Dr. Gila Stein
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering


Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
S222 Engineering Building 1
University of Houston
4800 Calhoun Ave.
Houston, TX 77204-4004
Office Location: S231
Telephone:
Fax: (713) 743-4323
E-mail: gestein"at-sign" uh "dot" edu

EDUCATION

— B.S., Chemical Engineering, Drexel University (2002)
— Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara (2006)

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Polymer thin films; self-assembly; dynamics at surfaces and interfaces; diffusion in polymer films; optical and electron-beam lithography; alternative nanofabrication techniques; x-ray scattering.

Current Research

• We are studying polymer imaging materials for optical lithography, which is the patterning technique used to define microelectronics circuitry. The goals of this program are to measure the chemical reactions that generate the images, build process models that incorporate ultra-thin film properties (such as polymer dynamics at surfaces and interfaces), and develop high-throughput screening methods for new materials.

• We are interested in controlling the structure of polymer blends for optoelectronic devices. The objectives of this program are to develop optical techniques for in-situ monitoring of phase separation and to study the impact of processing conditions on morphology evolution (thermal or solvent annealing; substrate topography, chemistry, conductivity; nucleating agents).

› back to top

Teaching

— CHEE 3300/6300 Materials Science and Engineering I (Spring 2009)

› back to top

HONORS & ACTIVITIES

— Polymers/soft materials science team, APS renewal workshop, 2008
— NRC Postdoctoral Research Award, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2007-2008
— UCSB-MROP Poster Award for graduate student research, 2006
— AIChE Zeisberg Award for Technical Writing, Delaware Valley Region, 2002
— ACS Scholastic Achievement Award, 2002
— Milton Rosenberg Scholarship, 2002
— Hess Foundation Scholarship in Chemical Engineering, 2001
— A.J. Drexel Scholarship, 1997-2002

› back to top

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1. Tang, C.B., J. Bang, G.E. Stein, et al., Square packing and structural arrangement of ABC triblock copolymer spheres in thin films. Macromolecules, 2008. 41(12): p. 4328-4339.
2. Stein, G.E., W.B. Lee, G.H. Fredrickson, et al., Thickness dependent ordering in laterally confined monolayers of spherical-domain block copolymers. Macromolecules, 2007. 40(16): p. 5791-5800.
3. Bang, J., B.J. Kim, G.E. Stein, et al., Effect of humidity on the ordering of PEO-based copolymer thin films. Macromolecules, 2007. 40(19): p. 7019-7025.
4. Stein, G.E., E.W. Cochran, K. Katsov, et al., Symmetry breaking of in-plane order in confined copolymer mesophases. Physical Review Letters, 2007. 98(15).
5. Stein, G.E., E.J. Kramer, X.F. Li, et al., Layering transitions in thin films of spherical-domain block copolymers. Macromolecules, 2007. 40(7): p. 2453-2460.
6. Stein, G.E., E.J. Kramer, X. Li, et al., Single-crystal diffraction from two-dimensional block copolymer arrays. Physical Review Letters, 2007. 98(8).
7. Khanna, V., E.W. Cochran, A. Hexemer, et al., Effect of chain architecture and surface energies on the ordering behavior of lamellar and cylinder forming block copolymers. Macromolecules, 2006. 39(26): p. 9346-9356.
8. Hexemer, A., G.E. Stein, E.J. Kramer, et al., Block copolymer monolayer structure measured with scanning force microscopy moire patterns. Macromolecules, 2005. 38(16): p. 7083-7089.

› back to top