Nicol E. McGruer
Professor

Northeastern University
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Room 326 Dana Research Center
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115

Phone:  617-373-2066

E-mail: mcgruer@ece.neu.edu

 

At Northeastern University, Professor McGruer has worked in a variety of microfabrication-related areas including plasma-source ion implantation for semiconductor doping in multiple-process systems, fabrication of 0.1 to 2 micron-scale gated field emission devices, gated field emitter reliability physics, fabrication of microrelays and MEMS sensors, fabrication of 3-D microelectronic circuits, and fabrication of monolithic ferrite devices. Current research interests are in the areas of micro and nanofabrication, especially MEMS. Recent projects include design and fabrication of microrelays, micromirrors, and a variety of MEMS sensors, with an emphasis on nanoscale material properties and contacts. Current projects include design of microrelay contacts, fabrication of MEMS testbeds for nanoscale materials testing, design and fabrication of magnetic sensors, and development of microfabricated surface-energy driven nanoscale alignment systems. To carry out this work, Professor McGruer directs the Microfabrication Laboratory and the Scanning Electron Microscopy Facility.

Professor McGruer received the degrees of B.S. in physics and M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1977, 1979, and 1983 from Michigan State University. From 1983 to 1987, at Sperry Semiconductor Operations, he was responsible for ion implant/diffusion process development for 0.8 and 1.25 micron CMOS technologies,  participated in the startup of a new fabrication facility, and investigated rapid thermal and oxidation of silicon for MOS  gate dielectrics.

Active Research Projects:

Teaching:

GE 1001 Introduction to Engineering
ECE 1227 Electromagnetic Fields Laboratory I
EECE 2411 Introduction to Electrical Engineering Laboratory
ECE 1233 Integrated Circuit Fabrication Laboratory
ECE 1341 Electronics I
ME  1386 Materials Science for Engineers and Scientists
ECE 1400 Special Topics, Oxidation Process Characterization and Modeling
ECE 1406 Integrated Circuit Fabrication
EECE 7201 Solid State Devices
ECE 3626 Integrated Circuit Fabrication
ECE 3629 Integrated Circuit Fabrication II
EECE 7244 Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)

Patents:

United States Patent 5,872,010 Microscale Fluid Handling System, issued Feb. 16, 1999. Karger; Barry L., Foret; Frantisek, Zavracky; Paul M., McGruer; E. Nicol, Xue; Qifeng, Dunayevskiy; Yuriy M.

United States Patent 6,153,839, Micromechanical Switching Devices, issued November 28, 2000. Zavracky and McGruer.

United States Patent 6,114,188, Method of fabricating an integrated complex-transition metal oxide device, issued September 5, 2000. McGruer, Oliver, Vittoria, and Zavracky.

U.S. Patent No. 6,202,495, Flow, Tactile and Orientation Sensors Using Deformable Microelectrical Mechanical Sensors, Paul M. Zavracky and Nicol E. McGruer. Issued March 20, 2001.

U.S. Patent No. 6,261,494, Method of Forming Plastically Deformable Microstructures, Paul M. Zavracky, Rick H. Morrison, Keith Warner, and Nicol E. McGruer. Issued July 17, 2001.

U.S. Patent No. 6,836,394 Electrostatic discharge protection for eletrostatically actuated microrelays, McGruer; Nicol E. (Dover, MA); Zavracky; Paul M. (Norwood, MA), Dec. 28, 2004.

U.S. Patent No. 6,701,038 Micro-electromechanical optical switch assembly for optical data networks, Rensing; Noa M. (West Newton, MA); Adams; George G. (West Newton, MA); McGruer; Nicol E. (Dover, MA); McClelland; Robert W. (Buzzards Bay, MA); Zavracky; Paul M. (Norwood, MA), March 2, 2004.

U.S. Patent No. 6,856,718, High-speed, low-power optical modulation apparatus and method, Kane; David (Rawley, MA); McGruer; Nicol (Dover, MA), February 15, 2005.

U.S. Patent No. 7,195,465, Reciprocating microfluidic pump system for chemical or biological agents, Kane; David (Rawley, MA), McGruer; Nicol (Dover, MA), March 27, 2007.

U.S. Patent No. 7,256,669, Method of preparing electrical contacts used in switches, R.H. Morrison, N.E. McGruer and J.A. Hopwood, Awarded August 14, 2007.

U.S. Patent No. 8,031,514, Bistable nanoswitch, Sivasubramanian Somu, Ahmed Busnaina, Nicol McGruer, Peter Ryan, George G. Adams, Xugang Xiong, Taehoon Kim, October 4, 2011.

