Richard C. Alkire
Contact Information:
e-mail:
phone: (217) 333-0063
fax: (217) 333-5052
297 RAL
MC-712, Box C-3
600 S. Mathews Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
Professor Emeritus of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Charles and Dorothy Prizer Chair
B.S., Lafayette College, 1963
Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 1968
- Carl Wagner Memorial Award, Electrochemical Society, 1985
- Professional Progress Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 1985
- Member, National Academy of Engineering, Chemical Engineering, 1988
- Excellence in Teaching Award, School of Chemical Sciences, University of Illinois, UC, 1988
- George Washington Kidd Outstanding Alumnus Award, Lafayette College, 1988
- Technical Achievement Award, National Association of Corrosion Engineers, 1990
- E.V. Murphee Award in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 1991
- Fellow, Electrochemical Society, 1992
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1996
- Edward Goodrich Acheson Medal, Electrochemical Society, 1996
- Charles J. and Dorothy G. Prizer Chair, University of Illinois, UC, 1999-
- Lifetime National Associate, for extraordinary contributions to the National Academies, National Academy, U.S., 2002
- Vittorio de Nora Award, Electrochemical Society, 2005
Electrochemical Engineering:
Electrochemical phenomena are important in a wide range of technologically significant processes, including deposition and etching of surfaces, corrosion, energy conversation, and chemical synthesis. The behavior of such systems often involves spatial and time scales that span more than ten orders of magnitude that need to be considered simultaneously. In our research program, we carry out experimental observations and link them to simulation tools and remote computational resources in a collaborative Web-based high-performance computing environment.
Electrodeposition:
The shift to Cu for on-chip interconnections represents one of the most important changes in materials that the semiconductor industry has experienced. Of particular importance is the need to understand how trace amounts of solution additives influence the evolution of deposit shape and morphology. We use a suite of experimental tools to construct hypotheses about how deposition occurs in the presence of additives. The hypotheses are encoded in computer simulations that link non-continuum phenomena with continuum phenomena.
Corrosion and Etching:
All structural metals are thermodynamically unstable and corrode. For most cases, a protective passive surface film stifles corrosion. However, in engineering alloys, small inclusions trigger microscopic dissolution events that form aggressive species that play a catalytic role in the breakdown of passive films. We have developed new micro experimental methods to investigate a range of pure metals and alloys. Object-oriented programming is used so that code optimization can take place concurrently with improvements in the knowledge of the underlying chemical events.
Web-Base Collaborative Tools:
Our program serves as the lead program for implementation of the Alliance Science portal, a Web-based environment that links scientists, engineers, and computer experts to each other. The portal brings together tools needed to support comprehensive, inter-active, multiscale simulations that span from the molecular through continuum chemical reactor design to plantwide control and optimization.
Selected Publications
Y. Qin, X.H. Li, F. Xue, P.M. Vereecken, P. Andricacos, H. Deligianni,
R.D. Braatz and R.C. Alkire, "Effect of additives on shape evolution
during electrodeposition - III. Trench infill for on-chio interconnects," Journal
of the Electrochemical Society, 155, D223-D233 (2008).
E. Rusli, F. Xue, T.O. Drews, P.M. Vereecken, P. Andricacos, H. Deligianni,
R.D. Braatz and R.C. Alkire, "Effect of additives on shape evolution
during electrodeposition - II. Parameter estimation from roughness evolution
experiments," Journal of the Electrochemical
Society, 154, D584-D597
(2007).
T.O. Drews, R.D. Braatz and R.C. Alkire, "Monte Carlo simulation
of kinetically limited Electrodeposition on a surface with metal seed clusters," Zeitschrift
fur Physikalische Chemie-International Journal of Research in Physical
Chemistry & Chemical Physics, 221, 1287-1305 (2007).
R.M. Stephens and R.C. Alkire, "Simulation of kinetically limited
nucleation and growth at monatomic step edges," Journal
of the Electrochemical Society, 154, D418-D426 (2007).
R.D. Braatz, R.C. Alkire, E.G. Seebauer, T.O. Drews, E.
Rusli, M. Karulkar, F. Xue, Y. Qin, M.Y.L. Jung and R. Gunawan, "A
multiscale systems approach to microelectronic processes," Computers & Chemical
Engineering, 30, 1643-1656 (2006).
T.O. Drews, R. Aleksandar, J. Erlebacher,
R.D. Braatz, P.C. Searson and R.C. Alkire, "Stochastic simulation of the
early stages of kinetically limited electrodeposition," Journal of the Electrochemical
Society, 153, C434-C441 (2006).
E. Rusli, T.O. Drews, D.L. Ma,
R.C. Alkire and R.D. Braatz, "Robust nonlinear feedback-feedforward control
of a coupled kinetic Monte Carlo-finite difference simulation," Journal
of Process Control, 16, 409-417 (2006).
R.D. Braatz, R.C. Alkire, E. Seebauer,
E. Rusli, R. Gunawan, T.O. Drews, X. Li and Y. He, "Perspectives on the
design and control of multiscale systems," Journal of Process Control, 16,
193-204 (2006).
J.R. Gray, C. Homescu, L.R. Petzold
and R.C. Alkire, "Efficient solution and sensitivity analysis of partial
differential-algebraic equation systems - Application to corrosion pit initiation," Journal
of the Electrochemical Society, 152, B277-B285 (2005).
T.O. Drews, S. Krishnan, J.C. Alameda,
D. Gannon, R.D. Braatz and R.C. Alkire, "Multiscale simulations of copper
electrodeposition onto a resistive substrate," IBM Journal of Research & Development,
49, 49-63 (2005).
R.D. Braatz, R.C. Alkire, E. Rusli
and T.O. Drews, "Multiscale systems engineering with applications to chemical
reaction processes," Chemical Engineering Science, 59, 5623-5628 (2004).
