Director

Degrees

• PhD, Florida: Electronic and Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Thin Film Processing and Characterization

Professional Experience

Philip Rack is a Professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is also the Director of the Center for Materials Processing.

Philip Rack earned his bachelor’s degree Magna Cum Laude in Materials Science and Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1993, and his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida in 1997. His dissertation research included thin film deposition, surface analysis, and theoretical modeling of optical transitions in thin film electroluminescent materials. In 1997, Rack joined Advanced Vision Technologies Inc. (AVT) as a Senior Research Scientist where he led their research on luminescent and field emitter materials and contributed to process development of their vacuum microelecronic devices. In 1999, Rack joined the faculty in the Microelectronic Engineering Department at the Rochester Institute of Technology. There he taught courses in thin film processing, materials characterization, and microlithography and performed research on VUV optical properties and vacuum microelectronic devices. In 2001 Rack joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee and is investigating emergent properties of nanoscale materials and devices, combinatorial thin film processing, fabrication of nanoscale devices, and nanoscale focused electron, ion and photon beam induced processing. Rack has authored or co-authored over 200 refereed journal articles (including 3 book chapters and 7 invited review articles) and has contributed to over 330 (70 invited) technical presentations at national and international conferences.

Research Interests

• Thin-film processing and characterization
• Materials and device nanofabrication
• Nanoscale electron, ion, and photon beam induced processing
• Click each area below for more information!
  • Combinatorial thin film synthesis for rapid materials discovery
  • Materials integration and nanofabrication for advanced device application
  • Nanoscale focused electron beam stimulated processing

Professional Service

• Member, MRS
• Fellow, AVS (executive committee of thin film division)

Honors and Awards

• 2020, 2016, 2013 University of Tennessee College of Engineering Research Fellow Award
• 2018 AVS Fellowship
• 2017, 2016 CNMS Division Award for Distinguished Scientific Paper, ORNL