United States Patent No. 8,211,765, Bistable nanoswitch, Sivasubramanian Somu, Ahmed Busnaina, Nicol McGruer, Peter Ryan, George G. Adams, Xugang Xiong, Taehoon Kim, July 3, 2012.

Publications:

Nicol McGruer and D.K. Reinhard, "The Effect of Photogenerated Carriers on the Mean Time Delay for Avalanche Breakdown in p-n Junctions," Solid State Electronics, 23, 289 (1980).

N. McGruer and D.K. Reinhard, "Substrate Bias and Cathode Voltage Effects in RF Sputtered Amorphous Silicon," Solar Energy Materials II, 447 (1985).

N.E. McGruer and R.A. Oikari, "Polysilicon Capacitor Failure During Rapid Thermal   Processing," IEEE Trans. on Electron Devices, ED-33, 929 (1986).

N.E. McGruer, R. Singh, J.H. Weiss, and K. Rajkanan, "In-Situ Anneal Induced Growth   Enhancement during Rapid Isothermal Oxidation of Silicon," J. Appl. Phys., 62, 3405 (1987).

N.K. Anamali, James F. Bockman, N.E. McGruer and Joseph Chapski, "A Comparison of Buried Oxide Characteristics of Single and Multiple Implant SIMOX and Bond and Etch Back Wafers", IEEE Trans. Nuc. Sci., 37, 2001 (1990).

N.E. McGruer, A.C. Johnson, S.W. McKnight, W.C. Schwab, C. Chan, and S. Tong, "Prospects for a 1 THz Vacuum Microelectronic Microstrip Amplifier," IEEE Trans. on Electron Dev., 38, 666 (1991).

N.E. McGruer, K. Warner, P. Singhal, J.J. Gu, and C. Chan, "Oxidation Sharpened Gated Field Emitter Array Process", IEEE Trans. on Electron Dev., 38, 2389 (1991).

S. Qin, N. McGruer, C. Chan, and K. Warner, "Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation Doping Using a Microwave Multipolar Bucket Plasma," IEEE Trans. on Electron Dev., 39, 2354 (1992).

S. Qin, C. Chan, and N.E. McGruer, "Energy Distribution of Boron Ions During Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation, "Plasma Sources Science & Technology, 1,1 (1992).

S. Qin, C. Chan, and N.E. McGruer, "Energy Distribution of Boron Ions During Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation, "Plasma Sources Science & Technology, 1,1, (1992).

J. Browning, N.E. McGruer, W. Bintz, and M. Gilmore, "Experimental Observations of  Gated Field Emitter Failures," IEEE Electron Dev. Lett., 13, 167 (1992).

J. Browning, N.E. McGruer, S. Meassick, C. Chan, W. J. Bintz, M. Gilmore, "Gated Vacuum Field Emitter Failures:  Experiment and Theory," IEEE Trans. on Plasma SCI, 20, 499 (1992).

J. Barry, N.E. McGruer, W.J. Bintz, A. Nagras, and K. Warner, "Properties of Gated Silicon Field Emission Wedges," IEEE Electron Device Lett., 14, 83 (1993).

M. Gilmore, N.E. McGruer, J. Browning, and W.J. Bintz, "Measurement of Gated Field Emitter Failures," Rev. SCI Instrum., vol. 64, p. 581 (1993).

N.E. McGruer, J. Browning, S. Meassick, M. Gilmore, W.J. Bintz, and C. Chan, "Ion-Space-Charge Initiation of Gated Field Emitter Failure," J. Vac. SCI Technol. B., vol 11, p. 441 (1993).

Z. Huang, N.E. McGruer, and K. Warner, "200 nm Gated Field Emitters," IEEE Electron Device Lett., Vol. 14, p. 121 (1993).

J. Browning, S. Meassick, Z. Xia, C. Chan, and N. McGruer, "Ion and Electron Energies in Gated Field Emitter Failures," IEEE Trans. on Plasma Science, vol 21, p. 259 (1993).

W.J. Bintz and N.E. McGruer, "SiO2-Induced Silicon Emitter Emission Instability," J. Vac. SCI Technol. B., vol. 12, p. 697 (1994).

P.M. Zavracky, S. Majumder, and N.E. McGruer, "Micromechanical Switches Fabricated Using Nickel Surface Micromachining," J. Microelectromechanical Systems, Vol. 6, p. 3 (1997).

Qifeng Xue, Frantisek Foret, Yuriy M. Dunayevskiy, Paul M. Zavracky, Nicol E. McGruer, and Barry L. Karger, "Multichannel Microchip Electrospray Mass Spectrometry," Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 69, p. 426 (1997).

