Zayd Leseman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of New Mexico
Dr. Leseman has disclosed 19 inventions, received three issued U. S. patents, has four pending patent applications, and has one option to license agreement with SDC Materials, Inc. for his aerosol reduction technology.
Dr. Leseman’s technologies focus on nanocarbon materials because they have unique mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. Carbon nanofibers, which have varying diameters, lengths, and surface textures, as well as important thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties, have applications for the space industry. The challenge has been how to rapidly grow a large volume of carbon nanofibers. Dr. Leseman and his co-inventors have solved the problem by mixing specific catalysts together and then flowing a combination of gases over them, producing a nanofiber growth rate that is more than 140 times faster than other methods and making mass production of nanofibers commercially viable. The nanofiber technology formed the basis of his carbon nanofoam technology, a block of carbon nanofibers that is extremely strong but light in weight. When it is dropped, the nanofoam gently floats to the ground. Dr. Leseman and his co-inventors have also developed a novel self-assembly method for assembling carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into three-dimensional shapes that uses nanosurface chemistry to determine the position of CNTs in order to arrange and attach them into nano 2-D and 3-D structures. The CNTs can be stacked tightly onto surfaces to create nano-electronic circuits. Recently, Dr. Leseman created a novel system for controlling xenon difluoride etching of silicon for cleanroom and microelectronics processing labs. The new system allows for more accurate etching and monitoring of processes.
Dr. Leseman’s research interests include fabrication and analysis of novel MEMS/NEMS devices and experiments in order to study the surface, mechanical, and electrical properties of materials at the nanoscale; fabrication of bioMEMS devices to perform studies in single-cell mechanics and nano/microfluidics; fabrication and characterization of phononic crystals; ultra-high vacuum studies of MEMS vibrations; and improved etching of Si using XeF2.
Issued U. S. Patents
| 8,298,615, | Rapid Generation of Carbon Filament Structures of Controlled Geometries at Low Temperatures, issued October 30, 2012 |
| 8,679,381, | Carbon Fiber Foam Composites and Methods for Making the Same, issued March 25, 2014 |
| 8,709,126, | Generation of Metal and Alloy Micron, Submicron, or Nano Particles in Simple, Rapid Process, issued April 29, 2014 |
Pending Patent Applications
- Aerosol Reduction/Expansion Synthesis (A-RES) for Zero Valent Metal Particles
- Process for the Determination of Volumes of Vacuum Chambers and Equilibrium Times for a Vacuum System
- Thermal and Electrical Characterization of Thin Films Using Modification of Effective Resistors with Sequential Cuts
- Determination of Etching Parameters for Pulsed Etching Systems Using Chamber Pressure Data