Prof. Thad Vreeland, Jr.

Professor of Materials Science, Emeritus

Thad Vreeland, Jr., has been a consultant on materials problems with Union Carbide and other organizations and has participated in collaborations with McDonnell-Douglas Research Laboratory, Borg-Warner Corporation, and Aerojet Ordnance Company. Professor Vreeland is studying the process of shock consolidation of alloy powders, and shock induced exothermic reactions which form compounds from powder mixtures of elemental or alloy powders such as Ti and Si or Fe and Al.

Strain as a function of depth in ion-implanted crystals and in epilayers layers grown on single crystal substrates may be determined with high precision using x-ray diffraction. Professor Vreeland has assembled state-of-the-art facilities for studies of strain in ion-implanted crystals and epilayers. These studies have proved to be a valuable aid to the crystal grower (MBE, MOCVD, LPE) as their samples are readily evaluated for crystal structure and perfection in a non-destructive x-ray environment.

Fields of study and selected publications:

Studies of the Physics and Chemistry of powdered materials processed by strong shock waves.

Wei Tong, G. Ravichandran, T. Christman, T. Vreeland, Jr. Processing SiC-Particulate Reinforced Titanium-Based Metal Matrix Composites by Shock Wave Consolidation , Acta Metall. Mater. 43 (21):2335-250 (1995).

T. Vreeland, Jr., K. L. Montilla, and A. H. Mutz, Shock Wave Initiation of the Ti5Si3 Reaction in Elemental Powders , J. Appl. Phys. 82 (6) 2840-2840 (1997).

T. Vreeland, Jr., Thermodynamic Assessment for Shock Wave Synthesis of Transition Metal Silicides , Scripta Materalia, 38 (2) 337-340 (1998).

Studies of strains in epitaxially grown layers in semiconductor single crystals and strains and damage in ion implanted crystals using x-ray analysis.

C. J. Tsai, A. Domann, M-A. Nicolet, and T. Vreeland, Jr., "Self-Consistent Determination of the Perpendicular Strain Profile of Implanted Si by Analysis of X-ray Rocking Curves", J. Appl. Phys. 69, 4, 2076-2079 (1991).

G. Bai, M-A. Nicolet, and T. Vreeland, Jr., "Elastic and Thermal Properties of Mesotaxial CoSi2 Layers on Si", J. Appl. Phys., 69, 9, 6451-6455 (1991).

C. J. Tsai; T. Vreeland, Jr.; H. A. Atwater ; "Defect Formation and Diffusion Mechanism in Ion-assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy", Phys. Rev. B, 46 (11), 7103-7109 (1992).

Studies of the mobility of dislocations in crystals.

Hideki Tonda, S. Ando, K. Takashima, T. Vreeland, Jr. Anomalous Temperature Dependence of the Yield Stress by {1122}<1123> Secondary Pyramidal Slip in Cadmium Crystals -- I. Experiments, Acta Metall Mater. 42 (8):2845-2851 (1994).

Hideki Tonda, S. Ando, K. Takashima, T. Vreeland, Jr. Anomalous Temperature Dependence of the Yield Stress by {1122}<1123> Secondary Pyramidal Slip in Cadmium Crystals -- II. Mechanism , Acta Metall Mater. 42 (8):2853-2858 (1994).