S. Majumder, N.E. McGruer, P.M. Zavracky, "Electrostatically Actuated Micromechanical Switches," J. Vac. SCI Tech. A, Vol. 15, p. 1246, 1997. S.A. Oliver, P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, and R. Schmidt, "A Monolithic Single-Crystal Yttrium Iron Garnet/Silicon X-Band Circulator" IEEE Microwave and Guided Wave Letters, Vol. 7, p 239 (1997).

H. How, S.A. Oliver, SW McKnight, P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, and C. Vittoria, "Theoretical Modeling of Microstrip Thin-Film Circulators," IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 33, p. 3433 (1997).

H. How, S.A. Oliver, SW McKnight, P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, C. Vittoria, R. Schmidt, "Theory and experiment of thin-film junction circulator," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 46, pp. 1645-1652, 1998.

P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, R.H. Morrison, G. Jenkins, and K. Warner "Microswitches for Microwave and Other Applications," Sensors, Vol. 15, No. 4, p. 41, 1998.

P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, and R.H. Morrison, "Microswitches and Microrelays with a View Toward Microwave Applications," RF and Microwave Computer Aided Engineering, Vol. 9, pp. 338-347, 1999.

H. How, S.A. Oliver, SW McKnight, P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, C. Vittoria, and R. Schmidt, "Influence of Nonuniform Magnetic Field on a Ferrite Junction Circulator," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 47, pp. 1982-1989, 1999.

S. Majumder, N.E. McGruer, George.G. Adams, A.P. Zavracky, P.M. Zavracky, Richard.H. Morrison and Jacqueline Krim, "Study of Contacts in an Electrostatically Actuated Microswitch," Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol. 93 (1) (2001) pp. 19-26, 2001

S.A. Oliver, P. Shi, W. Hu, H. How, S.W. McKnight, N.E. McGruer, P.M. Zavracky, and C. Vittoria, "Integrated Self-Biased Hexaferrite Microstrip Circulators for Millimeter-Wavelength Application," IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 49, pp. 385-387, 2001.

Terrence G. Barnes, Thieu Q. Truong, George G. Adams, and Nicol E. McGruer, "Large Deflection Analysis of a Biomimetic Lobster Robot Antenna Due to Contact and Flow," ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics, Vol 68, pp 948-951, 2001.

P. Shi, H. How, X. Zuo, S.A. Oliver, N.E. McGruer and C. Vittoria, " Application of single-crystal scandium substituted barium hexaferrite for monolithic millimeter-wavelength circulators," IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 7, No. 6, pp. 3941-3946, Nov. 2001.

Brian McCarthy, George G. Adams, Nicol E. McGruer, and David Potter, "A Dynamic Model, Including Contact Bounce, of an Electrostatically Actuated Microswitch," Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, Vol. 11, pp 276-283, 2002.

McGruer, N.E.,  Adams, G.G.,  Majumder, S.,  Yan, Xiaomin, “Thermal Characteristics of Microswitch Contacts,” Appliance Engineer, Vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 72-78, 2002. 

J. Johnson, G.G. Adams, and N.E. McGruer, “Determination of Intermodulation Distortion in a Contact-Type MEMS Microswitch,” IEEE Trans. On Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 53, pp. 3615-3620, 2005.

S. Majumder, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “Adhesion and Contact Resistance in a MEMS Microswitch,” submitted for publication in the Journal of Microelectromechanical systems, 2005.

P.M. Nieva, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “Design and Characterization of a Micromachined Fabry-Perot Vibration Sensor for High-Temperature Applications,” Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Vol. 16, 2006, pp. 2618-2631.

K. Joudrey, G.G. Adams, and N.E. McGruer, “Design, Modeling, Fabrication and Testing of a High Aspect Ratio Electrostatic Torsional MEMS Micromirror,” Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Vol. 16, No. 10, 2006, pp. 2147-2156.

P.J. Ryan, G.G. Adams, N.E. McGruer, N.E., and S. Müftü, “Contact Scanning Mode AFM for Nanomechanical Testing of Free Standing Structures,” Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Vol. 16, No. 5, 2006, pp. 1040-1046.

Xugang Xiong, Prashanth Makaram, Ahmed Busnaina, Kaveh Bakhtari, Sivasubramanian Somu, and Nicol McGruer, “Large scale directed assembly of nanoparticles using nanotrench templates,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 89, 193108, (2006)

Yan Du, Lei Chen, Nicol E. McGruer, George G. Adams, and Izhak Etsion “A finite element model of loading and unloading of an asperity contact with adhesion and plasticity,” Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 312, Issue 2, 15 August 2007, Pages 522-528

Z. Guo, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “Modeling, Simulation and Measurement of the Dynamic Performance of an Ohmic Contact, Electrostatically Actuated RF MEMS Switch, J. Micromech. Microeng. 17 (2007) 1899-1909.

