J.Lad, Proc. 11 th International Conf. on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators (Springer-Verlag, 2001) p. 4B1.02
• "Mixed Vanadium-Aluminum Oxide Films for Sensing of Organic Compounds," C. Baratto, G. Sberveglieri, I. Ricco, G.P. Bernhardt, R.J. Lad, J.F. Vetelino, Electrochem. Soc. Proc. 18, 470 (2001).
• "Heteroepitaxial Growth of Tungsten Oxide Films on Sapphire for Chemical Gas Sensors," S.C. Moulzolf, L.J. LeGore, R.J. Lad, Thin Solid Films 400, 56 (2001).
• "In-situ 4-point Conductivity and Hall Effect Apparatus for Vacuum and Controlled Atmosphere Measurements of Thin Film Materials," S.C. Moulzolf, D.J. Frankel, R.J. Lad, Rev. of Scientific Instruments 73, 2325 (2002).
• "Defects and Morphology of Tungsten Trioxide Thin Films," L.J. LeGore, R.J. Lad, S.C. Moulzolf, J.F. Vetelino, B.G. Frederick, and E.A. Kenik, Thin Solid Films 406, 79 (2002).
• "Heteroepitaxy of Tungsten Oxide Films on Sapphire and Silicon for Chemiresistive Sensor Applications," R.J. Lad, First IEEE Sensors International Symp. Proc. 44.1 (2002).
• "A Metallic Glass Surface Acoustic Wave Device," L.A. French, Jr., T.B. Pollard, G. Bernhardt, M.P. da Cunha, R.J. Lad, J.F. Vetelino, IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Symp. Proc. (2002).
• "Phase and Morphology in Mixed CuO-WO3 Films for Chemical Sensing," A. El-Madi, B. Meulendyk, R.S. Pilling, G. Bernhardt, R.J. Lad, B.G. Frederick, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 751, (2003).

[Edit my profile]