Facility
The Applied Research Center of Old Dominion University is located in Newport News, Virginia on the northwest peninsular side of the Hampton Roads seaport. Organizationally, the Applied Research Center (ARC) is a University research center associated with Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The ARC laboratories comprise an $18 million research and development facility adjoining the Department of Energy continuous electron beam accelerator research complex known as the Jefferson Lab. Overall, ARC research involves; the use of lasers for materials processing; the development of nano-materials, such as carbon nanotubes; and the use of plasmas for surface modification of customized materials. As may be surmised, this rather broad range of technical endeavor requires an extensive and expansive laboratory capability, which, in turn, allows the ARC to pursue a diverse variety of research activities. These activities are generally organized into three laboratory groups; lasers and plasma, nanotechnology, and materials.
Modern advanced research demands collaboration. At ARC, Old Dominion University is fortunate to count among its partners some of the nation's finest Materials scientists, physicists, chemists, microbiologists, laser experts and electrical, mechanical and manufacturing engineers. A large number of potential industrial users are located within an hour's drive of the Research Center. One of the nation's most renowned aerospace facilities, NASA Langley Research Center, is but eight miles away and Jefferson Lab is within walking distance.
Yet another benefit provided by ARC collaboration is a deep and sophisticated educational experience for today's students --- tomorrow's innovators and leaders. With a vigorous interdisciplinary academic program in association with industry, Old Dominion University is able to provide students an experience that integrates engineering education and industrial research.
Together with its partners in industry, academia and at federal laboratories, Old Dominion at ARC is setting new standard in technology, research and development, creating unprecedented opportunities in the development and deployment of entirely new classes of applications and products. We welcome you and invite you to join us in this exciting endeavor.
The Laser and Plasma Group is equipped with atmospheric plasma sources and a wide variety of low power and high power laser sources including a femtosecond laser and Nd-YAG, CO2 , excimer, argon-ion, and continuous wave Ti-sapphire lasers. ARC also has access to the Free Electron Laser Facility at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The Nanotechnology Group has a multi-target sputtering unit, an e-beam deposition system, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system, plasma and ion beam etching systems, an ultra-high vacuum system, an electron-cyclotron-resonance (ECR) plasma enhanced CVD system, a laser ablation system, and lithographic equipment. The Materials Group supports an array of characterization technologies including, a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a transmission electron microscope (TEM), a Nomarski optical microscope, an ellipsometer, an X-Ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS), an X-ray diffractometer, a time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer, a tensile tester, a film thickness monitor, an atomic force microscope (AFM), and a Fourier transform (FT) Raman spectrophotometer.
In addition to these resources, the ARC laboratories are supported by fully equipped materials preparation facilities including a materials cutting, grinding, and polishing laboratory, a wet chemical laboratory, and mechanical and electronic workshops. The ARC facilities meet all environmental laws and regulations of federal, Virginia, and local Governments for, but not limited to, the following groupings: airborne emissions, waterborne effluents, external radiation levels, outdoor noise, solid and bulk waste disposal practices, and handling and storage of toxic and hazardous materials.
Overall, the capabilities of the Applied Research Center can be broadly divided into five categories: Lasers, Fabrication, Analytical, Electrical/Optical Testing, and Other Testing. Examples of the resources available to support these technical capabilities follow.