L. Chen, H. Lee, Z. J. Guo, N. E. McGruer, K. W. Gilbert, S. Mall, K. D. Leedy, and G. G. Adams, “Contact resistance study of noble metals and alloy films using a scanning probe microscope test station,” J. Appl. Phys. 102, 074910, 1 October 2007 (7 pages)

Prashanth Makaram, Sivasubramanian Somu, Xugang Xiong, Ahmed Busnaina, Yung Joon Jung, and Nick McGruer, “Scalable Nanotemplate Assisted Directed Assembly of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Nanoscale Devices,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 90, 243108, 2007.

Peter J. Ryan, George G. Adams, and Nicol E. McGruer, “Modeling of a One-Sided Bonded and Rigid Constraint Using Beam Theory,” Journal of Applied Mechanics, Vol. 75, pages 031008-1-031008-6, May, 2008.

Du, Y., Adams, G.G., McGruer, N.E., and Etsion, I., “A Parameter Study of Separation Modes in Adhering Microcontacts,” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 103, 2008, 044902, pp. 1-7, 2008.

Irvinder Kaur, Wenling Jia, Ryan P. Kopreski, Selvapraba Selvarasah, Mehmet R. Dokmeci, Chandrani Pramanik, Nicol E. McGruer and Glen P. Miller, “Substituent Effects in Pentacenes: Gaining Control over HOMO−LUMO Gaps and Photooxidative Resistances,” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130 (48), pp 16274–16286.

L. Chen, N. E. McGruer, G. G. Adams, and Y. Du, “Separation modes in microcontacts identified by the rate dependence of the pull-off force,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 053503 (2008)

Juan C. Aceros, George G. Adams, and Nicol E. McGruer, “Microelectromechanical system microhotplates for reliability testing of thin films and nanowires,” J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B Volume 26, Issue 3, pp. 918-926 (May 2008)

George G. Adams, Palaniappan Nagappan, and Nicol E. McGruer, “Continuum Modeling and Analysis of the Frictional Interaction Between a CNT and a Substrate During Dragging,” J. Tribol. 131, 032002 (2009)

George G. Adams and Nicol E. McGruer, “A Review of Adhesion in an Ohmic Microswitch,” Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology,” Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, Vol. 24, 2010, pp. 2571–2595.

M. Walker, C. Nordquist, D. Czaplewski, G. Patrizi, N. McGruer and J. Krim, “Impact of in situ oxygen plasma cleaning on the resistance of Ru and Au-Ru based RF MEMS contacts in vacuum”, J. Applied Phys., 107, art # 084509 (2010).

Peter Ryan, Yu-Chiao Wu, Sivasubramanian Somu, George Adams, and Nicol McGruer, “Single walled carbon nanotube electromechanical switching behavior with shoulder slip,” J. Micromech. Microeng. 21 (2011) 045028 (7pp).

H. Eid, G.G. Adams, N.E. McGruer, A. Fortini, S. Buldyrev, D. Srolovitz, "A Combined Molecular Dynamics and Finite Element Analysis of Contact and Adhesion of a Rough Sphere and a Flat Surface," Tribology Transactions, Vol. 54, No. 6, pp. 920-928, December 2011.

H. Eid, N. Joshi, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “A Model of Contact With Adhesion of a Layered Elastic-Plastic Microsphere With a Rigid Flat Surface,” J. Tribol., July 2011, Volume 133, Issue 031406 (5 pages)

R.P. Hennessy, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “Modeling of a Thermal-Electrical-Mechanical Coupled Field Contact,” Journal of Tribology, Vol. 134, 2012, 041404.

L. Chen, Z.J. Guo, H. Joshi, H. Eid, G.G. Adams, and N.E. McGruer, “An Improved SPM-Based Contact Tester for the Study of Microcontacts,” Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Vol. 22, 2012, 045017.

H. Pan, Y.-C. Wu, G.G. Adams, G.P. Miller, and N.E. McGruer, “Interfacial Shear Stress Between Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Gold Surfaces With and Without an Alkanethiol Monolayer,” Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Vol. 407, 2013, pp. 133-139.

