The Micron Technology Foundation has recognized the work of an ISU engineering professor with a $300,000 award to support microelectronics research.

Vikram Dalal, professor of electrical and computer engineering, received one of the first Micron Faculty Excellence Awards for his research at the Microelectronics Research Center in Iowa State’s Institute for Physical Research and Technology. Dalal is the director of the research center.

“I can use this funding for taking on new projects and new ideas,” Dalal said.

The award, he said, gives him freedom for applying the funds as he sees fit for improving the quality of the center’s laboratories and equipment.

Mark Durcan, chief technical officer and vice president of research and development at Micron Technology, said the Faculty Excellence Award recognizes the continued excellence of a particular program that Micron believes helps to advance the microelectronics field.

“[We select] researchers at institutions where Micron is comfortable with the quality of the work and the quality of the students,” he said. “The nature of this sort of grant is really ‘no strings attached.’ “

Iowa State and Micron have some connections, Durcan said.

“One of the reasons we are aware of Dr. Dalal is the number of top-quality graduate students [that have come] out of his program,” he said.

Dalal said his research deals with the development of new materials for semiconductors that make up electronic components.

In one laboratory, Dalal and his staff of scientists and students use a device called a plasma deposition rector to “coat” chips with thin layers of an alloy of silicon and hydrogen.

The plasma deposition technique allows Dalal and his team to make the coatings extremely thin and uniform, Dalal said. In one project, he said, materials with a thickness of one micrometer, or about .00004 of an inch, are deposited onto steel and plastic.

“Very, very few people are doing this,” Dalal said.

He said his research team also works in the growing field of nanotechnology, creating some of the smallest and most precisely defined components in electrical engineering.

Dalal said that while the grant will help improve his research in these areas a great deal, it will also have a direct effect on his students and his teaching.

“Many of the experimental techniques developed by this research group are also used for teaching in graduate level laboratory courses,” he said.

The grant money will allow for the purchase of new lab equipment for both research and teaching, Dalal said.

“I hope within the next year [to add new courses],” he said. “[Students] will get the theory, and then they will go out and do the experiments in the lab.”

James Davis, associate professor and interim chairman of electrical and computer engineering, said receiving corporate support from a recognized industry power like Micron Technology is always beneficial for the department.

“It shows the great deal of confidence that Micron has in our students and faculty,” he said.

Durcan said his company employs several ISU graduates and wants Dalal and his staff to simply continue what they have been doing.

“[We tell them to] go produce quality research and quality students,” he said.