Department News

2026 Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Scholars announced

Nov 3, 2025

Thanks to the generous support of Stanley and Karen Pigman and Kentucky’s Research Challenge Trust Fund (RCTF), engineering researchers are receiving additional annual funding to enhance the research priorities and programs of the Pigman College of Engineering. Established in 2024, the Lighthouse Beacon Foundation Endowment supports faculty, research, graduate students, facilities and research infrastructure in the Pigman College of Engineering. This year, the endowment made $235,000 in funds available for distribution.

Schematic of VP-EBL. When performing EBL on insulating substrates, the bulk of the sample charges negatively by trapping primary electrons. Introducing a gas in the chamber can mitigate this charging process because the gas molecules may be ionized by electron impact. Typically, multiple ions are generated through a cascade as secondary electrons are accelerated toward the biased detector.

Enhancing Contrast and Resolution for Electron-Beam Lithography on Insulating Substrates Enhancing Contrast and Resolution for Electron-Beam Lithography on Insulating Substrates The effect of ambient gas on the contrast and the resolution of electron beam lithography (EBL) in gaseous environments on insulating substrates.

Deepak Kumar , Cooper Meyers, RJ L. Smith, and J. Todd Hastings , Senior Member, IEEE

Oct 30, 2025

Nanotechnology

Full article published in IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology at ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11202715