Chandrani Pramanik, Yushu Li, Anup Singh, Weimin Lin, Jennifer L. Hodgson, Jonathan B. Briggs, Simka Ellis, Peter Müller, Nicol E. McGruer and Glen P. Miller, “Water soluble pentacene,” J. Mater. Chem. C, 2013, 1, 2193-2201

Y.-C. Wu, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “Adhesive Slip Process Between a Carbon Nanotube and a Substrate,” Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 46, 2013, 175305.

R.P. Hennessy, A. Basu, G.G. Adams, and N.E. McGruer, “Hot-switched lifetime and damage characteristics of MEMS switch contacts,” J. Micromech. Microeng. 23, (2013) 055003.

Anirban Basu, Ryan P Hennessy, George G Adams and Nicol E McGruer, “Hot switching damage mechanisms in MEMS contacts - evidence and understanding,” J. Micromech. Microeng. 24 (2014) 105004.

Conference Papers

N. E. McGruer, S. W. McKnight, W. Schwab, C. Chan, S. Tong, and A. Johnson, "Prospects for a 1 Thz Microelectronic Microstrip Amplifier," presented at the Microwave Power Tube Conference, May, 1990.

N. E. McGruer, A. Johnson, S. W. McKnight, W. Schwab, C. Chan, S. Tong, "Vacuum Microelectronic Microwave Amplifier Design," presented at the 3rd Annual Vacuum Microelectronics conference, Monterey, Ca., July 1990.

K. Warner, N. E. McGruer, "Self-Aligned, Oxidation Sharpened, Gated Field Emitter Fabrication," presented at the 3rd Annual Vacuum Microelectronics conference, Monterey, Ca., July 1990.

N. E. McGruer, A. Johnson, and J. Browning, "Field Emitter Structures in Microwave Generation and Amplification," Invited Talk and Extended Abstract in IVMC 91 Technical Digest, The Fourth International Vacuum Microelectronics Conference, Nagahama, Japan, p. 68, Aug. 1991.

T. Treado, W. Anderson S. Bandy, J. Barry, A. Johnson, R. Larue, and N. McGruer, "Status of the Varian/Northeastern University Vacuum Microelectronic Microstrip Amplifier (VMMA) Program," presented at the Microwave Tube Conference, Monterey, CA, May, 1992.

J. Browning, N.E. McGruer, S. Meassick, C. Chan, W. Bintz, and M. Gilmore, "Experimental and Theoretical Investigations of Gated Field Emitter Failures," presented at the IEEE Plasma Science Conference, 1992.

N. E. McGruer, J. Browning, S. Meassick, W. Bintz, M. Gilmore, and C. Chan, "Failure of Silicon Field Emitters," Presented at the Fifth International Vacuum Microelectronics Conference, July 13-17, Vienna, Austria, 1992.

N.E. McGruer and Z. Huang, "Gated Field Emitter Scaling," presented at the Sixth International Vacuum Microelectronics Conference, July 12-15, Newport, RI, 1993.

SW McKnight, T. Treado, A. Sahin, and N.E. McGruer, "A Design for a Resonant Vacuum Microelectronic Microstrip Amplifier at 10 and 60 GHz," presented at the Sixth International Vacuum Microelectronics Conference, July 12-15, Newport, RI, 1993.

SW McKnight, T. Treado, A. Sahin, and N.E. McGruer, "A Design for a Resonant Vacuum Microelectronic Microstrip Amplifier at 10 and 60 GHz," at the Annual Vacuum Electronics Review, June 30, 1993.  (5 page extended abstract)

W.J. Bintz and N.E. McGruer, "Silicon Emitter Failure Initiation," presented at the Sixth International Vacuum Microelectronics Conference, July 12-15, Newport, RI, 1993.

S. Meassick, Z. Xia, C. Chan, and J. Browning, "Investigation of the Operating Modes of Gated Vacuum Field Emitter Arrays to Reduce the Failure Rate," presented at the Sixth International Vacuum Microelectronics Conference, July 12-15, Newport, RI, 1993.

S. Majumder, N. McGruer, and P.M. Zavracky, "Electrostatically Actuated Micromechanical Switches, Presented at the 43rd AVS National Symposium, Oct. 14-18, 1996.

P.M. Zavracky, N. McGruer, K. Warner, R. McClelland, and G. Jenkins, "The MEMS Program at Northeastern University," Presented at Sensors Expo 1996.

S. Majumder, N.E. McGruer, P.M. Zavracky, G.G. Adams, R.H. Morrison, and J. Krim, "Measurement and Modelling of Surface Micromachined, Electrostatically Actuated, Microswitches," International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, Digest of Technical Papers, Vol. 2, pp. 1145-1148, 1997.

