MRI: Acquisition of Broadband and All-in-One Optical Workstation for Micro-scale Vibration and Topography Measurement

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of an all-in-one optical measurement workstation instrument with micro-scale vibration and topography characterization capabilities. The instrument will enhance research and education capacity in the mountain west and enhance collaborations at regional industries and universities. It will catalyze interdisciplinary and fundamental research involving additive manufacturing, materials science, biomedical engineering, and quantum physics. Integrated into course projects and research lab internships, the instrument will enhance the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) diversity and retention at Boise State University. The instrument will also be used for outreach activities with K-12 students and educators in the state of Idaho, to enhance STEM recruitment. The instrument consists of a laser doppler vibrometer enabling sub-picometer magnitude vibration measurement up to 2.4 GHz and a white light interferometer enabling three-dimensional surface topography down to sub-nanometer resolution. The laser doppler vibrometer can visualize acoustic wave propagation in various materials, including alloys, ceramics, soft tissues, particulate composites, and printed porous films. Transformative research on these materials will potentially lead to advanced ultrasonic sensors for nuclear reactors, innovative bioscaffolds for tissue engineering, efficient embedded neuro stimulators, and novel quantum information delivery methods. The white light interferometer can detect microstructure morphing in real-time. Along with customized electromagnets or heat sources, the instrument will provide unprecedented material properties of smart materials, such as magnetostrictive materials and magnetic shape memory alloys. The fundamental understanding of these multiphysics and multifunctional materials will result in new devices for structural health monitoring or drug delivery.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.