Greg Haugstad

Greg Haugstad is technical staff member and director of the Characterization Facility, a core research facility in the Institute of Technology (the college of physical sciences, engineering and mathematics) at the University of Minnesota. The CharFac is part of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network and is also affiliated with the University’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and Industrial Partnership for Research in Interfacial and Materials Engineering (IPRIME). 

Dr. Haugstad received his B.A. in physics from Gustavus Adolphus College and Ph.D. in materials physics from the University of Minnesota following a research fellowship at 3M (composites for electromagnetic absorption or "stealth"). His doctoral research examined metal-semiconductor interfaces and heterostructures in ultrahigh vacuum utilizing synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy and cryogenic methods (physisorbed xenon as an electronic probe). After postdoctoral research with DuPont in the University's NSF Center for Interfacial Engineering, utilizing scanning probe microscopy (SPM) on soft materials relevant to photographic media, he joined the CharFac in 1994; here he continued SPM research in collaboration with industry and added responsibilities in ion beam analysis (IBA, including Rutherford backscattering and related techniques) and (in 2006) time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). His SPM research program has expanded to include (i) contrast mechanisms in SPM with emphasis on special methods, (ii) nanotribology, (iii) fundamental structure and properties of thin films comprised of polymers and/or small organic molecules (surfactants, crystalline semiconductors), and (iv) biofilms and biomedical coatings.

Greg is a frequent participant in interdisciplinary symposia and workshops spanning the above topics. He has collaborated with companies on technologies including medical X-ray imaging media, inkjet printing, adhesion/release media, personal care, biomedical device surfaces, filtration, and scanning probe instrumentation.  His current industrial collaborations primarily involve biomedical device coatings. He also provides analytical services (SPM, IBA, ToF-SIMS) and consulting to a broader range of industrial and academic clients of the CharFac. He is a principal investigator in the Nanostructural Materials and Processes research program within IPRIME, and is a member of the graduate faculty of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. His teaching includes a graduate course in materials characterization; lab instruction for undergraduates; adjunct teaching for technical college students; basic and advanced training for CharFac users; and short courses in scanning probe methods.