The Man, The Myth, The Physicist:

Dave DonnellyBy:Mark, Alex, Spencer, Nick, and

Alec

Background

• Born on March 15, 1961• First exposure to physics was from his father who was a

physicist• Became interested in the physical sciences in 9th grade• Discovered his ability for math in 10th grade

o decided to become a physicist• Majored in physics at UC Berkeley

o Ph D. in physics from UC Berkeley• Has a wife and two kids• User signature

o Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. - Albert Einstein

Employment

Professor and Chair, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX (Feb. 2007 – present)Professor, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX (Sept, 2002 – Jan. 2007)Associate Professor, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX (Sept. 1998-July, 2000)Assistant Professor, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX (Jan. 1992-Sept. 1998)

Employment

Staff Researcher, QUEST, U. C. Santa Barbara (Apr. ‘91-Nov. ‘91)

Research Assistant, Dept. of Physics, U. C. Santa Barbara (Jan. '87-Dec. '90)

Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Physics, U. C. Santa Barbara (Sept. '85-Dec. '86)

Texas State University San-Marcos• Located between Austin and San Antonio• Founded in 1903, 303 students• Today has 32,572 students• 97 Bachelors Degrees, 89 Masters Degrees, 9 Doctoral

Degrees• BA and BS in physics• “3-2” physics program that includes 2 years of engineering• 225 buildings, 457 acre campus, and 5,038 acers in

recreational, instructional farm and ranch land

Texas State University San-Marcos

• Dave is a professor and chair of the physics department• Average day at Texas State

o 25% teachingo 25% researcho administrative duties 

Current Research

• Measurement of lifetimes of impurity associated magnetic modes in antiferromagnets.• Study of athermal annealing in silicon• Study of athermal processing on interface kinetics of HfO2 films on silicon• Study of the impact of athermal annealing on the electrical characteristics of high-k gate stacks in silicon CMOS devices• Study of defect and impurity clustering in heavily implanted silicon• Study of the effects of CMP on the electrical characteristics of low-k films.• Study of ordering of diblock copolymers on silicon surfaces

Annealing Project

• Changes the properties of solids usually due to exposure from high temperatures

• Can be used to make steel stronger and ceramics less brittle

• Using annealing to change the electrical properties of semi conductorso material used to make integrated

circuits for computers•  Transistors in integrated circuits are very small, so

exposure to high heat can lower the performance

Annealing Project

• Using short laser pulses to imitate the heat exposure• Has the same effects• Trying to understand exactly what happens to material when

it interacts with the laser pulse• Hope to apply this process to the manufacturing process

Leadership Roles

Person(s) in charge of PowerPoint presentation - SpencerPerson(s) in charge of corresponding with physicist - Mark, Alex, Spencer, Nick, AlecPerson(s) in charge of conducting background research on where physicist works - NickSpokesperson(s) for the presentation - Mark, Alex, Spencer, Nick, AlecPerson(s) in charge of conducting background research on physicist - Mark, AlexPerson(s) in charge of conducting research on physicist's project - Spencer, Alec