Materials ResearchRanked in the top two programs in the country for research impact and citations, materials research at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) encompasses multiple areas. These areas and applications include electronics and photonics, inorganic materials, organic materials, and structural materials.
UCSB faculty have worked with small and large companies to translate discoveries into new lighting and energy solutions, advanced communication products, and new structural materials. Combined, these research activities span semiconductor materials, material structure, composition and function, polymers and theoretical modeling of complex systems.
Centers that comprise materials research at UC Santa Barbara include:
Materials Research Laboratory
www.mrl.ucsb.edu
The research scientific and engineering activities of the Materials Research Laboratory focus on the following four major interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs):
- Specific, reversible and programmable bonding in supra- and macromolecular materials
- Oxides as semiconductors
- Soft cellular materials
- Nanostructured materials by molecular beam epitaxy
Solid-State Lighting and Energy Center (SSLEC)
www.sslec.ucsb.edu
Develop novel solid state based technologies for energy efficient lighting and displays, power electronics, and renewable energy.
Center for Polymers and Organic Solids (CPOS)
www.ipos.ucsb.edu
Spanning fifteen faculty groups the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids has broad research in conductive polymers, sensors and sensing applications, optoelectronics, and energy storage and generation. Leveraging expertise in biochemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry to synthesize conjugated polymer composites for use in photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices.
Institute for Energy Efficiency
iee.ucsb.edu
Developing technologies that will provide exponential gains in energy efficiency in Buildings, Lighting, Computing, Electronics & Photonics, Energy Production & Storage and research and analysis of Economic and Policy issues associated with these technologies.
Complex Fluids Design Consortium
www.mrl.ucsb.edu/cfdc
The Complex Fluids Design Consortium brings together UCSB researchers and select faculty from other institutions with industry and national laboratory researchers interested in the computational design of soft materials and complex fluids.