J.Wang, P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, and R.H. Morrison, "Study of Tunneling Noise Using Surface Micromachined Tunneling Tip Devices," International Conference on Solid-state Sensors and Actuators, Digest of Technical Papers, Vol. 1, pp. 467-472, 1997.

S.A. Oliver, P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, and R. Schmidt, "A Monolithically Integrated Single-Crystal Yttrium Iorn Garnet/Silicon X-Band Circulator, Presented at Intermag '97, 1997.

P.M. Zavracky, Nicol E. McGruer, Rick Morrison, Sumit Majumder, Xiang Wang, and Weilin Hu, "Micromechanical Switches and Relays," IMAPS New England 24th Annual Symposium & Exhibition, Andover, MA, May 8, 1997.

N.E. McGruer, P.M. Zavracky, R. Morrison, and S. Majumder, "Microswitches and Microrelays," Proceedings of Sensors Expo, Boston, May 13-15, pp. 215-218, 1997.

P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, and R.H. Morrison, "Integration of Surface Micromachined Devices and Silicon Microelectronics," Proceedings of Sensors Expo, Boston, May 13-15, pp. 79-84, 1997.

P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, R.H. Morrison, G. Jenkins, and K. Warner, "Microswitches for Microwave and Other Applications," Proceedings of Sensors Expo, Detroit, Oct. 21-23, pp. 293-298, 1997.

S.A. Oliver, H. How, W. Hu, N.E. McGruer, P. Shi, P.M. Zavracky, SW McKnight, and C. Vittoria, "Fabrication of Thin Self-Biased Y-junction Circulators for Millimeter-Wavelength Applications, Presented at IEEE MTT Symposium, 1997.

H. How, SW McKnight, S.A. Oliver, P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, and C. Vittoria, "Effects of Inhomogeneous Magnetic Bias Field on Ferrite Circulators, Presented at IEEE MTT Symposium, 1997.

S. Majumder, N.E. McGruer, P.M. Zavracky, R.H. Morrison, G.G. Adams, and J. Krim, "Contact Resistance Performance of Electrostatically Actuated Microswitches," American Vacuum Society, 44th National Symposium,Abstracts, p. 161, 1997.

N.E. McGruer, P.M. Zavracky, S. Majumder, and R. Morrison, "Electrostatically Actuated Microswitches; Scaling Properties," Technical Digest, Solid-state Sensor and Actuator Workshop, Hilton Head Island, June 8-11, pp 132-135, 1998.

S. Majumder, N.E. McGruer, P.M. Zavracky, G.G. Adams, R.H. Morrison, and J. Krim, "Contact Resistance Modeling and Measurements of an Electrostatically Actuated Micromechanical Switch," ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress, DSC-Vol. 66, Microelectromechanical Systems, PP 341-346, Nov. 1998.

SW McKnight, C. Vittoria, S.A. Oliver, H. How, N.E. McGruer, P.M. Zavracky, "Monolithically Integrated Ferrite Device Technology," IEEE IMS "Ferrite" Workshop, Integration of Ferrite Devices into Future Radar, Wireless and Space Communications, 1998.

S. Majumder, N.E. McGruer, P.M. Zavracky, G.G. Adams, R.H. Morrison, and J. Krim, "Contact Resistance in Electrostatically Actuated Micromechanical Switches," Proceedings of the 44th IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts, PP 127-132, 1998, Washington, DC.

M.L. Schirmer, P.M. Zavracky, N.E. McGruer, S. Majumder, R.H. Morrison, D.C. Potter. G.G. Adams, J. Krim, "Design , Characterization and Application of Surface Micromachined Electrostatically Actuated Microswitches," Proceedings of the 46 Annual International Relay Conference, PP 16-1-16-9, 1998.

Thieu Q. Truong, Terrence G. Barnes, Xiaoqing Lu, George G. Adams, and Nicol E. McGruer, "Design Analysis, Fabrication, and Testing of a MEMS Contact/Bending Sensor with Improved Dynamic Range," ASME MEMS-Vol. 1, pp 201-207, 1999.

Barnes, T.G., Truong, T.Q., Lu, X., McGruer, N.E., Adams, G.G., “Design, Analysis, Fabrication, And Testing of a MEMS Flow Sensor,” Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, 1999 ASME International Congress and Exposition, MEMS-Vol. 1, pp. 355-361 ,1999.

Shi, Ping; How, Hoton; Zuo, Xu; Oliver, Steven A., McGruer, Nicol E., Vittoria, Carmine, "MMW Monolithic Y-Junction Circulator on Single-Crystal SC-Doped Ba-Hexaferrite," IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Jun 11-Jun 16 2000 v2 2000 Boson, MA, p 909-912.

