A team led by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has made a breakthrough in semiconductor development that could reshape the way we produce computer chips, optoelectronics and quantum computing devices. 

RPI scientists played a pivotal role in the development of a new manufacturing technique that could revolutionize infrared detection technology, potentially making thermal imaging devices cheaper, smaller, more accurate and far more affordable. 

Researchers at RPI’s schools of science and engineering are exploring new ways to manipulate matter with light to unlock a new generation of computer chips, photovoltaic cells and other advanced materials.

Non-centrosymmetric halide perovskites are a class of semiconducting material containing a structural asymmetry with potentially transformative implications for several major industries.

Wei Bao, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has won the Early Career Program (ECP) Award and Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) Award from the Department of Defense to study superconductors and cavity quantum materials, respectively. The two awarded grants, which total nearly $700,000, will allow Bao to further his research into the unique properties of quantum materials and lay the foundation for practical innovations in the decades to come. 

On April 26, seven Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute undergraduate students showcased research projects in the areas of materials science, computer modeling, chemical engineering, and more at a symposium held at Corning’s Sullivan Park Science & Technology Center just outside of Corning, New York.

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have fabricated a device no wider than a human hair that will help physicists investigate the fundamental nature of matter and light. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, could also support the development of more efficient lasers, which are used in fields ranging from medicine to manufacturing. 

Six RPI students have been awarded fellowships from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Hudson Valley Community College have welcomed the inaugural class of RPI-HVCC Semiconductor Scholars. Funded by the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, the Scholars program is one of many efforts in the Capital Region and around the country to prepare more students to enter the semiconductor industry. 

Jian Shi, Ph.D., associate professor in both the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), has been selected for the Simons Foundation's Pivot Fellowship.