[NCSU X-ray Microscopy Research Group]
 
 
 

Research activities

           My research group is interested in determining the composition, morphology and structure of polymeric and electronic materials at the sub-micron spatial scale through the use of novel microscopes. Of particular interest is the quantitative mapping of the chemical composition and the orientation of specific chemical groups in multi-component polymers and polymer composites and the structure property relationships in these materials. Compositional characterization is achieved by utilizing Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy and modeling the NEXAFS spectra with those from reference compounds. The research is highly interdisciplinary and benefits from extensive collaborations with other research groups and industry (e.g. Garcia MRSEC, Dow Chemical, EXXON, Hitchcock group at McMaster, X-ray Microscopy at Stony Brook, Spontak group at NCSU). Characterization of electronic materials is performed by imaging differences in the photo-threshold between materials with a high spatial resolution Photoemission Electron Microscope (PEEM). This is performed in collaboration with Profs. Nemanich (NCSU Physics) and Davis (NCSU - MatSciEng).
          H. Ade is spokes person of a Participating Research Team (PRT) that is building a Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscope at the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley  dedicated to the research of synthetic and natural polymers. This “Polymer STXM” team is comprised of researchers from NCSU, McMaster, Dow Chemical, ALS, SUNY@Stony Brook, NIST, and the Geophysical Laboratory. (more info on Polymer STXM)

Biographical sketch:

          H. Ade held appointments at NCSU since 1992 (Assist. Professor 1992-97, Assoc. Prof. 1997-2001, Prof. since 2001). He received his Ph.D. in 1990 in Physics from SUNY at Stony Brook and had joined the NCSU faculty in 1992. H. Ade received the K. F. J. Heinrich Award of the Microbeam Analysis Society (2000), a DuPont Young Faculty Award (1994-97) and an NSF Young Investigator Award (1994-1999). He was also recognized by a Sigma Xi Award of the NCSU Sigma Xi Chapter (1995) and an R&D100 Award (1990). H. Ade has delivered more than 110 invited presentations and (co)-authored over 55 research papers. (more details)

Selected (Recent) Publications (For a more complete list click here):

1. "High-Energy Cryogenic Blending and Compatibilization of Immiscible Polymers", A.P. Smith, R.J. Spontak, H. Ade, S.D. Smith, and C.C. Koch, Advanced Materials 11, 1277 (1999). (pdf)
2. “Confinement Induced Miscibility in Polymer Blends", S. Zhu, Y. Liu, M.H. Rafailovich, J. Sokolov, D. Gersappe, D. A. Winesett, and H. Ade, Nature 400, 49 (1999). (pdf)
3. “Phase Segregation in Polymer Thin Films: Elucidations by X-ray and Scanning Force Microscopy”, H. Ade, D. A. Winesett, A. P. Smith, S. Qu, S. Ge, S. Rafailovich, J. Sokolov, Europhys. Lett.  45, 526-532 (1999). (pdf)
4. “A Free Electron Laser Photoemission Electron Microscope system (FEL-PEEM)”, H. Ade, S. English, J. Hartman, R. F. Davis, R. J. Nemanich, V. N. Litvinenko, I. V. Pinayev, Y. Wu, J. M. J. Madey. Surface Rev. Lett. 5, 1257-1268 (1998)
5. “Bulk and surface characterization of a dewetting thin film polymer bilayer”, H. Ade, D.A. Winesett, A.P. Smith, S. Anders, T. Stammler, C. Heske, D. Slep, M.H. Rafailovich, J. Sokolov, and J. Stöhr, Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 3775 (1998) (pdf)
6. “X-ray Microscopy of Novel Thermoplastic/Liquid Crystalline Polymer Blends by Mechanical Alloying”, A.P. Smith, C. Bai, H. Ade, R.J. Spontak, C.M. Balik and C.C. Koch, Macromol. Rapid Commun. 19, 557-561 (1998). (pdf)
7. “Determination of the Chemical Structural Changes in Vitrinite Accompanying Luminescence Alteration Using C-NEXAFS Analysis”, G.D. Cody, H. Ade, S. Wirick, G.D. Mitchell, and A. Davis, Organic Geochemistry 28, 441-455 (1998).
8. “Quantitative Orientational Analysis of a Polymeric Material (Kevlar fibers) with X-ray Microspectroscopy”, A. P. Smith, H. Ade, Appl. Phys. Lett. 69, 3833 (1996).  (pdf)
9. “X-ray Linear Dichroism Microscopy”, H. Ade and B. Hsiao, Science 262, 1427-1429 (1993).
10. “Chemical Contrast in X-ray Microscopy and Spatially Resolved XANES Spectroscopy of Organic Specimens”, H. Ade, X. Zhang, S. Cameron, C. Costello, J. Kirz, and S. Williams, Science 258, 972-975 (1992).
11. “X-ray Spectromicroscopy with a Zone Plate Generated Microprobe”, H. Ade, J. Kirz, S. Hulbert, E. Johnson, E. Anderson, and D. Kern, Appl. Phys. Lett. 56, 1841-1843 (1990).