Oliver, S.A., Kozulin, I., McGruer, N.E., Yoon, S.D., and Vittoria, C., "Cracking and delamination of Heteroepitaxial Barium Hexaferrite Films," to appear in Recent Developments in Oxide and Metal Epitaxy - Theory and Experiment, Materials Research Society Conference Proceedings, Materials Research Society, Vol. 619, 2001.

Nicol McGruer, George Adams, Paul Zavracky, Thieu Truong, Terrance Barnes, Xiaoqing Lu, and Juan Carlos Aceros, "Biomimetic Flow and Contact/Bending Sensors," Neurotechnology for Biomimetic Robots, Oct. 14-16, 2000, Nahant, MA.

Joseph Ayers, Nicol McGruer, and George Adams "MEMS SENSORS FOR BIOMIMETIC UNDERWATER ROBOTS" Dec. 1999 Neuroscience conf., Miami.

F.C. Li, N.E. McGruer, P.M. Zavracky, and K.L. Denis, A Micromachined Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer, AVS 47th International Symposium, October 2, 2000, Boston.

Xiaomin Yan, N.E. McGruer, Sumit Majumder, and George G. Adams, Thermal Characteristics of Microswitches, AVS 47th International Symposium, October 2, 2000, Boston.

Majumder, S., McGruer, N., and Adams, G.G., “Contact Resistance and Adhesion in a MEMS Microswitch,” 2003 STLE/ASME International Joint Tribology Conference, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida USA, paper # 2003-Trib-270, 6 pages on CD-ROM, October 26-29, 2003.

Xiaomin Yan, N. E. McGruer, G. G. Adams, and S. Majumder, “Finite element analysis of the thermal characteristics of mems switches,”  Proc. 12th International Conference on Transducers, Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, Vol. 1,  pp. 412- 415, June 2003.
Lei Chen, Nicol E. McGruer, and George G. Adams, “AFM-Based Testing and Measurements of Contact and Stiction in a Micromechanical Switch,” Proceedings of TRIB2004, 2004 ASME/STLE International Joint Tribology Conference, Long Beach, California USA, October 24-27, 2004, Paper TRIB2004-64347 on CD ROM.

S. Majumder1, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “Adhesion and Contact Resistance in an Electrostatic MEMS Microswitch,” Proceedings of the 18th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 4 page extended abstract, MEMS 2005, January 30 - February 3, 2005.

Jeffrey Johnson, George G. Adams, and Nicol E. McGruer, Determination of Intermodulation Distortion in a MEMS Microswitch, Submitted to IEEE MTT-S, International Microwave Symposium, June 11-7, 2005.

N.E. McGruer, G.G. Adams, L. Chen, Z.J. Guo, and Y. Du., “Mechanical, Thermal, and Material Influences on Ohmic-Contact-Type MEMS Swtich Operation,” Proceedings of the 19th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2006, pp. 230-233.

N.E. McGruer, G.G. Adams, L. Chen, J. Guo, and Y. Du, “Mechanical, Thermal, and Material Influences on Ohmic-Contact-Type MEMS Switch Operation,” IEEE International Conference on MEMS (MEMS 2006), Istanbul, Turkey, January, 22-26, 2006, pp. 230-233, CD-ROM.  (29% acceptance rate in 2006, #1 conference in the field)

Y. Du, L. Chen, N.E. McGruer, G.G. Adams, and I. Etsion, “A Finite Element Model of Asperity Contact With Adhesion and Plasticity,” Proceedings of IJTC2006 STLE /ASME International Joint Tribology Conference, October 22-25, 2006, San Antonio, TX, USA, CD-ROM, IJTC2006-12295, 8 pages.

P.M. Nieva, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “MEMS-Based Fabry-Perot Vibration Sensor for Harsh Environments,” Smart Structures and Materials 2006: Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems, Proceedings of the SPIE, Vol. 6174, 617426-1 – 617426-11, (2006).  (11 pages)

P.M. Nieva, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “Air Viscous Damping Effects in Vibrating Microbeams,” Smart Structures and Materials 2006: Damping and Isolation, Proceedings of the SPIE, Vol. 6169, 61690N-1 – 61690N-12, (2006).  12 pages.

P.M. Nieva, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “A Multipurpose Optical MEMS Sensor for Harsh Environments,” NSTI-Nanotech 2006, Vol. 3, 2006, pp. 419-422.

