Professor Jeffrey Hopwood earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University in 1990 where he studied electron cyclotron resonance plasmas. He also received the M.S. and B.S. degrees from MSU in 1987 and 1985, respectively. He joined IBM at the T. J. Watson Research Center in 1991 as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Advanced Materials Laboratory. Following this Post-Doc, he joined Northeastern University in 1993 and was promoted to the rank of full professor in 2006. He became a member of Tufts' Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in September 2006.

Dr. Hopwood has worked primarily in the fields of plasma processing and plasma source design. His current research interests include microplasma-based environmental sensors and novel plasma processes for the fabrication of nanoscale devices. Other research interests are plasma etching and deposition processes for integrated circuit fabrication, ionized physical vapor deposition (I-PVD), and plasma deposition of super-hard coatings.

Naoto Miura is investigating plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition methods for nanoelectronic devices.  He is particularly interested in the role that inert-gas metastable atoms play in the desorption of hydrogen from semiconductor surfaces.

Jun Xue's research investigates the charging and concentration of environmental nanoparticles using a microplasma trap.  These trapped nanoparticles can then be detected and sorted using more conventional methods.  This capability is essential as a diagnostic tool for both nanomanufacturing processes that are expected to produce close-tolerance nanoparticles and as an environmental monitor.

Vince Bu is studying the fundamental properties of helium microplasmas, including the effect of electric field frequency on electron density and optical emission.  These microplasmas are used as excitation sources in analytical chemical instrumentation, such as atomic emission spectrometry, mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography.

James Pringle's research involves designing a microcontroller controlled RF source and control scheme for driving a microstrip split ring resonator.  The RF source will maintain the microplasma produced by the resonator in a stable state by adjusting the drive power and frequency.  A stable microplasma source could be used in portable gas analysers or other applications.

Chandler Downs is an undergraduate research assistant who is using Stark broadening of optical emission to measure electron production by an atmospheric pressure helium microplasma.  He is also the lab's webmaster.