Synthesis:

The Escarra group is a major user of the Tulane Micro/Nanofabrication Facility (MNF), a shared facility located in Paul Hall that is run by Tulane Instrumentation for Nanoscience & Innovation (TINI). The MNF includes a class 100 space for micro and nanolithography (electron, ion, and photon patterning), class 1000 spaces for deposition, etching, and metrology, a class 10000 space for materials synthesis and thermal processing, and a packaging lab. More details on this facility and its equipment can be found here.

We also do materials synthesis and prototyping in our lab space on the 3rd floor of Paul Hall and in 107 Stanley Thomas Hall.

The group is also a major user of the Tulane Makerspace for macro-scale prototyping.

Characterization:

The Escarra group’s main laboratory space, located in 107 Stanley Thomas Hall, is dedicated to optical and electronic characterization of materials and devices. The lab includes the following characterization tools:

  • Super-continuum laser and laser line tunable filters (LLTFs) capable of emitting light from 390 nm to beyond 2400 nm in wavelength
  • Laser diodes at varying wavelengths
  • Custom-built three-beam Mach Zehnder interferometer capable of continuously-referenced measurement
  • Laser and spectrometer coupled optical microscope with scanning stage for spatial mapping of optoelectronic properties
  • Tunable, multi-zone solar simulator
  • UV-Vis-NIR spectrometer with integrating sphere
  • Thermal testbed including an infrared camera
  • Fiber-based UV-Vis-NIR spectrometer
  • A custom-built robotic goniospectrometer

The group also has a solar energy testbed on the roof of Flower Hall, where we characterize prototype-scale and pilot-scale photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies.
The group is also a major user of the Tulane Imaging and Characterization Facility (ICF) within TINI, along with other shared characterization tools throughout the School of Science & Engineering.

 

Computation:

Computers: The Escarra group has a high performance simulation computer (Dell PowerEdge T620, with two Intel Xeon 2.6GHz 8-core processors, 128 GB memory, 4 TB storage) as well as access to supercomputer clusters at Tulane. We also have an array of desktop computers for basic simulations, data analysis, running experiments, etc.

Software: We use COMSOL, a finite element method package, to do a wide range of multiphysics simulations. We have access to COMSOL’s core, RF, Ray Optics, Wave Optics, Semiconductor, Heat Transfer, Fluid Dynamics, Optimization, and LiveLink for MATLAB modules. We also use Origin, MATLAB, LabView, OpenFilters, Fusion360, and more.

Office:

The Escarra group offices are located in Stanley Thomas Hall and Paul Hall.