Z. J. Guo, N. E. McGruer, and G. G. Adams, “Modeling and Measurement of the Dynamic Performance of an Ohmic Contact-Type RF MEMS Switch,” Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference, TRANSDUCERS’07, June 10-14, 2007, Lyon, France, pp. 651-654.   (Acceptance rate for 2007:  39% - this is the second most selective conference in the MEMS field.)

George G.  Adams, Nicol E. McGruer, Lei Chen, Yan Du, and Z.J. (Jim) Guo, “Contact Failure Mechanisms in Ohmic-Type MEMS Switches,” Proceedings of the 2007 STLE/ASME International Joint Tribology Conference, October 22-24, 2007, San Diego, California, USA, CD-ROM IJTC2007-44265.

Yan Du, George G. Adams, Nicol E. McGruer, “A Study of the Importance of Three Key Parameters on the Separation Modes of Adhering Microcontacts,” Proceedings of the 2007 STLE/ASME International Joint Tribology Conference, October 22-24, 2007, San Diego, California, USA, CD-ROM IJTC2007-44151.

Lei Chen, Yan Du, Nicol E. McGruer, George G. Adams, “Ductile Separation and its Role in the Evolution of Gold Contacts,” Proceedings of the 2007 STLE/ASME International Joint Tribology Conference, October 22-24, 2007, San Diego, California, USA, CD-ROM IJTC2007-44152.

Y. Du, L. Chen, N.E. McGruer, G.G. Adams, and I. Etsion, “An Elastic-Plastic Finite Element Model of Asperity Contact With Adhesion,” Proceedings 30th Annual Meeting of the Adhesion Society, 2007, pp. 476-478.

P.M. Nieva, Adams, G.G., McGruer, N.E., “Design and Modeling of a Multifunctional MEMS Fabry-Perot Sensor for the Simultaneous Measurement of Displacement, Pressure and Temperature,” Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, v 6529 PART 2, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2007, 2007, p. 65292D.

L. Chen, Y. Du, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “Rate-Dependent Pull-Off Force – an Experimental Approach to Identify the Separation Mode in Microcontacts,” Solid-State Sensors, Actuators, and Microsystems Workshop, Hilton Head Island, Scouth Carolina, June 1-5, 2008, Technical Digest, pp 186-189.

G.G. Adams, P. Nagappan, and N.E. McGruer, “Continuum Modeling and Analysis of the Frictional Interaction Between a CNT and a Substrate During Dragging,” Proceedings of the 2008 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exhibition, October 31-November 6, 2008, Boston, MA, IMECE2008-68884.

H. Eid, G.G. Adams, N.E. McGruer, A. Fortini, A.B. de Oliveira, S. Buldyrev, D. Srolovitz, “A Multiscale Model of Contact and Adhesion,” Keynote Presentation in Tribology Fundamentals Track, World Tribology Congress, Kyoto, Japan, September 9, 2009.  Abstract I-211 on CD.

L. Chen, Z.J. Guo, N. Joshi, H. Eid, G.G. Adams and N.E. McGruer, An SPM-Based Contact Tester for Study of Microcontacts,” Solid State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Workshop 2010, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, June 6-10, pp. 190-193.

H. Eid, L. Chen, N. Joshi, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “Contact and Adhesion of Elastic-Plastic Layered Microsphere,” Proceedings of the STLE/ASME 2010 International Joint Tribology Conference, Oct. 17-20, 2010, IJTC2010-41203.

H. Eid, G.G. Adams, N.E. McGruer, A. Fortini, A.B. de Oliveira, S. Buldyrev, D. Srolovitz, “A Multiscale Model of Contact and Adhesion,” Keynote Presentation in Tribology Fundamentals Track, World Tribology Congress, Kyoto, Japan, September 9, 2009.  Abstract I-211 on CD.

L. Chen, Z.J. Guo, N. Joshi, H. Eid, G.G. Adams and N.E. McGruer, An SPM-Based Contact Tester for Study of Microcontacts,” Solid State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Workshop 2010, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, June 6-10, pp. 190-193.

H. Eid, L. Chen, N. Joshi, N.E. McGruer, and G.G. Adams, “Contact and Adhesion of Elastic-Plastic Layered Microsphere,” Proceedings of the STLE/ASME 2010 International Joint Tribology Conference, Oct. 17-20, 2010, IJTC2010-41203.

Pan, H.Y.; Wu, Y.C.; Ryan, P.J.; Adams, G.G.; McGruer, N.E.; , "Measurement of shear stress between single-wall carbon nanotubes and substrates using NEMS devices," Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference (TRANSDUCERS), 2011 16th International , vol., no., pp.629-632, 5-9 June 2011